Audrey Hepburn sings Piaf’s classic in the 1954 film Sabrina
The erotic songs lost in translation
When Serge Gainsbourg died in 1991, France’s then-president François Mitterrand mourned the loss of “our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire,” the man who had “elevated song to the level of art.” In a career spanning five decades, Gainsbourg embraced everything from chanson, mambo and yé yé to rock, reggae and electronica, incorporating lyrics that were in turn profound, witty or provocative and at times utterly obscene. Frequently employing ingenious wordplay that would give the lyrics two, if not three different meanings his compositions remain wholly original and uniquely out of time [ . . . ]
More at: BBC – Culture – The erotic songs lost in translation
Au Hasard Balthazar de Robert Bresson – 1966
Anne Wiazemsky, a French novelist and New Wave actress who appeared in seven films directed by her husband, Jean-Luc Godard, died on Thursday in Paris. She was 70.
Ms. Wiazemsky expressed few regrets, though she recalled that when she was first cast by Bresson in “Au Hasard Balthazar,” she replaced an actress who had already been selected for the role.
“She lost the film because of me,” she said, “and I still feel a pang of regret for that unknown girl.” [ NYTimes 10/5/17 ]
Chanson Du Jour: Les Feuilles Mortes
YVES MONTAND – Les Feuilles Mortes
100 Years Since Her Execution, Was Mata Hari a Sexy Spy or a Sexy Scapegoat?
100 Years Since Her Execution, Was Mata Hari a Sexy Spy or a Sexy Scapegoat?At nearly every turn, Margaretha Zelle MacLeod made the wrong choices. Yet she managed to create a persona that continues to dance on the crowded stage of popular culture.
ELLEN HAMPTON10.08.17 12:00 AM ET PARIS—
Her name lives on a century after they stood her in front of a firing squad on Oct. 15, 1917, and watched her die: Mata Hari, treacherous spy, devious liar, a wicked woman to the core. Or was she something else entirely? [ . . . ]
Source: 100 Years Since Her Execution, Was Mata Hari a Sexy Spy or a Sexy Scapegoat?
France to make least wine in 60 years as frost, rot hit grapes
[PARIS] French winemakers will produce the smallest vintage in 60 years after spring frost hit vines in Bordeaux, summer storms caused grape rot in Champagne and drought shriveled grape bunches in the country’s southeast.Wine volume will fall 19 per cent to 36.9 million hectolitres this year, equivalent to about 4.9 billion bottles
Source: France to make least wine in 60 years as frost, rot hit grapes, Consumer – THE BUSINESS TIMES
