Thursday, August 23, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
prize eejit
almost the entire scene i described yesterday can be seen on youtube
sorry for wasting your time ... and mine !
however, you may notice that the ?americanised? subtitles have lost much in translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN8Mp3FXiUg
sorry for wasting your time ... and mine !
however, you may notice that the ?americanised? subtitles have lost much in translation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN8Mp3FXiUg
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Michel Serrault in La Cage Aux Folles
http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2140865,00.html
I was watching yet another comedy last night; it was La Cage Aux Folles yet again, when I belatedly learned of the recent death of the actor Michel Serrault. The film must have been made nearly 30 years ago.
Renato, the butch Italian manager of La Cage Aux Folles, a gay cabaret in St. Tropez, and his French partner of twenty years, Albin who is the club’s starring drag/drama queen, endeavour to pass themselves off for one evening as an Italian cultural attaché and his wife. This is because Renato has a son who wants to marry the daughter of a well-known right wing politician, a Deputy.
As in many partnerships, when there is a disagreement, there follows a competition to be "right". Renato, it seems, likes to give good advice, but doesn't know when to stop. In this scene, they go into a working-class bar along the street to compose themselves after a tiff. They pass straight through the bar to sit alone in an empty back room and I have always loved the ensuing low-budget scene in which the butch Renato tells the effeminate Albin how to butter his toast like a real man. This quickly becomes a duet of stereotypical camp gestures and posturing.
As in many partnerships, when there is a disagreement, there follows a competition to be "right". Renato, it seems, likes to give good advice, but doesn't know when to stop. In this scene, they go into a working-class bar along the street to compose themselves after a tiff. They pass straight through the bar to sit alone in an empty back room and I have always loved the ensuing low-budget scene in which the butch Renato tells the effeminate Albin how to butter his toast like a real man. This quickly becomes a duet of stereotypical camp gestures and posturing.
part two ... renato tries to take care of albin
Bartender enters: Bonjour, Monsieur Renato ! Bonjour Albin !
Renato: Bonjour Marcel ! Two teas with milk, and some biscottes ?
Bartender, staring at Albin: What’s wrong with him ?
Renato: Oh nothing. He’s just overtired.
Bartender: Don’t you want to lie down ?
Renato: No, he’ll be fine after a cup of tea.
Albin: ( just as the bar tender is going out of the door ) … Salt-free biscottes ! ... Well, what are we going to do about tonight?
Renato: Quite a problem. Two men like us ... what can we tell them?
Renato soaks a table napkin in the drinking water and uses it with great tenderness to cool Albin’s throat, and then his forehead.
Albin: Thank you, Darling. That feels good on my throat. Well, what could we tell them ? Maybe I could be ... I don't know ... a relative. His uncle, perhaps? Couldn’t you say I'm his uncle ? …
Renato: No !
Albin: All right, I know I don’t look like an uncle. But you’re not home and dry, either. In any case, you don't resemble your character either. Didn't Laurent say you were a cultural attaché?
Renato: Yes ! So ?
Albin: Cultural attaché ! Hah ! You don't know what culture is! Oh, la la ! We’re not out of the woods yet ! Hah !
part three ... the partners have very different table manners
Bartender, re-entering with a tray: Here it is, tea and toast. Feeling better?
There is a silence whilst Albin pours their tea in a lady like way; a silence broken when Renato noisily stuffs a whole biscotte into his mouth, using his fingers to jab home the last third.
Albin: Yes ! Oh, la la ! Cultural attaché ? Hah ! You have a unique way of eating, rather like a mechanical digger.
Albin stirs his tea.
Renato: Your little finger. What's it doing up in the air? Just look at it.
Albin: So ? Its got a mind of it’s own.
Renato: You'll say that to the Deputy tonight, huh? Well, let's try to make a man out of this “uncle”. You have to learn how to hold things. Watch ! Hold the toast in a manly way, like this. Spread the butter with a little virility … and watch your little finger when you drink your tea. Go on ! ( Smacking his bottom ) But first, sit up like a man !
Albin: (whimpering ) What have I done now ?
Renato: ( almost aggressively ) Please, don't whine every time I correct you. It’s for your own good ! Listen ! I want you to be presentable tonight.
Albin: ( submissively ) Yes, of course, thankyou !
part four ... a serious discussion of gender etiquette
Renato: Good, now butter your toast. Butter it like a man. Don't be afraid. That's the way! This is the Biscotte of a Man.
( The biscotte breaks and flies across the table )
Renato: You're doing it on purpose! You’ve got it in for me ! Now take another one and try again.
Albin: ( Whimpering continuously ) I'll never get it. Never.
Renato: Don't whine, please, don't whine! Now hold this piece firmly in your hand, steadily and confidently ... an iron fist in a velvet glove. Like a man. With a strong hand, understand? Like a real man! That’s right ! Now for something more difficult. A little jam ? Yes, take the spoon.
Albin: The teaspoon?
Renato: No, not like that! What are you doing ? It looks like you’re ringing a little bell ! It’s just a spoon ! It's only a spoon. Hold it without quivering, firmly ! Understand?
Albin: You have something against me.
The toast breaks and goes flying again,
Renato: You’re doing it again ! If you want to kill me, aim between the eyes !
Albin: I'll never get it. I've broken the toast again.
Renato: Yes, It's broken. It’s a disaster. The important thing is to know how to respond as a MAN ! Do you understand?
Albin: I understand. You're right.
Renato: You have to say to yourself, calmly... "Albin, so you made a mistake. It isn’t the end of the World. There’s no harm done. You can try again." Force yourself. Take another biscotte. Here ...
Renato lifts his own teacup, and his own little finger waggles exactly as did Albin’s.
