December 2011
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| The title of this French series Les mystères de l'amour, says it all. It's what they call a feuilleton sentimental. But that's fine, it's the very natural style of dialogue that interests us here and offers a good test of the ear. And actually... I enjoyed it. | On FranceTélévisions, the news is read in a serious manner by a man in a suit. On the private channel BFM TV, they are much more excitable. And yesterday (8 Dec), they had managed to get access to the security camera videos taken in the New York Sofitel after the chamber maid complained of sexual aggression by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. A fine example of four people talking more or less all at the same time | |
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| The original film of Les visiteurs, which imagines a knight and his squire of the French Middle Ages transported to our times was the biggest box-office success ever before Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis. Here is the sequel, Les visiteurs en Amérique. It's very funny, largely because of bthe studied use of mock-Middle Ages language (J'ai ouï-dire que demain était jour de tes épousailles, mon noble Seigneur). Of course that makes for a fairly stiff listening exercise. But worth it. |
I liked this documentary from Arte Télévision
which revealed to what extent French viticulture, like French
agriculture, has been invaded by the chemical industry. If one can
assure a consistent quality, if one can 'improve flavour; with
additives, it is tempting to do so. The other thing is the man who
inveighs against the term 'wine-maker'. In fact it is a term whose
emotional weight depends on what you make. A clock-maker is a respected
artisan, a boiler-maker less so. But it is a good example of how the
French import English words into their language, and then give them a
particular sense. 'Viticulteur' is a proud and noble profession.
'Wine-maker' suggests that you sling in gum arabic, citric acid and
other nasties to make your wine taste better. Note: the video link below is for Flash video. It downloads the same way as an .avi If you want to watch the video in your browser, click on the image |
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| Someone described this as 'the last great film of Brigitte Bardot. It dates from 1973 and was directed by Vadim. The plot and the underlying idea are pretty obvious. The style of dialogue and the manner of delivering it are very nouvelle vague, that is to say realistic, intimate, quite difficult to follow. It's a nice film, though. Flash video. Click the image to view in browser | Direct 8 gave us what promised to be yet another compilation of funny video clips. But it was called Le championnat de France des râleurs, and it turned out to be very funny. Here's a selection of the clips. Obviously, people who are very emotional become just a little indistinct, and you have to know what the context is (the first is about the French version of Celebrity Farm). But it makes a lovely example of the sort spoken French that you don't learn at University Flash video. Click the image to view in browser | |
