La figure maternelle

La mère tient une place particulière pour chacun: on l'aime, on la déteste, on se révolte, on se compare, on se désole, on passe par tous les sentiments, mais on ne l'oublie jamais. Elle est célébrée sous toutes les formes (écriture, peinture, musique, film).

Edward Saint Aubyn n'a pas échappé à la règle. Par le biais d'un couple d'anglais, et de leurs deux enfants, ils étudient le comportement et les sentiments filiaux. Certes, si votre mère vous déshérite d'une superbe maison provençale (ce qui vous change du mauvais temps londonien pendant vos vacances) au profit d'une association chamanique, vous aussi seriez quelque peu frustré (d'où l'intérêt que vos parents n'aient pas de maison de campagne). Si votre mère préfère faire du shopping plutôt que de garder vos marmots, vous pourriez à la rigueur lui en vouloir (et encore sincèrement, en mettant de côté l'aspect moral, je ne suis pas sure que quiconque préfère le baby-sitting).

Cependant ces raisons ne suffisent pas à faire un livre. On attend la fin sans s'ennuyer, mais une fois la dernière page fermée, on a déjà oublié de quoi il s'agissait. Je ne sais absolument pas comment le titre a atterri dans ma liste de livres à lire, mais une chose est sure: le critique littéraire était bon!

When brides go wild

Bridezilla shows on reality TV notwithstanding, a girl’s dream wedding provides a gold mine of movie material. For 2009 and in time for Valentine’s Day, Bride Wars provide the opening salvo for all who just want a diverting movie. It’s the story of Emma and Liv played respectively by Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson whose dream of a lifetime is to get married in the Plaza in June. The only hick to their future wedded bliss is their future weddings have gotten booked on the same day and neither of them will budge. Trouble erupts in bestfriend land.
While this movie may not win any Oscars in the future, it is a diverting and enjoyable one. It was also a lot funnier than I expected. It is considerable enlivened by Hudson and Hathaway’s performances. Though I'm not a fan of Hudson's movie look of severe bangs and overly strong hand with the eyeliner, she still somehow retains the golden girl glow from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Both girls give spirited performances though Hathaway comes up slightly on top thanks to her acrobatic skills with a suspended rope. I leave it to you to discover which scene I mean. Despite the whole hullaballoo about the girls wedding, the message this movie tries to get across is the importance of female friendship and how a strong bond can survive almost anything. And for all the girls’ antics, the most genuinely moving scene comes just before their wedding and they smile tentatively at each other in acknowledgement of their friendship.

Cars! Cars! Cars!

A few months ago, we visited the Le Mondial d’Automobile and were a bit surprised by the absence of any vintage cars. It turns out that vintage cars they have their very own Salon. The Retro Mobile currently running at the Porte de Versailles until the 15th of Feb is the most important gathering in France of vintage car enthusiasts. This year marks its 34th edition. There are over 300 participants in this trade fair and while vintage cars are the stars of the show, there are as well a good number of motorcycles and trucks for those interested. As with the first car trade show we visited, the Retro Mobile is packed (a lesser degree in numbers but definitely not in enthusiasm) with avid collectors and others like us who came to admire the beauties on display. And they were very many.
Looking around the hall, it is easy to see why these cars are the object of so much affection. They are beautiful, wearing their age gracefully thanks to all the loving work that has gone into them. It is clear that much care has been lavished on them. One sees this readily with the lovingly buffed wood exteriors of the Benz roadsters whose leather seats smell and feel as good as they probably did when they first came out. I don’t know much about the different models but what struck me was the immense size of these cars. I thought I was used to American sized SUVs but these dames of the road can more than hold their own. The Rolls Royce Phantom 1 was certainly as tall as if not bigger than me. That said, there were a number of pretty little convertibles that I could easily see myself driving in.
What was very nice to observe was the way everyone in the hall was united in their interest in and affection for these old cars, in a way that was different from what we saw in the Mondial D’Automobile You could see it in the animated discussions that the people were into about the relative merits of one roadster over another or the best method for restoring leather seats and wood paneling. Who knew there could be so many different ways? I suppose one comes to the Retro Mobile not so much to gawk over the latest gadget filled car but to participate in the reverie that these beautiful relics elicit.

The Peugeot convertible

Lancia

BMW 328

Mercedes Benz 540 K

Practical Details

Retro Mobile

Feb 6 to 15

Porte de Versailles

A night at the museum

Recently, I had the funny experience of visiting an exhibit in the wee hours of the morning. But this was no ordinary exhibit. It was Picasso et Les Maitres which due to its great success included a 3 hour queue before being able to enter the Grand Palais. Luckily its great success also persuaded its organizers to open the exhibit for 24 hours during its last three days. Having said endlessly to each other that we simply could not miss this seemingly once in a lifetime exhibit, we found ourselves at 130 in the morning before the Grand Palais. Believe it or not, even at that hour we still queued for a good hour. Enough time for our feet to freeze in the winter air. Once inside however we forgot all thoughts of the wait or the cold. Awesome is definitely the word to best describe the exhibition. Not only was there a huge number of works by Picasso (there was 197 works in all) there was likewise a good number of different works by Velasquez, Ingres, Courbet, Goya and Manet. The works covered a whole gamut of Picasso’s oeuvre from his Blue, Pink, Black periods to his still lifes and portraits. The juxtaposition of Picasso with the other great masters enabled us (lucky) viewers to see, and study the echoes and equivalences between their works. Of course, being Picasso, these echoes were done through the prism of his own peculiar and particular genius. Often, the inspiration from the masters reflected in the composition of the tableau, or the colors he used. Sometimes the echo was so light that you couldn’t see it till you saw the work that inspired it. Seeing all these works together was a wonderfully instructive experience. It is amazing to see how much a particular piece of art can inspire another even when the two are separated by time and distance. And it illustrates to great effect what Picasso always believed –that art does not merely reflect what is present, but what should or could be present.

