The Sorrows of Young Werther, Goethe

“Sometimes I don’t understand how another can love her, is allowed to love her, since I love her so completely myself, so intensely, so fully, grasp nothing, know nothing, have nothing but her!”

 The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is an epistolary novel written by Johann Wolfang von Goethe, simply known as Goethe. It is Goethe’s first novel and it was published anonymously in 1774. The reader discovers the story through Werther’s letters to his friend Wilhem. It tells the story of Werther and more precisely his torments. He indeed fully loves a woman whose name is Charlotte but she is already engaged with another man named Albert. Consequently, Charlotte only sees Werther as a friend and it makes him suffer. Finally, Werther decides to commit suicide.

You have to know that this story is partly inspired by real facts. Goethe was (at one time of his life) in love with a woman named Charlotte but she was promised to another man, Kestner. Her mother was dead and that’s why she had to look after her twelve little brothers and sisters. This is also the case of Charlotte in the book. Moreover the suicide in the end of The Sorrows of Young Werther was inspired by the act of a friend of the author who killed himself because of an unhappy love affair.

In addition this novel caused many reactions. It has been judged immoral by the authorities because it was supposed to “promote” suicide so sales of this book were forbidden. But it has probably on the contrary push people to read it. It indeed has had a huge success. We called this “movement” of reactions the “Werther Fever”: some designers realised the clothes which were described in this novel; perfumes, crockery and varied objects were created because of it.  A lot of books inspired by The Sorrows of Young Werther were published: sequels, imitations or even parodies. But the most important to memorize is that it also provoked a “wave” of suicides. What is called the “Werther effect” in sociology is the fact that some people killed themselves afterward someone else did.

The Dark Fields – Alan Glynn

« And if you had the possibility of becoming a perfect version of yourself ? »

Hi ! Today I would like to speak about The Dark Fields which is the first novel written by Alan Glynn and published in 2001. This book also inspired Neil Burger to realize his movie Limitless in 2011.  Oh, and it is again a thriller (maybe that one day I will choose an another kind of movie or book…! 😉 )

In this novel, we meet Eddy Spinola who was a man with many difficulties to succeed in his professionnal and love life. One day, he saw again his brother-in-law, Vernon Gant, who was also a former dealer. This meeting changed his life ; indeed, Vernon decided to give him an experimental drug called « MDT-48 » which guarantees huge intellectual and creative abilities. His perceptions, memory and thinking skills were unbelievable ! The effects of the MDT on the young man exceeded his expectations and led him to a new life ! But obviously, things are short course… Eddy’s dreams will not be still easy to realize.

« I learnt piano in three days, math became useful… and funny. I knew everything about everything. »

According to me, this novel is really fascinating and we want to discover what happen after every chapter. I saw the movie with Bradley Cooper and I liked it well, too. These two works are nice to read or to watch and I deeply advise them. 🙂

 » Colonia « 

Hi, Everybody,

Today I’m going to speak about a film entitled  » Colonia  » and realised by Florian Gallenberger. The story takes place in 1973 in Chilli; and was inspired by true event; the camp « colonia dignidad » has really exist just like the characters.

 

So this story talked about a young woman named Lena and her german boyfriend Daniel, one day Daniel and Lena was arrested by Pinochet’s military like many other people. They released Lena and bring Daniel in a secret camp named « Colonia Dignidad ». Once in the camp Nobody comes out. So Lena decided to join Daniel and risk her life to find him, so she secretly enters in the camp. She was willing to do anything to find Daniel. Life conditions was hard, womens who disobeyed were beaten or worth. To survive they have to do horrible and hard things, Lena wants to find Daniel and escape. Will they get there? Or will they die?

To know what happened you have to watch this amazing film.

He is really touching and throught him we can have an idea of the life in the camp, and see the horror and the terror present there.

 

I recommend it for everybody, This film gave me a new vision of this period. Wa can feel the intensity of all feeling in this film. It’s different than a documentary. So if you want to have a good time, you can watch « Colonia ».

 » Cyrano De Bergerac  » – Edmond Rostand

HI everybody,

Today I’m going to speak about a drama entitled « Cyrano De Bergerac » written by Edmond Rostand. She was played in december 28th 1897 for the first time in Paris. I think you probably know this story and maybe you read it but I wanted to speak about this drama because she is probably my favourite.

First you have to know that my mother obliged me to read this drama so I wasn’t really determined to read it but I was really surprise and finally I was pretty happy.

Cyrano is known for is intelligence and his face (more specially for his nose.) He fall in love of his cousin: Roxane, however he doesn’t want to tell her because he’s afraid about her reaction. Roxane sees Cyrano just like a cousin and she is attrated to Christian. Cyrano wants before all the hapiness of Roxane, so he decided to help Chrisian to seduce Roxane. However he discover that Christian is « stupid » and knows nothing about poetry. Nevertheless he helped him: Cyrano writte numerous letter and Christian sign them. Finally Roxane fall in love of Christian (more precisely of Christian’s physical and Cyrano’s spirit). Then Roxane and Christian get married just before he goes to war with Cyrano.
And even during the war Cyrano continues to pretend to be Christian in his letter. Christian realised that Roxane loved only Cyrano’s spirit and that Cyrano loved her, so he would like to reveal the truth to roxane but he died.
Out of respect for him, Cyrano is revealed never the truth to roxane except on the day of his death.

I’m not a big fan of romantic novel or romantic drama but this one makes me cry at the end and I was sad to have already finished it, that’s why I recommend this drama.  

