Monday, September 17, 2007

poseurs in burgos



house signs in vitoria



an elliptical bandstand on the avenue in san sebastian



san sebastian

playa de laga



















an acorn from guernica


cafe casino in santiago de compostela





an elegant bar/restaurant/cafe with carved panels all around that seem to be inspired by dante's visions of purgatory, appropriate for a place of pilgrimage where people hoped to reduce the time they might spend there


Saturday, September 15, 2007

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Saturday, September 01, 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

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.

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 !