Some photos of the exhibit...

Velasquez' Las Meninas

Picasso's version..

Picasso's portrait of Olga, inspired by Ingres' Portrait of Mademoiselle Caroline Riviere.

La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid: Léo versus Kate

Qui ne se souvient pas de Titanic, qui propulsa Leonardo DiCaprio et Kate Winslet au sommet de la gloire? A ce moment-là, Leonardo était superbe, ils vivaient une superbe histoire d'amour, et ils étaient "the king(s) of the world".

Dans Noces Rebelles, quelques années (ça compte quand on voit ce qu'est devenu Léo, mais lui s'en fout, il se tape Bar Rafaeli) ont passé, et la love story a pris un coup de vieux: deux enfants, le boulot-métro-dodo, la routine domestique, ça use un couple, même le meilleur...

Les Wheeler (joués par Lénoardo diCaprio et Kate Winslet) forment un de ces couples considérés comme exceptionnels par tous, ainsi que par eux (Ah, ces chers rêves d'adolescence où l'on pense que tout est possible, et qu'une vie formidable est possible pour peu qu'on s'en donne la peine..). Simplement lorsque la façade se se lézarde, deux option se présentent: colmater la brèche ou détruire le mur.

J'ai beau user d'ironie, le film n'en ait pas moins superbe. Les acteur sont excellents, et l'histoire est si réelle que cela en est poignant. Qui ne s'est jamais posés ces questions existentielles, et qui n'a jamais rêvé d'un échappatoire à ce quotidien morne qui nous sert de vie? Personnellement, j'y pense tous les jours, mais je cherche encore la solution.

Le film est peut-être un peu long, mais après tout, l'homme tente de se comprendre et de donner un sens à sa vie (cf la religion) depuis sa création, alors deux heures semblent finalement un laps de temps assez court...

Sam Mendès, qui avait déjà réalisé les excellents American Beauty et Jarhead, doit probablement se servir de ses films comme exutoire pour toutes ses questions existentielles. Mais comme on se pose les mêmes, on l'en remercie de le faire avec tant de talent.

On le sait, le bonheur ne fait pas vendre, alors ne vous attendez pas à un happy end. C'est bouleversant, tragique et profondèment humain. Pour ceux qui ne comprennent pas que la vie de couple ne fait pas forcément rêver, allez voir ce film. Pour les autres, allez-y aussi, cela permet de se recentrer sur ses véritables aspirations, désirs et attentes de la vie.

A dix années d'intervalle, les deux acteurs jouent un personnage qui aura un destin tragique. Le parallèle est intéressant, et un troisième face-à-face ne serait pas pour me déplaire.

Today thanks to a family lunch, we had the chance to discover a little fish restaurant in one of my preferred quartiers. There are a great number of restaurants and cafes in the 6th arrondissement, but unfortunately not all of them are necessarily good places. And as we are not exactly located near the sea, good fish restaurants can be difficult to find. Fish La Boissonnerie in the always busy Rue de Seine resembles a typical French bistro with its zinc counter top and chalk board displaying their list of wines. It is a cozy place decorated with here and there with copper fishes. All in keeping with the theme, I suppose.
Obviously, the menu is focused on fish dishes. Fish features in both their entrée and plat courses. They do a great entrée of fish beignets (or fish fingers). It was lightly coated in batter and lightly fried thereby allowing the flavor to be fully flavored. For the plat, I went the salmon on its bed of lentils and my choice was fully justified with one bite of the firm yet succulent fish. The lentils were the perfect accompaniment to the dish. And while fish is the star of the menu, meat lovers have an option of a delicious filet mignon accompanied by a pea infused risotto. The perfect end to our meal was the dessert of riz au lait. It is served with the red fruit sauce but should you prefer it plain (like I do) you won’t have cause to regret it. It was one of the nicest riz au lait I’d ever tasted. Definitely a good restaurant to keep in mind while spending time in the chic 6th arrondissement.

Practical details:

Fish La Boissonnerie

69 rue de Seine 75006

01 43 54 34 69

Metro Odeon

Lecture

Après la représentation de Music-Hall avec Fanny Ardant et Lambert Wilson aux théâtres des Bouffes du Nord, une lecture de Samuel et Alexandre de Francis Leplay (également acteur dans la pièce) était proposée. Les deux acteurs principaux se partageaient 40 minutes de lecture.

N'ayant pas vu la pièce, je ne sais pas si il y a une continuité. Il est certain en tout cas que j'ai eu un peu l'impression de tomber comme un cheveu sur la soupe (comme d'habitude il faut dire). Aucune introduction de l'auteur, ni sur son livre, ni sur le pourquoi d'une lecture par ses acteurs là en particulier.

Il était donc un peu dur de se plonger dans l'histoire, que je ne saurais juger.

En revanche il était intéressant de confronter la lecture de ces deux acteurs. Cela permet de se rendre compte que des mêmes mots placés dans la bouche de deux personnes différentes ne donne absolument le même résultat. Lambert Wilson a une élocution meilleure, tandis que Fanny Ardant transcrit (à mon sens) plus d'émotions. Le fond primant la forme chez moi, j'ai préféré la deuxième partie lue par l'actrice.

Les lectures sont toujours un exercice difficile tant pour les auteurs et lecteurs que pour le public, mais c'est toujours une excellente occasion de faire connaissance avec un nouveau texte.