The Dunwich horror, H.P.Lovecraft

« It is always a relief to get clear of the place […]. Afterward one sometimes learn that one has been through Dunwich. Outsiders visit Dunwich as seldom as possible, and since a certain season of horror all the signboards pointing toward it have been taken down »

These few lines allow you to discover the atmosphere in the short story The Dunwich horror written by the famous american author Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The story unfolds in a fictive place -Dunwich- which is supposed to be located in Massachusetts (USA). The reader attends Wilbur Whateley’s birth and childhood. He lives in an isolated farm with his mother and his grandfather who both have a bad reputation: they are suspected of witchcraft. Wilbur grows up abnormally fast: with only 1 year, he can speak and with 4 years he seems to be 10. Other strange things happen concerning this family : the grandfather buy many cows and they die one after the other ; there is a terrible odor around the farm and at night we can hear some rumblings… as if the Whateleys breed a mysterious beast… Moreover Wilbur wants to borrow a  strange book: the Necronomicon. (nekros=death, corpse)

I liked this book -it would have been great to read during Halloween- but I have to advise you that it is quite uneasy for a novice to enter Lovecraft’s universe ! The writer invented a complet myth (whose name is Cthulhu Mythos) with its gods (which are in fact extraterrestrial entities), cults and its reference book: the Necronomicon. Lovecraft belonged to a philosophy/movement that he created: the cosmicism whose main theme is the insignificance of man. To show you an example ; Lovecraft said: « the human race will disapear. Other races will appear and disappear in turn ».

To summarize, the story is pleasant though a little bit weird and obviously horrific but when we want to know more about its author and his works, it’s quite complex (it’s a bit similar to a rich universe like the Lord of the Rings for instance).

Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher ( 2007 )

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Thirteen Reasons Why is a novel written by Jay Asher and published in 2007.

The story begins as a teenage boy named Clay Jensen comes back home after school and finds a package, in this box are 7 cassette tapes and 13 stories recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate but also someone close to Clay, who recently committed suicide. Hannah was bullied at school because various people would start rumours about her and they would end up being known by everyone, all these various people are on the tapes. Each cassette contains a recording of Hannah’s voice exposing one of the person who made her end her life. On the first tape, Hannah tells her listeners that she holds each of them responsible for her death, and that the tapes will explain why. After listening, each person must give the tapes to the next person on the list, that next person was now Clay.

This book it truly amazing and I think that nowadays it’s really important to raise awareness about the people who are bullied because, even though this book is fictional, some teenagers did commit suicide because they were bullied in real life.

La La Land – Damien Chazelle

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La La Land is an American musical comedy written and directed by Damien Chazelle ( a French American director and screen writter ). It’s the story of a young woman called Mia ( played by Emma Stone ),  a waitress, who, in between her shifts, auditions for small roles in movies because becoming an actress in her dream. On the other hand, we follow a jazz fan, Sebastian ( played by Ryan Gosling ) who plays in small bars to make a living out of his passion for piano. Destiny will bring these two dreamers together but will their love for each other make it through the hard life of Hollywood ?

The jazz music is a big part of this movie and all the songs were written and composed by Justin Hurwirtz, he also worked with Damien Chazelle on Whiplash and Guy and Medeline on a Park Bench. 

I loved this movie because I love music and even though jazz is not my favorite type of music, I still enjoyed all the singing and dancing parts of this film.

The Dreamers

 

The Dreamers

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The movie :

The Dreamers is an romantic drama film drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and released in 2003. It is a co-production by cinematographic compagnies from France, United Kingdom and Italy. This movie was inspired by Gilbert Adair‘s novel called The Holy Innoncents (1988) which was inspired itself by Jean Cocteau‘s book named Les Enfants Terribles (1929).

Synopsis :

The story occured against the backdrop of the May 1968 riots. Matthew, a newcomer student from America arrives in Paris and stumble upon twins during a manifestation : Isabelle and Theo. They quickly become friends especially thanks to their enthusiasm in film. The French brother and sister decide to welcome Matthew during their parents’ holidays. Three all alone in the appartment, they lay down rules of a game which will promptly take an unhealthy and oppressive shape. They will play with fire and this joke will led them to discover and understand their own identity like a kind of initiatory journey.

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I appreciated this movie for several reasons :

First, the numerous cinematographic references : the three heroes talk about cinema and often reproduce cult scenes of different films in their own way such as Bande à Part, À Bout de Souffle, Scarface, Top Hat or Freaks and that makes me want to see some of it. Their imitations are pretty funny and in a way, The Dreamers is a tribute to the cinema.

Then, an another important point is the music. The film is immerged in a musical universe that I love : psychedelic rock, hard-rock with various artists and groups such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors…

May 68 is an interesting background that I have never seen in others movies. There is even stock footage of this time in the picture.

There are also many striking shots thanks to the lighting, the picture composition etc.

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This movie is constituted by a significant number of cultural references that makes it a truly interesting film even if I thought that it went round in circles. May 68 is here but not really operated… The story is not totally captivating even if the characters are relevant. Besides, sometimes the viewer doesn’t feel comfortable especially because of the almost perverse relation between the siblings and it becomes a kind of love triangle. This movie represents excess and the decadent youth of the 60’s, although it is not my favorite film, you should watch it !

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Bill Manbo’s Colors of Confinement

December 7, 1941- 7:48 a.m
« A date in which we live in infamy« , says President Roosevelt.
The well-known military strike on Pearl Harbor was intended by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters as a preventive attack to keep the U.S away from interfering with military attacks Japan planned in South Asia, against overseas counties. 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. The attack left American people in a profound shock, since it happened on their territory, without any explicit warning nor any declaration of war. Contrary to expectations, it led to the superpower’s entry into World War II. From the end
If we know how much that particular event disrupted the course of history in an international standpoint, we know a lot less about the repercussion it had from within.

