While driving around the South of France, we listened to the multi-part documentary on Charlie Chaplin on French radio 90.70
This except from the radio program:
“In his mansion, Switzerland Charlie Chaplin enjoyed the happiness of a fulfilled life while continuing to pursue the dream of his work. His daughter, Aurélia Thierrée, unearths some pages of his last unfinished work, The Freak, the mysterious story of a bird woman.”
I understood just enough French to be intrigued by this story, so I researched it a bit online.
“(The Freak) story revolved around a young South American girl who unexpectedly sprouts a pair of wings. She is kidnapped and taken to London, where her captors cash in by passing her off as an angel. Later she escapes, only to be arrested because of her appearance. She is further dehumanized by standing trial to determine if she is human at all.” – Wikipedia
The Daily Mail published this story about “The Freak” revealing that there exists a few sequences of film, never published, shot by Chaplin’s wife Oona in the garden of his Swiss estate in 1974.
In the book’s afterword, Victoria and Michael describe how Chaplin’s family and friends had gathered at Manoir de Ban, when the old wheelchair-bound man suggested Victoria (Chaplin’s then 18 year old daughter) get the wings out of the cellar and put them on.
Victoria Chaplin wearing wings from “The Freak” (photo courtesy of The Nation)
‘Once he saw her with the wings on it was really quite amazing,’ Michael said, recalling how his father ‘got up out of his wheelchair and came down and said: ‘No, no, you’re not doing it right.’ And he became a film director again.’ (Daily Mail)
Whenever my wife and I dine out, Linda usually orders a dessert while I do not. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. So, after my wife orders Creme Brulee or Apple Roulade, the waiter will ask, “and for you, monsieur?” or in America, “and for you, big daddy?”
The French New Wave movement in cinema (Nouvelle Vague en francaise) began in the late 1950’s and the tenets of Nouvelle Vague continue to be seen in French films today.
Notable features of this movement include:
slow, subtle and ambiguous plots
strong character development
few happy endings, or even conclusive endings
an emphasis on Art over profits
Belmondo Action Figure
While I have a genuine appreciation for Nouvelle Vague, I also appreciate a film like Pixar’s “Ratatouille” (2007), which not only sold beaucoup movie theater tickets, but also beaucoup toys. (I doubt the Jean-Paul Belmondo action figure ever made more than few francs – even with the optional toy cigarette that produces real smoke!)
On our final night in Paris, we crashed this groovy garden party in Saint Germaine. These guys followed this killer song (“La, la, la,la, la, da la, lah”) with Iggy’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog.”
La, la, la,la, la, Da la, lah!
Wait! Doesn’t this remind you of another great “la, la” song?
Every time I look down on this timeless town
Whether blue or gray be her skies.
Whether loud be her cheers or soft be her tears,
More and more do I realize …
“Manhã de Carnaval,” the lovely theme song from the classic 1960 film “Black Orpheus,” seemed to follow us around France for three weeks, first hearing it played from a saxophone echoing through a busy Paris Metro station, and later sung beautifully by Vakia Stavrou at an outdoor concert we found in Uzes, and finally sailing through the open air of the Avignon train station, as we began our journey home (the Avignon station features a piano that travelers can play while waiting for a train – good idea, non?)
Ms. Stavrou’s concert began with “Manhã de Carnaval,” but she added chansons in French, Greek, Portuguese fados, and a few jazz standards sung in English. Singing under a tree in an open field, if she was concerned about the wild electrical storm in the sky above, she never showed it. The flashes of lightning through blue-slate sky over Uzes, made it all feel like being in Maxfield Parish’s “Daybreak.”
Outdoor concert in Uzes
“Manhã de Carnaval” isn’t French in origin, but a Brazilian bossa nova written by Luis Bonfa. The film “Black Orpheus” was directed by Paris’ Marcel Camus, who won the Academy Award in 1960 for Best Foreign Film.
The upper video clip is from the film with subtitles. Below is a great cover by Paul Desmond, who played sax with Dave Brubeck. Earlier in the week, we stayed at a villa owned by Brubeck’s son.
Pas De Merde 