George Benlian on movies, books and few other things

The prolific French writer and academic Maurice Druon dies at 90

Maurice Druon's death nine days before his ninety first birthday is a reminder of the gradual disappearance of a generation of French intellectual figures who started writing during or immediately after the Second World War.

Druon was a popular writer who was never shy to express and impose his opinions. A prolific author, he won the prestigious "Prix Goncourt" in 1948 at the age of thirty for his portrait of a powerful family, the post-war French equivalent of the Murdoch dynasty. Ten years later, Jean Gabin played the patriarch and financier Noel Schoudler in an adaptation for the cinema by Michel Audiard. In the fifties, he published a series of historical novels "Les Rois Maudits" ("The Accursed Kings")which made him an internationally renowned writer.

But it might be for a song lyric that he was most revered. In 1943, living in London as a young cavalry officer with the Free French forces in exile under Charles De Gaule he and his uncle, the writer Joseph Kessel, heard a simple marchlike tune with an unusual structure of repeated 11-syllable lines. Druon and Kessel adapted into the French version which became known as “Chant des Partisans” (“Song of the Partisans”. This quickly became an anthem of the French resistance, second in its patriotic power only to “La Marseillaise.”

In 1966, he was elected to the prestigious Académie Française. During the four decades, Druon was known as a cultural conservative who over the years remained determined to keep the historical gender assignments given to all french nouns. 

In the seventies he served for a short period of time (Just over one year) the functions of Minister of Culture during the Presidency of Georges Pompidou.  

"Tulpan" - A nice heartwarming discovery

"Tulpan" is not your mainstream movie. In contrary, shot in a documentary style, this moving simple tale has deeper meanings about life in a treeless, remote area in Southern Kazakhstan. We are very far from the Civilization despite Boney M being present in this desolated region through one of their song. "Tulpan" might have difficult and tense scenes however it remains a well made comedy full of witty humor specific to situations only possible in those forgotten areas where life is a continuous survival against harsh conditions of the nature.

Life could have been better to our young hero, an ex-marine with "both hands and legs" if only the parents of Tulpan; the only single woman in the region would have agreed to give her as a bride. Our young hero has no proper job and to make the matter worse, he has two big ears. This is cynicism at it's best with a heartwarming evolution but no Americanize victory and happy end.

Sergei Dvortsevoy succeeds giving us the bleak beauty of the steppe’s windswept landscape: the endless sky, the camel stampedes, and one of the most remarkable animal birth scenes. A definite crowd- pleas er able to touch us in its extreme conditions of life. After all, this is a movie with universal tendencies.

For more information about this movie, check www.tulpan.com.au

Alain de Botton - the modern philosopher

Alain de Botton is an inspiring writer. Every time he visits our shores i make sure to attend the event highly anticipated by his Australian readers. Last time when he was here for "The Architecture of happiness" in 2006, the grand concert hall of the Sydney opera house was full of his fans. Today, he delivered his speech about the subject of his new book called "The pleasures and sorrows of work" at the same place in front of a packed enthusiastic audience.

The man might look frail however the minute he opens his mouth the art of elocution is well evident. The son of a finance magnate, De Botton never knew a routine working life. Highly educated, he began writing in his early twenties and two decades later he has reached the status of a world famous and respected modern philosopher who has published nine best sellers.

I consider De Botton as an intelligent and witty explorer. What is fascinating about him is how he can dissect a subject in an approachable style. His latest is about the pleasures and sorrows of work. In the past, he has reflected on how architecture can be a medium of happiness and well-being; on how people can become anxious about their status; on how travel can be an art of life and even about how Proust can change your life. 

Lately, De Botton is behind an exciting new project called "The School of life". It is described as a new cultural enterprise based in central London offering intelligent instruction on how to lead a fulfilled life.

I will be writing more about his books in the future months. In due course, you could check the following websites: www.alaindebotton.com and www.theschooloflife.com

Summer hours by Olivier Assayas

 

The French director Olivier Assayas is known for his rigorous and intelligent style of filmmaking. He may not be everyone's cup of tea and i have disliked some of his movies specially his earlier ones.

"Summer hours" - in french "L'heure d'ete" is his latest production released in France one year ago. An intimate family portrait if treated with sensitivity  and in-depth can produce an enriching cinematic experience. Yasujiro Ozu mastered this theme and it is not surprising to note Assayas being the most Asian influenced of French directors. He is subtle in his treatment of a story and can sometimes be too ambiguous.