Feb. 19, 1942
The trap slowly closes in around 120,000 people from Japanese origins who live on the West Coast of the country. From the end of the 19th century, they were numerous to leave Japan in order to settle in to the United States. The law prohibits them to have the American citizenship, however their children, who were born there, are Americans. Suddenly, they all became suspects, potential betrayers, inside ennemies. President Roosevelt signes the executive order n°9066 to remove every person of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. They are placed in confinement camps as hysteria spreads across the country. American citizens fear another attack, as they are accused to be in cahoots with Japan to plan another strike or to poison water resources. Every descendant of Japanese immigrants have to bring back their radios and cameras to the authorities. Among 120,000 people gathered, two thirds of them are authentic American citizens
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Form March to June, 1942
District after district, the army proceeds to the evacuation of these people, whose sight is now unwanted. One of them is Bill Manbo, an auto mechanic who dabbles in photography and model airplanes. He and his wife, Mary, as well as their baby son Billy, and his wife’s mother and younger siblings are transferred to one of 10 « relocation centers » in Heart Mountain, in the isolated Nothwestern Wyoming. Such as thousands of others, the family of seven -and soon eight again, since Mary’s father has been interned as « enemy alien » right after Pearl Harbor since he was teaching Japanese, before being determined not to be a threat- has to live its home, all of its belongings such as Bill’s garage and has to leave everything they know with a single suitcase. They are assigned to a small room in one of the shacks. The air is cold and dusty. All they an see is the desert that surrounds them. That’s where they are going to live, no one knows for how long.
Bill managed to bring his camera hidden in his suitcase with him and takes pictures of the camp sneakily at nightfall, as soldiers around the camp mustn’t know.

Fall, 1942
The West Coast is completely cleared of anyone Japanese. From now on, they are all living one of the 10 camps built in a hurry throughout the desert. More than 10,000 came by bus or by train to Heart Mountain, displaced without ever being judged. Two third of them are children and young adults with American citizenship. The head of the camp agrees with Bill taking pictures, but the instructions are clear: not any picture of the barbed wire nor of the soldiers around the camp. Bill wants to take pictures to keep memories of his son Billy as he grows older. But he had never envisioned that he would take pictures of him in a camp. There is no othe word to describe it; they are living in a camp. Everything is communal: laundry, food, toilets… Billy wears the American army’s costume his mother offered him before their arrival in the camp all the time. America is the country he was born in. In this place, nothing scares the children. They see it as a gigantic playground.
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Winter, 1942
Nothing seems to be able to stop the American army in the Pacific Ocean. Hostility towards Japanese people increases always more. In the camps, life goes on. Everything is still to build and take care of: schools, meals… The inmates try to forget the barbeled wire all around them, as well as the soldiers who received the order to shoot anyone trying to escape. Bill repares cars who belong to the American army and earns a few dollars. Mary still doesn’t accept to be there. A few months ago, she was creating outfits for a successful theater company. Now, the temperatures are sub- zero temperatures and the cold wind infiltrates their room. It’s freezing cold. Sumo games are organized to encourage spring to come. Bill has never seen before, he grew up playing baseball.

1943
Japan isn’t invincible anymore. Still at the head of an Empire, they are defeated once by the American army and go through heavy casualties. It will soon be one year since Bill and his family came to this camp. All together, the prisonners celebrate the Independance Day on the 4th of July. But this year, surrounded by barbed wire, they are uneasy.

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« Why is this country, our country that we are celebrating, emprisonning us? »

They are also allowed to celebrate the Buddhist calendar’s celebration of the middle of Summer. Women are dancing during a long time, colourful in their yukatas, light kimonos. Bill takes a picture of his son behind the barbed wire, so that he doesn’t forget where he spent the fist years of his life. Since Pearl Harbor, Japanese immigrants were perceived as potential ennemies. But it slowly changes. The state allows Japanese men to fight in the colours of the US in European fronts. Beforehand, they have to make sure of their loyalty and each of them have to write a loyalty test, which hatches the inmates’ anger. One of the questions asks them who they respect between the President of the US and the Emperor of Japan. The authorities want to know if they are willing to swear allegiance to The US. Bill answers yes, but only if they get their rights back, as citizens of America. Because of that, he and his wife have to submit to an interrogation, that ends well for them. However, some of their neighbors are judged « disloyal », merely as they asked the end of the camps and displaced again to a « high surveillance » camp, far away.

25,000 young Japanese American young men enlist in the American Army. A new regiment n°442 was created, only composed of American citizens from Japanese ancestry. Its devise is « Go For Broke » (Tente le tout pour le tout)
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?(This picture wasn’t taken by Manbo.)

Fall, 1944
The 442nd regiment is sent to the Eastern French front in the Vosges, where German soldiers are resisting. The Japanese American soldiers set the town of Bruyères free on the 19th and 20th of October. But as they release a Texan regiment surrounded by Germans, many of them die. According to Bill, they fought for the world to be free. But he is still locked up in this camp. He doesn »t even enjoy taking photographs anymore, since he knows each nook of it. He can’t stand waiting for the war to end and leaves to camp to find work. For a few weeks some of them are allowed to do so. But it’s not that easy: where to go? What welcoming will they find?
The West Coast is still prohibited to them.