Albin: You're right. In the end, it's not serious. After all, I still have more biscottes. And then …. Oh ! Be careful with your little finger !
( The biscotte breaks and flies across the table )
Renato: You're doing it on purpose! You’ve got it in for me ! Now take another one and try again.
Albin: ( Whimpering continuously ) I'll never get it. Never.
Renato: Don't whine, please, don't whine! Now hold this piece firmly in your hand, steadily and confidently ... an iron fist in a velvet glove. Like a man. With a strong hand, understand? Like a real man! That’s right ! Now for something more difficult. A little jam ? Yes, take the spoon.
Albin: The teaspoon?
Renato: No, not like that! What are you doing ? It looks like you’re ringing a little bell ! It’s just a spoon ! It's only a spoon. Hold it without quivering, firmly ! Understand?
Albin: You have something against me.
The toast breaks and goes flying again,
Renato: You’re doing it again ! If you want to kill me, aim between the eyes !
Albin: I'll never get it. I've broken the toast again.
Renato: Yes, It's broken. It’s a disaster. The important thing is to know how to respond as a MAN ! Do you understand?
Albin: I understand. You're right.
Renato: You have to say to yourself, calmly... "Albin, so you made a mistake. It isn’t the end of the World. There’s no harm done. You can try again." Force yourself. Take another biscotte. Here ...
Renato lifts his own teacup, and his own little finger waggles exactly as did Albin’s.
Albin: You're right. In the end, it's not serious. After all, I still have more biscottes. And then …. Oh ! Be careful with your little finger !
part five ... renato shows albin how to walk the john wayne walk
Renato: ( using his right hand to press down his errant little finger ) It does it by itself. Enough ! Blow your nose. We’re going home.
Albin: Wait ! Wait ! I need to freshen up.
Albin hesitantly walks, minces, flutters towards the door of the bar in search of the toilets.
Renato: No ! No ! No !
Albin returns to Renato’s side.
Albin: What have I done now?
Renato: What kind of walk is that?
Albin: What's the matter with it?
Renato: Mince like that tonight and we're ruined.
Albin: What am I going to do ?
Renato: Come here.
Albin: What do you want?
Renato: Try to walk like John Wayne.
Albin: The cowboy?
Renato: Yes, John Wayne. Gets off your horse, walk towards the saloon, and send the doors flying ! Try it.
Albin: I have to be John Wayne? Here I go.
Minces again.
Renato: ( As Albin flings open the bar doors ) That's Miss John Wayne !
There is a most exquisite irony here because the score for this film is by Ennio Morricone, who also did the music for the Sergio Leone “spaghetti westerns”. Just a few wisps of that wild west saloon sound & a couple of piano chords in the same style set the mood for a confrontation …
Voice from the bar; ( mimicking an effeminate lisp in a not unfriendly way, but difficult to translate )
Alors pédé ! ( which maybe translates as … Hey, fag ! )
Albin: ( returning to their table ) Someone just called me a fag.
Renato, throws down his napkin, rolls up his sleeves & parodies the John Wayne swagger in an even more exaggerated way as he approaches the smallest man at the bar …
Albin: And now he shows me …
Albin: Wait ! Wait ! I need to freshen up.
Albin hesitantly walks, minces, flutters towards the door of the bar in search of the toilets.
Renato: No ! No ! No !
Albin returns to Renato’s side.
Albin: What have I done now?
Renato: What kind of walk is that?
Albin: What's the matter with it?
Renato: Mince like that tonight and we're ruined.
Albin: What am I going to do ?
Renato: Come here.
Albin: What do you want?
Renato: Try to walk like John Wayne.
Albin: The cowboy?
Renato: Yes, John Wayne. Gets off your horse, walk towards the saloon, and send the doors flying ! Try it.
Albin: I have to be John Wayne? Here I go.
Minces again.
Renato: ( As Albin flings open the bar doors ) That's Miss John Wayne !
There is a most exquisite irony here because the score for this film is by Ennio Morricone, who also did the music for the Sergio Leone “spaghetti westerns”. Just a few wisps of that wild west saloon sound & a couple of piano chords in the same style set the mood for a confrontation …
Voice from the bar; ( mimicking an effeminate lisp in a not unfriendly way, but difficult to translate )
Alors pédé ! ( which maybe translates as … Hey, fag ! )
Albin: ( returning to their table ) Someone just called me a fag.
Renato, throws down his napkin, rolls up his sleeves & parodies the John Wayne swagger in an even more exaggerated way as he approaches the smallest man at the bar …
Albin: And now he shows me …
part six ... hubris a la john wayne ... and redemption
Renato: Did you call my friend a fag?
The smallest man confidently shakes his head in denial,
and then jerks his thumb, indicating the huge man standing right behind him …
... and we avert our gaze from the ensuing violence
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
eltham palace ... amazing what you can do with a few millions
Combining Art Deco and ocean liner style, Eltham Palace is a stunning masterpiece of twentieth-century design. Textile magnates Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built their glamorous London showpiece in 1936, next to the remains of a medieval royal palace which was originally Henry VIII’s boyhood home. The dining room features pink leather upholstered chairs and black-and-silver doors, portraying animals and birds from London Zoo. The Courtaulds’ home movie is another delight, showing them relaxing with their pet lemur. Discover many enticing features in the nineteen acres of surrounding gardens, including a sunken rose garden and medieval bridge ... it sez on the english heritage web site. The entrance to the house is a wonderful conception, with a three sided hall linking wings of the house that were offest by more than ninety degrees, doors and staircases carefully aligned to give long views through grand spaces, etc, etc. beneath a dome studded with what appear to be hundreds of lenses to bring down lots of daylight.
the quality of mercy ...
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)