Fortunately "Summer hours" is more viewer-friendly than some of his earlier works. A film about the passing of times may not attract much attention and i know some viewers expressed disappointment as to the lack of expected action present in majority of movies. This is a different kind of cinema; a delicate way of telling the story of three siblings facing the death of their mother and the sensitive decisions they have to make with the question of inheritence. Several scenes about valuable objects and paintings are filmed as a documentary to provide a realistic approach. I checked the internet and didn't find any famous french painter named Paul Berthier. 

Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling and Jeremie Renier are playing the siblings. Living abroad has become a life choice for two of the three siblings. This typical middle class french family will soon have heir in America and China. This film could have been called "Changing times". I liked the idea of starting and ending the movie with the young generation of teenagers and childrens. It is a distinctive allusion of the continuation of life despite certain alterations that come naturally.     

Yasujiro Ozu the Matchmaker

       

"Tokyo Stories" by Yasujiro Ozu made me a loyal follower of this director works. My collection of his movies is getting larger and additional information through DVD bonuses is always welcomed. Lately i have been watching a cycle of his movies having as common theme family portraits. Ozu was obsessed with the consequences of relationship between a father and his daughter ("Late Spring" and "An Autumn Afternoon"), and a mother and her daughter  ("Late autumn") after a marriage.

If i have called Ozu the Matchmaker, it is because the idea of marrying the twenty four years old daughter is in the centre of the above named movies. Middle aged male friends are all too keen to find a suitable husband for the young woman. It makes me smile when the age of the daughter who must get married is always twenty four. Similarities in the theme reinforces Ozu's obsession with the family portraits. In "Early Summer' made before "Tokyo stories", the whole family is behind the target of marrying Noriko to a suitable man except our young lady has her final word to say. This is an interesting situation as considering the context of the period - early fifties - independence in choice remains powerful. "The end of summer" made before his last movie in the early sixties has a considerable variation in the family portraits theme as this time, it is the father who has few surprises to reveal. I really liked the scene where the three sisters are at their father's deathbed finding out about his other life with another woman from whom he has a daughter.

Life and death are indissociable. Ozu has strong attachement to the cycle of life. All the movies i noted above are honest observation of life changes. Death may be the end however life continues on with the next generation. Funny and poignant scenes bring happiness and a touch of sadness. It is a balanced outcome that is so meaningful in our normal lives.

 

If the stories have similarities, what makes the whole experience more memorable is the use of the same faces. Setsuko Hara is the girl to marry who in the early sixties becomes suddenly a mother with a daughter to marry. Chisu Ryu is always around playing the father who will face a lonely life. Other familiar faces are all part of the extended cinematic family of Yasujiro Ozu, a man who was never married and never had children of his own.

Next time, i will be writing on other themes explored by Ozu specialy in the early part of his career in the thirties and the forties.

Leave to remain - a memoir by Abbas El Zein

 

The first time i met Abbas El Zein was during the Sydney Writer Festival in the late nineties. At that time, his wife to be Ann Mossop was the director of the festival and the laureate of Goncourt 1995, Andrei Makine was one of the international guest. I remember Abbas interviewing Makine at a litterary evening organised by the Alliance Francaise of Sydney

I met him again several years later still at the Sydney writer Festival. This time, he interviewed Rawi Hage whose book "De Niro's war" was a surprise best seller on the darkest period of Lebanon, the Civil War.

"Leave to remain" is Abbas El Zein second book. One thing in common that i share with the author is our country of birth - Lebanon. I have witnessed the bloodshed of those terrible years and i have always thought how our dangerous lives could one day become a tormenting subject.

It is a beautifully written book. The narrator asks in parallel the ultimate questions about normal daily life and memory of difficult times in a country handicaped by decades of violence  . A modern muslim intellectual who has a strong sense of belonging and who reflects about his origins.He doesn't hesitate to form a view with question marks about the future of his own children. A sensible approach of a heavy subject that is the War causing the killing of civilians which  results in a complete inexistence of rational life.

As a reader who has spent his first fifteen years in Lebanon, i am no stranger on the content of certain elements in the book. Trying to understand Lebanese politics is a paradox and a complete waste of time. There is really no hope in that part of the World.