May, 1945
Germany surrenders but Japan refuses to give in. The US decide to take drastic steps and use two atomic bombs that destroy both Hiromisha and Nagasaki. Japan finally yields and the war officially ends. The 442th becolmes the most decorated regiment of the American army but also the one with the heaviest number of deads. They changed the vision the American citizens had of Japanese immigrants. Each internee is given 25$ and a train ticket to the destination they choose. Bill and his family found the lights of Los Angeles back, their house and Bill’s garage with his tools, still as he left them. But many others didn’t anything left when they returned. Bill puts his camera away, his pictures in boxes and moves on to something else…

1988
The congress apologies for the camps.

1992
All grown up, Billy works for Boeing and envisions planes’ engines.
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He doesn’t have any memory of his life in Heart Mountain. When his parents die, he gives all of the pictures his father took as a gift to the Japanese American National Museum. Sixty-five of them where published in a book intitled ‘Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome photographs of Japanese-American incarceration camps in World War II’. You can see some of them here.
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The Girl on the train, Paula Hawkins

This is the story of Rachel, 32, divorced, depressed and who has troubles with alcohol. Everyday when she is taking the train to London to work she can see her former house now inhabited by Tom her ex and his new lover Anna. When she lost her job she continued to do the return to London because she doesn’t know what to do of her days and because she doesn’t want her roommate to know that she is jobless.

Rachel imagines a life to Tom’s neighbors: she calls them Jess and Jason, imagine their job, their conversations. Former it’s an happy couple with no troubles between them. But one day she sees Jess with another man and a few day after she learns that Jess (her real name is Megan) is missing. Rachel, sure to have seen clues, has now a goal: finding Megan. For that, she has to talk with Jason (his real name is Scott), and for that she has to see Tom and Anna again.

This psychological novel is very interesting because of the different points of view: the reader can see through Rachel’s, Megan’s and Anna’s eyes. There is a lot of suspens and I was very impatient to know the truth. Paula Hawkins’s writing is very beautiful, sensitive and captivating.

I know that there is a movie adaptation but I don’t want to see it because I heard that the movie is not as good as the novel.

Split, M. Night Shyamalan

Recently I watched Split, the new Shyamalan’s movie and I would like to talk about it.

This movie is generally depicted as an « horror movie » but I don’t think it really fits to this category. Indeed I found it very interesting because of the reflexion it sparks.

Kevin is a young man who has developed a psychological illness, a trouble of the personality. Kevin has got 23 personalities who cohabit in his consciousness. All these personalities are different: Hedwig is a nine years old boy, Jade is a woman who has diabetes, Barry is an eccentric artist, Denis is fussy etc…

A 24th identity is emerging, she is very more powerful than the others and its « creation » or « apparition » makes Kevin kidnap three teenagers who will become the « sacred food ».

But except this plot, the very interesting part of this movie is all the reflexion about people who suffered from this pathology, how their consciousness can divide itself in all these identities. In that way, we can assist to several dialogues between Kevin and his psychiatrist the Doctor Fletcher. For her, her patients may be those who can explore all their brain’s capacities. She has to adapt her speech and her reaction according to the personality she has in front of her: it will not be the same if she is with Barry or Denis.

She also wants to know how it is possible for one person to have several personalities that are each different from the other, why Jade is the only one to suffer from diabetes, how one body can be modified according the personality that is « put in the light ».

During this movie we can assist to a real mental fight between all these identities to win the right to take the control of Kevin’s body. Also, we understand that each personality was born because of a traumatic event and that each personality was created by Kevin to protect himself.

This movie is inspired from a true story, the one of Billy Milligan, an American man arrested for the kidnapping and the rape of three students. Milligan is the first who claimed his innocence because of troubles of personality. Indeed it was not really him who kidnaped and raped these girls but Ragen and Adalana, two of his twenty-four personalities. It is also with his case that schizophrenia and trouble of personality are distinguished.

So I liked this film  because of all the questions it raises and also because I have always been interested for the stories that treats of the consciousness, the brain and its capacities. Even if it can be a little « scary » I am like « fascinated » by the fact that a human can divide itself in different personalities who can have a different age, sex, language, habits etc… There was also suspense and tenseness in this film with a end that makes me think there will be a Split 2!

Seasons Of Heaven by Nico Augusto

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“We, as humankind are always looking for a new frontier to explore, and there it was lying right in front of me. We have explored the world and the depths of the oceans. We know a lot about it, but we don’t know everything. We spend immeasurable time and resources to learn about space, and to dive deeper into our own chemical make up. But for some reason, science ignores the call of the afterlife. It’s the next frontier. We are inexplicably drawn to it. Why then, is it so stigmatized that we don’t dare study it seriously ?”                                                                                           — Grant Wilson, Preface of Seasons of Heaven

Seasons of Heaven is a novel written by Nicolas Augusto and published in 2016. Since his early childhood, Augusto has been fascinated by paranormal stuff and all the mysteries what surrounds us, our origins and our future : what we become after death. He investigated a lot for years in order to answer these questions and still continues now. In 2012 after Ani’s death, his dear canine friend, he decides to put down on paper all his thoughts and feelings about the world we live in, humankind and human beings. All of that will soon become a novel entitled Season of Heavens : his debut novel in fact.

