Showing posts with label France. Show all posts
Showing posts with label France. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Jean-Paul Belmondo, R.I.P. Without Jean-Paul Belmondo, The French New Wave film revolution -la Nouvelle Vague- never reaches so far around the globe. Never touches every single part of 1960's Popular Culture. In Belmondo, an actor with enormous magnetism, savoir-faire, and a particularly Gallic strand of studied nonchalance, he becomes the de facto New Wave Ambassador, and the very face of what was (and was not) cool, dark, and even slightly threatening.

photo via The British Film Institute

Without Jean-Paul Belmondo, The French New Wave film revolution -la Nouvelle Vague- never reaches so far around the globe. Never touches every single part of 1960's Popular Culture. In Belmondo, an actor with enormous magnetism, savoir-faire, and a particularly Gallic strand of studied nonchalance, he becomes the de facto New Wave Ambassador, and the very face of what was (and was not) cool, dark, and even slightly threatening. 

And always, in every film, he is eminently watchable! 

Belmondo becomes that most magical of all entertainers: he is #sublime.

Belmondo becomes both his very own brand, as well as representing a certain style of dramatic acting, AND in the process, becomes a representation of a certain way of thinking, living, and of film-making. 

And he is always, for both good and bad, France personified.

A cool France that has ideas and feelings uniquely its own, not American or British.


----------

It wasn't until I was living and working in Washington, #DC in the 1990's and could actually see great prints of French 🇫🇷 and Italian 🇮🇹 #NewWave films at the National Gallery of Art main building on weekends when I wasn't up in Baltimore for an Orioles ballgame or at home or sports bar watching a football or basketball game.

The NGA was one of my favorite social haunts, and there, I could watch and absorb films I'd never been able to see in a theatre while growing up in #SoFL.

It was in those moments when one of Belmondo's films was being shown in a packed theatre that all the dozens of New Wave articles and books I'd read over the years while in Bloomington, Chicago, Evanston and DC -and learning French!- all made sense when #Belmondo entered a scene.

Then, all of the dots were connected! 😊

British Film Institute: https://www.bfi.org.uk/
Cahiers du cinéma: https://www.cahiersducinema.com/

A tribute will be paid to Belmondo in the next issue of Cahiers du cinema magazine.


Sans Jean-Paul Belmondo, la révolution cinématographique française de la Nouvelle Vague -la Nouvelle Vague- n'atteindrait jamais aussi loin le globe. Ne touche jamais à chaque partie de la culture populaire des années 1960. Dans Belmondo, acteur au magnétisme énorme, au savoir-faire et au brin particulièrement gaulois d'une nonchalance étudiée, il devient de facto l'ambassadeur de la Nouvelle Vague, et le visage même de ce qui était (et n'était pas) cool, sombre, et même légèrement menaçant. Et toujours, dans chaque film, il est éminemment regardable !

Belmondo devient le plus magique de tous les artistes : il est #sublime.

Belmondo devient à la fois sa propre marque, tout en représentant un certain style de jeu dramatique, ET dans le processus, devient une représentation d'une certaine façon de penser, de vivre et de faire des films.

Et il est toujours, en bien comme en mal, la France incarnée.

Une France cool qui a des idées et des sentiments qui lui sont propres, pas américains ou britanniques.

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Genuine "Thanks" on Thanksgiving. France mourns a hero among heroes: Daniel Cordier, French Resistance hero, one of only two remaining "Compagnons de la Libération" -an honor awarded by exiled wartime leader, Charles de Gaulle- dies at 100

Genuine "Thanks" on Thanksgiving. France mourns a hero among heroes: Daniel Cordier, French Resistance hero, one of only two remaining "Compagnons de la Libération" -an honor awarded by exiled wartime leader, Charles de Gaulle- dies at 100.

After the death of Cordier, as of today, only one Compagnons de la Libération is still alive, Hubert Germain, out of the 1,038 distinguished by General de Gaulle for their commitment within Free France during the German Occupation. 

Upon his death, Germain will be buried in the crypt of Mont Valérien in the last empty vault.


1/ Daniel Cordier, #French Resistance hero, a designated "Companion of the Liberation," dies at 100. After the war, he became a leading modern art gallery owner in Paris as well as a prolific author on his wartime experiences, via @washingtonpost
https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1332022863918985218?s=20


The Washington Post

Obituaries
Daniel Cordier, French Resistance hero, dies at 100
By Phil Davison, Monday November 23, 2020 at 5:21 p.m. EST
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/daniel-cordier-dies-/2020/11/23/3986156e-2d98-11eb-96c2-aac3f162215d_story.html




What a great beginning for this tale of valor and strength...