The story unfolds in 2047, after civilization has completely collapsed. A small group of people now struggle to survive on a doomed version of the planet Earth. Among these survivors remains a family. Once a night around a campfire, the father begins to tell his children, named Nina and Ana, “how everything changed, and why”. The story told by the father quickly brings us back two years earlier with Yann, a young boy with Asperger’s syndrome and his faithful companion, Ani, a French bulldog who Yann is able to communicate with through telepathy. These two http://cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/denofgeekus/files/2016/12/seasons_of_heaven.jpgcharacters must journey on a mysterious and beautiful realm called Heaven in order to complete a quest. Meanwhile, we’ll follow plenty of other stories with characters between space and time which do not seem to be related at first, but revealed after as having a link between them. That’s the magic of novels, I assume…

https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1920x400:format=jpg/path/s1150a3a189ce1120/image/ie5b89093a73663b1/version/1478710408/image.jpgBeautiful. Well written. Moving. Exciting. Even, exceptional. But let’s say it once and for all, Seasons of Heaven’s tale is really complex : lots of characters, loads of different stories, tons of things to remind for a poor reader like me. Despite that, this novel is a good surprise. Quite pessimistic (about human nature and our future) as I’m enjoying them, it still delivers a strong message of hope. There are also some interesting theories about life and death as well. In this universe, there is no place for the Bible theories of the Man’s creation and that’s good to read !

The plot is smart as it could happen in a near future : indeed, we understand in the novel that humans allowed themselves the end of the world, as a result of their careless actions (pollution, environmental destruction, power and money). Consequently, these survivors always have to remind that the very little things that gave their fellow humans a sense ofhttps://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1920x400:format=jpg/path/s1150a3a189ce1120/image/i3d771eb986ba5128/version/1478710408/image.jpg superiority and even power and omnipotence, were what had killed them in the end. The narrator’s description is abundant, allowing our mind to travel in breathtaking landscapes. It will take you from deep inside a mystical forest at the beginning of times through to the twenty-first century and the fall of civilization.

When we start reading Seasons of Heaven, we enter in a dream with unclear contours but details that guide us in our own travel. We can feel oppressed or delighted to the point of being a prisoner of his dream or on the contrary, having the wish to stay there for a long time… I remember that I finished reading the book with a strange feeling and I had to wait for several days in order to finally get to think straight about my impressions.

Nevertheless, Seasons of Heaven surely will awaken your imagination and open your mind to possibilities you may never have considered. As long as you will read the novel, you’ll question everything you thought you knew about humanity and begin to realize that the possibility of things existing, that can’t be seen with our eyes but only felt within our hearts and souls, really do exist.https://image.jimcdn.com/app/cms/image/transf/dimension=1920x400:format=jpg/path/s1150a3a189ce1120/image/i31b31dc6cf803450/version/1478710408/image.jpg

« Le soleil pointe au-dessus des montagnes, illuminant le ciel de rose et de violet. L’hiver est à la porte, l’été refuse de le laisser entrer, une bataille de couleurs vibrantes résonne à travers la campagne. »

Victoria

 

« I know that I am young but I am ready for the great responsibility that lies before me. »

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Alright my dear people,

As it is the last article we are writing on this blog, I’ve decided to talk about a very british work. Oh no, not the most famous book ever, but another TV show I have discovered a few weeks ago.

Yes indeed, first of all let me tell you that, it’s not an action-packed and bloody one.

Ladies and gentlemen here comes the famous Queen Victoria of Great Britain. And as you can guess, this show deals with her life, but not only about her duty…

Indeed in this period drama, you’ll follow her from the beginning of her reign, whenRésultat de recherche d'images pour "victoria tv show" one day, people annonced that she was the Queen. Not as a direct heir, because some are dead, some can’t, so yeah everything now lie on Victoria’s shoulders, a 18-years-old young woman. As you can imagine, that’s far from being easy tu rule a country when you are a young, energetic and capricious person.
That’s pretty easy however to identify yourself as her : you can easily fancy what it takes to be the ruler of an organisation like the United Kingdom ! She had to be brave to support it all. We may not agree with the ruler’s ideas and actions, but here you can’t deny that it was a hard position for her : an aspect that the show shows pretty well.
And of course, when you’re young what are you thinking about most 
of th and so (and you know they were close since they had 9 children !! No time to chill heh).

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Thus with everything that happened they had matters to make a good show and they did. Nice scenes, well-filmed and pretty funny with a touch of History : a good result to sum it up.

What’s pretty interesting too is the fact that they used Victoria’s personal diary so theyRésultat de recherche d'images pour "victoria tv show dash" could make the show closer to reality, and to show some scenes of her intimacy with her mother, her prince… And her dog, Dash : the cute aspect of the show. A good story is rarely good without a dog you know. Just kidding but dogs are always a positive point in storys. Hahaha that’s only my point of view though !

In a nutshell, Victoria is a worth-watching TV show if you want to know a little more about an important personality in Great Britain. There’s only 1 season now, but they are working for the second-one as I am talking to you. This was for me a great discovery, with very skilled actors moreover. Have no regrets and am waiting eagerly for the next season !

Over. 🙂

The Man in the High Castle

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Seeing that you may be as intrigued as I was when I first saw this poster. What the heck happened to NY city ? Let’s discover that together !

“The future belongs to those who change it”

Hello dear people,

Today’s an important day since it’s the first time ever I’m going to write about a TV show. The first-one I succeeded in finishing, that’s a red-letter achievement in my little life.

But let’s stop talking nonsense and focus about the amazing thing I’m going to deal with. As you read it in the title, this is called “The Man in the High Castle”. Did you know it was based on a sci-fi book written by Philip K. Dick ? No ? now, you know at least.

Well, summarizing the story won’t be easy but I’ll try to make something spoiler-free and a lit’ entertaining.

Right, imagine that something in our history drastically changed, I mean an important event.

What if the Allies didn’t win WWII ? And if the Axis (aka Germany, and Japan mainly) did ? Well you’ve got the context of The Man in the High Castle. That’s what you call “alternate history”.

Now in these dark times, where the world is ruled by the german “Reich” (=Empire in Résultat de recherche d'images pour "the man in the high castle"german), the story that interests us is set in the USA. No, not the usual USA you know, rather the USA that is split in 3 parts :

 

 

In this TV show, you’ll follow the story of several characters, and besides what makes also the strength of it, is the fact that you don’t follow only one type of person. Clearly, you’ll face the story of a Nazi man, a Japanese inspector, resistance‘s activists, parents and so on.

I assure you won’t get lost and that is really interesting to have different opinions about what’s going on, and sometimes you know things that others ignore… That is really well done & convincing since all the stories have a link ya see, it adds a great dramatic intensity to the show, sometimes the suspense kills you ! It’s freaking well made, you’ll shiver I guarantee !

« Each one of these films shows a reality like our, but not ours ». Here the link, the Man in the High Castle produces films. But not ordinary films, it shows something different, that is considered as a threat for Hitler (he’s still alive in this world since the story is set in the 60s)… You’ll discover why.

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Last but not least my dears, the actors in this show are AWESOME, but really. They’re playing their role and it’s great. It’s not the average TV show with shitty (sorry) actors. They may be no famous like DiCaprio, Will Smith (I don’t say they’re bad actors 😉 just an
example ! I’m talking about the fame) but really Rufus Sewell, Joel de la Fuente, Alexa Davalos, Luke Kleintank and the others are just simply amazing. The same for the filming, the shots, the set, the props, the visual effects, the story : everything will blow your mind. Ahaha but don’t expect it to be funny, it’s not.

In a nutshell, even if you don’t like history, you may like this TV Serie since it has many, many qualities. What could be even better than a show, in which you can hear english, german & japanese ? 3 in 1, that’s a good deal, I say 😉

A MOVEABLE FEAST – HEMINGWAY

If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

A moveable feast is an autobiography written by Ernest Hemingway and dating back to 1964. During his old age in the fifties, Hemingway decided think back to what happened when he was young by writing this book.
He depicts his life in the 1920s when he arrived in Paris. He was then 22 and began to live a bohemian life in France. When he arrived in Paris, he was a journalist but soon gave up to be devoted only to literature.
He tells us how he managed to live for next to nothing, wishing being known for his writing. In Paris, he met some famous authors, who were also expatriates, such as Fitzgerald, Ezra Poung and James Joices to name a few. Hemingway made his own way through literature world by earring advices of these writers who became his friends.
The readers discover a new Paris, so far away from the one we know nowadays. A Paris where everything is possible, a cheap and a friendly one, with parties and cosy clubs everywhere. In brief, he depicts a city full of culture and artists. As the author said :

“this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy”.

This is what I loved about it: it is a hymn to life. What’s more, it had a special resonance after the terrorist attacks of 13th November given that this book symbolizing the French art of living.

A FAREWELL TO ARMS – HEMINGWAY

A Farewell to arms is the third novel written by Ernest Hemingway which dates back to 1929. Hemingway, well-known for his famous writings such as for whom the bell tolls, a moveable feast, the old man and the sea, is also a nobel prize laureate in literature.

The novel depicts the twentieth years of Frederic Henry during the First World War. Frederic is a young American who volunteers to work for Italian ambulances. One of his comrade (friend during this war), Rinaldi, introduces him to a young British woman, Catherine Berkley. He starts to seduce her, and gradually falls in love with her. After he gets hurt at the front, he is sent to an hospital where Catherine is also assigned. Here, their relationship begins and they both fall in love with each other. Afterwards, he tells their life where they try to survive with Catherine’s pregnancy and their urge to escape from this war. They will try to reach Switzerland where, they think, they can be free and happy… I think it is also worth noting that the tittle has a double meaning. First, there is the question of the war, then arms can also imply Catherine’s arms, that he will have to leave… This book is quite a moving one: during the war, love is not an easy thing.

A farewell to arms can be considered as an autobiographical novel. Indeed, Frederic’s characters is quite similar to Hemingway. Like him, Hemingway was also volunteer for the Italian Red Cross, he also gets hurt and also met a British nurse during his convalescence.

« Water for Elephants », Francis Lawrence, 2011.

« Water for Elephants » is a american romantic drama movie directed by Francis Lawrence in 2011. It’s an adaptation from the historical romance novel « Water for Elephants » written by Sara Gruen in 2006.

Sara Gruen is a Canadian author and also an American citizen. She stands up for the animal’s protection and takes part in some organizations to protect animals and wildlife. We can suppose that she wanted to refer to her implication with her tittle, while keeping an historical aspect.

This story refers to the great Depression during the 30’s, in the USA.

The plot begins with the apparition of an old man in a small travelling circus. He is separated from his nursing home group. He meets Charlie O’Brien, the proprietor of the circus. Both characters strike up a conversation and Charlie learns finaly that the old man is Jacob Jankowski (Robert Patinson), who was a veterenary student and a member of the most spectacular Circus’ show on the Earth : The Benzini Brothers.

He begins to tell his journey. He begins with the fact that it was a fabulous and giant show, which was never seen during all the Circus’ history. But, quieckly, he keeps going with the bad side of the Circus’ wings. He tells us about the sordid aspect of the wings and of his boss. Quieckly, we understand that the conditions in this environment were intolerabled, mostly after the arrival of Rosy, a magnificent elephant, sentenced to make the show in horrible conditions.

The story redraws the life of Jacob in the Benzini Brother Circus, and also his fight against the ill-treatment and abuse with animals, like Sara’s implications, and also humans beings’ conditions.

I was in love with this movie because I find that it’s a very importante problem in our society today. The animal’s consideration is very important for me, and this movie touched me very much. The story isn’t only a romance with Jacob and Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), it’s also a very animal’s attachment, and a good lesson to learn. I love it.