Age 19 and about to join the French army to fight the Nazi invaders, Daniel Cordier heard on the radio in June 1940 that France’s military head of state, Marshal Philippe Pétain, had capitulated to the Germans.
“I naively thought, as my parents did, that Pétain was going to launch France’s victorious counteroffensive,” Mr. Cordier recalled in a 2010 interview with the public radio channel France Culture. “Instead, he announced the end of the fighting, that is to say the end of hope. I burst into tears, went up to my room and sobbed.”

Then, muttering a choice epithet about Pétain, he regrouped.

2/ #DanielCordier was a man who, when #France was at its lowest depth, was up to the moment + tasks ahead, when others were not. He did not shirk his responsibility as a citizen and leave it to others to do what was necessary. He just did it. @RBrookhiser @LewisHowes

https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1332024626877173760?s=20



3/ “When #France was in danger, [#DanielCordier] and his compagnons took every risk so that France remained France. We owe them our freedom and our honour...”
-President Emmanuel Macron
https://t.co/jjSpW0kYlr?amp=1
@RBrookhiser @LewisHowes

https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1332027630816792579?s=20



The Guardian
Daniel Cordier, one of last heroes of French resistance, dies aged 100
As secretary to the great resistance leader, Jean Moulin, he helped organise fight against Nazi occupation.

By Kim Willsher in Paris, Friday 20 Nov 2020 14.33 EST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/20/daniel-cordier-one-of-last-heroes-of-french-resistance-dies-aged-100



4/ .@EmmanuelMacron  "#DanielCordier helped to build the history of the past century, to bring his indispensable testimony to the memory of our present time. Farewell Caracalla. Thank you. The flame that you lit with your companions will not go out." 🙏

https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1332028062448431106?s=20


Watch the amazing video of the complete nationally-televised hommage to Daniel Cordier that took place this morning in Paris, at la Cour des Invalides, aka Les Invalides.

https://twitter.com/Elysee/status/1331971169889775617?s=20


Daniel Cordier, dans l'ombre de Jean Moulin

France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine YouTube Channel
Uploaded May 7, 2018

Ce magazine met à l'honneur Daniel Cordier à travers un documentaire inédit, un homme au destin extraordinaire : il fut le secrétaire particulier de Jean Moulin durant la seconde guerre mondiale. A 97 ans, il est l'un des 10 derniers Compagnons de la Résistance encore en vie. Ce Bordelais d'origine a reçu les journalistes dans son appartement cannois, peuplé de centaines de livres et d’œuvres d’art. Face à la caméra, il revient sur son parcours hors du commun. Marie Pierre d'Abrigeon et Didier Bonnet signent cet entretien. https://youtu.be/Qh4_N6Q5lNM




Dave

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Genuine &quot;Thanks&quot; on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Thanksgiving?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Thanksgiving</a>. 🙏<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/France?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#France</a> 🇫🇷 mourns a hero among heroes: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DanielCordier?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DanielCordier</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/French?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#French</a> Resistance hero, one of only two remaining &quot;Compagnons de la Libération&quot; -an honor awarded by exiled wartime leader, Charles de Gaulle- dies at 100. 😢<a href="https://t.co/kiE7Q7zHRK">https://t.co/kiE7Q7zHRK</a></p>&mdash; HallandaleBeach/Hollywood Blog (@hbbtruth) <a href="https://twitter.com/hbbtruth/status/1332188693147377664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thursday, June 6, 2019

#DDAY75 - So many stories to tell and share, including actor Charles Durning's, but one in particular that connects-the-dots: Four generations of one family remember Great Britain's D-Day heroes






I've been watching Sky News since late last night, early this morning in France, so wanted to share just some of what I've seen and been thinking about all day on this very important day.


























#DDAY75

Four generations remember Britain's D-Day heroes
Sky News
Uploaded on June 6, 2019

Clive Pitt is a D-Day veteran and, as the 75th anniversary of the landings returned, his family - including Sky News presenter Sarah Hewson - heard from him about his journey and made a journey of their own. #DDAY75



















Saturday, November 14, 2015

#Paris - Initial thoughts on the latest example of #ISIS pathology on display on the streets of Paris, a city that stands in stark contrast to everything repressive Islamic fundamentalism rejects: Liberté, égalité, fraternité; @France24_en

#Paris - Initial thoughts on the latest example of #ISIS pathology on display on the streets of Paris, a city that stands in stark contrast to everything repressive Islamic fundamentalism rejects: Liberté, égalité, fraternité; @France24_en







Tom Burges Watson of France24

Per continuing developments in #Paris, you probably still have it from previous emails of mine but just in case... link for France24's English language channel in Paris, which I previously mentioned back in January during Charlie Hebdo massacres. http://www.france24.com/en/



I also watched both the English and French-language channels during the last French presidential elections, where Hollande defeated Sarkozy. A well-known international media organoization even contacted me about appearing on-air to discuss the election, if you can believe it.
I said no thanks, foolishly.