Bye !

« The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry », Rachel Joyce, 2012.

« The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry » is a novel, which was written by Rachel Joyce, and it was published in 2012.

This beautiful story refers to a part of Rachel’s Life. Rachel Joyce is a English novelist. She decided to write this adventure of Mr. Fry during the time where her father was very sick and in terminal stage of disease..

In this fabulous story, the main character, Harold Fry, a old man, received a letter from a former friend, Queenie Hennessy, who is very sick and in end-stage too (like Rachel’s father)…

In his boring life, Harold and his wife lose all interest to each other… When he read the Queenie’s letter, he wants to make his life better and aims to save Queenie. So, Harold decides to write at his friend, and go to post his answer. He was just gone to mail a letter, and finally, he will travel thousand kilometers. When he arrives to the post office, he says him that he can go to the next town. When he arrives to the next town, he says him that he could go to the next town again, and so on …

Finally, he goes to live a wonderful adventure (87 days) during his travel. He will meet a lot a new people and events. Harold has only one objective « I will walk and you will live Queenie ».

I find this book very beautiful and good, because the character of Harold is so engaging, brave, with a lot of will to save his friend and maybe his couple. He might refer to Rachel, who wanted to save her father too… Really, it’s a very simple reading, but it gives us a good lesson of life … Beautiful !

If I Stay

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If I Stay is written by Gayle Forman, a American journalist, she is known for her articles. If I Stay is a novel, which it was adapted to a film in 2014. There is a second novel entitled Where She Went.

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I am going to talk about the first roman If I Stay. It is about a young girl Mia. She is happy, a simple life, with her parents, her little brother : Teddy and her boyfriend : Adam Wilde who is in a rock band and she has a promising career as a violinist. But one day, Mia and her parents want to go to her grand-parents, despite there is snow. Then they have an accident.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KjlxZhyu3Mw/VChTHwBK4CI/AAAAAAAAB-E/LQV6KX9qFrM/s1600/tumblr_n85ug38AMF1r8gfe4o1_500.gifHer life is destroyed. She enters into a coma. But she becomes a phantom and she attends the visit of her family at her bedside. She learns that her parents are died in the accident.This story takes place in 24 hours. And in this day she must choose if live or dead. She sees her memories again and again and we discover her ordinary life with music, family and her boyfriend. Her memories are simple like everyone, we can identify with her live. She confronts with a horrible situation. Her life breaks under our eyes.

This story is beautiful, and with a great sensibility. I was affected until the end. But I don’t understand very well the end.

La Passe-miroir : Les Fiancés de l’hiver

La Passe-miroir is written by Christelle Dabos, a not very well-know French writer. This novel is a French fantasy novels who is in four volumes. In my article, I am going to talk about the first volume Les Fiancés de l’hiver. It won the first edition of the contest of the first novel youth organized by Gallimard Jeunesse.

La Passe-miroir is about a fantasy world, because the world is destroyed and there are only small islands called “arches”. In ark reigns a « family spirit », they are immortal beings who are the common ancestor of the inhabitants of the arches to whom they have transmitted powers. And the main character of this story is a young woman, her name is Ophelie, she lives in “Anima ark” and she is a “reader”, this means that she can read into objects, and thanks to that, she can know the past of these objects and to whom the objects belonged. She feels emotions and feelings. This power is rare but she has got another power that is rarer; she can cross into the mirrors. She works in a museum, where she loves work, because she likes use her “reader” power. She is an awkward, lonely and reserved character, and she lives only for her work.

But one day, her life changes, because she must marry a man whom her family has chosen for her, his name is Thorne, he comes from “The ark of the pole”. He is a cold, gruff and wicked man like his “ark”.And Ophélie must live in “ark of the pole”. She will have to adapt in a country where betrayal, wickedness and assassination attempts reigns, she must follow and obey without necessarily accepting it. And she has no family to help and no one she trusted. She can count on her powers to help herself.

I loved this novel, because it is a fantasy world that the author presents us. This is a world that is truly innovative, and there are many characters with different behaviors (whether you like them or not). It is a rich world! And the characters of Thorne and Ophelie are endearing!

Bad girls throughout history

   This book, written by Ann Shen, is about, as the subheading says, 100 remarkable women who changed the world, such as Josephine Baker, Marie Curie, etc… You can read about how these powerful women, from multiple eras and places changed history to make the world a better place. One page is dedicated to each of them, explaining what they did next to a beautiful watercolour portrait illustration.

   What I really liked about this book were the facts that it is very pleasant to read and it changes from a typical history book. The format is quite nice with the text and picture for each woman. It is very informative but also inspiring and fascinating. It allows us to know more about some women we’ve already heard about and to discover new ones at the same time. This book is very human, it is a great celebration for women and gives hope to an even better place for them in the world today.

Moonlight

Moonlight is an american drama that was directed by Barry Jenkins and came out in 2016, it was adapted from a play. The movie received 3 oscars including best picture.

   It is about the story of Chiron, a black man living in a rough neighbourhood in Miami. The movie is divided in three parts. The first one is when he was a child, he was excluded from the other people in his school who were mean and chased him. The second part is when he was a teenager, still bullied by the students in his class. The last one is when he is an adult. Between his tough school environment and his drug addict mother, he tries to accept his homosexuality and find his place in the world.

   I absolutely loved this movie for many reasons. First, the story is really touching and shows a lot of poetry and sensibility in a harsh environment. The cast is amazing and all of the actors’ performances are breahtaking, no matter their age. The music is very well used to make the scenes captivating and the images and colors are striking. Although I really liked it, I think the third part could have been a little more exploited.