As it happens, I took French for many years at North Miami Beach High School in late '70's and even received an award for being the 2nd-best non-native speaker of French at the 1979 Dade County Youth Fair Oral competition down at FIU, open to all French high school students in greater Miami.
Of course, I lost to a ringer from Quebec. :-(


In case you forgot what some people in Great Britain were thinking back in January, since we are rarely reminded of it in the U.S.:




The Telegraph
Quarter of British Muslims sympathise with Charlie Hebdo terrorists 
Some 27 per cent of British Muslims sympathise with Paris gunmen, 
while more than one in ten say satirical cartoons "deserve" to be attacked
Am sure we will see similar polls done in U.K. and other European countries within the next few days, with results that both surprise and frustrate.





















Ann Coulter's thought about Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems reflected in both the words, action and human behavior of Americans I see and speak with everyday, not mystical elite salons that believe that their own unpopularity is, itself, a reflection of something positive. She's right, they're wrong. 




























































This blog post is based in part to my not only looking at themany emails I received from friends and contacts in Europe, but also watching and monitoring France24 all morning, including seeing the Interior Minister's speech outlawing public demonstrations until at least next Thursday (?), for fear, clearly, of creating so many new and completely undefensible targets for so-called '"one wolves."
That being a favorite topic of some U.S. TV reporters, even when there isn't as much empirical evidence of them as often suggested in their reports.
But it only takes one, right?
Or, two in Boston.

Also, since it was reported last night per French President Hollandes's speech to the nation, I've learned that there are 61 official "border' entrances and exits in France, which will be more closely monitored than ever before, even while plane flights into France continue.

Press reports I've seen in various places keep hinting at more than passing concern with the 
French-Belgium border for some reason, but yet the media seems reluctant to say just why that would be so compared to France's borders with Spain, Germany or via boat in #Calais, scene of so much craziness and heartbreak because of the surge of immigrants there and theri attempst to get into Great Britain via the Eurotunnel or any other means available to them, a topic which I've written emails about to friends bot not posted about on the blog this summer.

I wonder whether this info I have heard about Belgium is being mentioned specifically because of an errant police leak or it's merely a trial ballon? Sheer supposition? Intuition? 
Hard to say, which also makes it frustrating given how much mis-information has already gotten out and with MUCH more sure to come in the days ahead..

As of 9 am Eastern this morning, two Syrian passports and 1 French passport were found so far on the 7 dead terrorists who killed themselves.
Numbers show that French police did not actually kill any terrorists, leading to a growing if still somewhat under-the-radar for now criticism that French SWAT teams simply waited too long to go in, given history and pathology of hostage takers -i.e. they were selected for the assignment 
precisely because they are prepared (and happy) to kill themselves AFTER killing as many hostages as possible, for a radical ideology where #numbers DO matter.

(That "strain" of Islam that to the regret of this country, President Obama refuses to say aloud for fear of causing offense - Islamic fundamentalism.)

Which means that in these types of situations, law enforcement simply has no time to pretend they are military units with overwhelming numbers and have the freedom to mass, coordinate with everyone and then enter and attack on THEIR own timetable.
New reality is that in this type of terror hostage situation, the clock is ticking... and a real bomb WILL definitely go off.

Similar public criticism of Littleton police by parents during and after the Columbine High 
School massacre proved to be more than justified, as there's still extant video of assembled, frantic parents and public near school asking why police were waiting SO LONG back then,
given that the Littleton area SWAT teams were armored, armed and trained.

Los Angeles Times
Police Under Fire in Quest to Study Columbine
Emergencies: Public lacks understanding, officials say. They defend actions of Littleton officers.
April 27, 1999
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and MATT LAIT | TIMES STAFF WRITERS

(N.B.: Eric Lichtblau is now at NY Times and an excellent reporter.)

Too much police concern for SWAT team members and not enough for kid hostages?
Which is precisely what I was thinking even as I watched the LIVE coverage of that on CNN 
back in 1999, when I was still living/working in Washington DC and that day, doing some consulting work for a well-known U.S.law firm... until the news hit and everyone raced into the giant conference room to watch the TV and see what was happening.
And not quite believing the 'rescue operation' seemed to be going in slow-motion... 

I had a similar sinking feeling and thought last night, and I suspect that many of  you did as well 
-the Police are simply waiting TOO LONG... 

:-( Anguish and exasperation in equal measure.


The Tweet below from this morning is my clear reference to George Stephanopoulos' frequent
absence from his own Sunday morning public affairs show, This Week, NOT the amount of time per show he's actually visible on it, which may be the impression I mistakenly conveyed when I did it.
This fact is self-evident, esp. to someone like me who's tracked it all year, since I believe that as of July, he was barely on 55% of 2015's This Week shows.

I've mentioned to many of you in person and probably even tweeted it a few times, and mentioned in emails, that as far as I'm concerned, ABC News should have never allowed Jake Tapper to get away to CNN, however it happened.
He was the best host for that show since its creator and first host, David Brinkley.