I am Legend

                I am legend -Richard Burton Matheson 

 

Biography :

Richard Burton Matheson was born in the 20 Februar 1926 in Allenda in New Jersey and he was dead in 23 June 2013 in California. It was a writter and american scenarist. Richard Matheson like the style of science fiction and horror.                                                 Richard Matheson going in the school in Missouri of Journalism . Then have his diplom of journalism he going in California in 1949 and begin the writing. His first success with the first novel, is « Borns of Mar and woman » in 1950. And his secondly success is « I am Legend » writting in 1954 . Thoses book was suitable at the movie.                                         Richard Matheson will also in the cinema and television. He was writte too the text of the series sciences-fiction the « Star Trek » . Richard Matheson inspired lot of artist of sciences-fiction.

Story:

This story tells, that a doctor to find a cancer vaccine. But this remedy is effective. But this vaccine quits the laboratory and he go circulate all over the world. Many peolpe going to die. Nobody peolpe find the remedy for to stop this infection of virus.                                     However, there is a one survivor in the city of New York since 3 Years ago. This is a one Doctor, and he is immune against the virus. He has on house with laboratory and with this he would like to find an vaccine with his blood for the virus. Against 3 Years ago this man hunting of animals in New York, make a different experiments, and to find a foods in different appartment abandoned and he circulate an message in the radio in case there were someone else in the same case as him.                                                                         But one days, he falls in the trap make by the humain mutant, and his dog is contaminate. The Doctor try to save a dog. Sadly his dog is dead and the Doctor can’t respect the laws and will kill many mutants to avenge his dog. However in action a one woman survivor save a life and doctot. But will they succed in find the andidote ?

The adventures of Huckleberry finn – Mark Twai

 ( I really like this film, and after seen it in the classe, i wanted very much to                present it to here !! )

   The adventures of Huckleberry finn – Mark Twain :

biography of Mark Twain:

The real name of Mark Twain is Samuel langhorne Clemens. He was born in 30 November 1985 in Florida and he was dead in 21 April 1910 in Redding. It was a writerand also a humorist.

At first time he was in the army, and Then he was a printer and journalist. He will start by becommung famous with the roman The adventures of Tom Sauyer. This book was published in 1876. and this is a story of a little boys in United States and he has a lot of adventures. There is a element autobiographic because the sotry passed to the same place of life of Mark Twain. However he has a secondly sucess, this are the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , at first this book was published in 1884 in London, and then in New York. In 2007 this book is the fifth best book of the time.

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          This is a story of little boys. He’s name is Huck. He lived in a widow, Douglas  because his father is dangerous. He is alcoholic and he is violent with his son. Huck find a little friend and withh them going in the forest to game with other friends. When he go home Mm Douglas is worry for him because he is dirty and he did’nt eat . One day after this same scene huck going at his bedroom and he discover his father. He is effrayed ! And his father resquet money because he see than Huck  has a lot of money, for this beautiful clothes. And now, the little bo was kidnapped by his father, the horrible man. There are many spat because the father is strict , but Huck succeed in escaping that this badly home. And he make believ in his father, he was dead with a blood in the wall.

He has an another friend, he is Jim, what he discovered when he made a walk in this island. With him, Huck to going with raft in the Mississipi River. And his friend he’s black and he would like find a state free because he is research. Huck would like away from his father. There is a eventful life in the Mississipi. River, isn’t rest. In the Mississipi they two friend meet a lot of peolpe, or boat… The goal of Jim is to going as far as Cairo but on the way he would like to sell the raft for them to take a steamboat. Jim wants to be free and he wants earn money fo his family. But Huck want to denouce Jim, because he is black and a slave. Huck hasn’t allowed, to have a slave with him. However Huck doesn’t do that because he is friend.

One day they two friends gather two gangster, LouisXVII and the other Duc of Bridgewater. The two gangster this make pass for brother and wants to take money of all peolpe.( it was the first of their adventures) . Then, Huck want again accused Jim, because he is a slace free. Huck go to writte one letter and he will send it to Miss Watson. After this Jim is stopped. But HUck isn’t better with him. Huck trie to save his friend from slavery.

When they two friens are free,what we can see them to other adventures? (for know this, watch the film ! )

Culottées, Pénélope Bagieu

Apache warrior or Hollywood mermaid, lighthouse keeper or bearded woman, gynecologist or empress, these women have shattered the prejudices. Culottées is a comic written and drawn by the French Pénélope BAGIEU. She depicts with humor and finesse fifteen women portraits : exceptional fighters who braved the social pressure of their time to lead the life of their choices. »Culottées » Volume 1 allows the author to bring (or bring back) to light the women who, against all odds, have become in very different fields, great flag bearers for equality between men and women.

Since there is still a lot of work, the artist will decline these portraits in several volumes. The tone is deliberately light and humorous even when these women have paid a high price for their rashness against the most elementary prejudices and rights. These biographies quickly told (this is the regret that can be emitted) makes us want to go further on their stories and document us a little more about these remarkable women.

The drawings are joyful, colorful and funny , as well as the texts. Extraordinary female lives are presented to us. What strength of character, what pugnacity, in these
women. I especially liked Christine Jorgensen the first transsexual woman in history, Josephine Baker, the « so » generous, or Leymah Gbowee, a social worker, who used to experience war and domestic violence.

I also loved the double pages ending each biography, revealing a magnificent drawing, often poetic, perfectly summarizing the life of these women.

A beautiful discovery, and a useful album, to remind (it’s always necessary to do it) that women have a role to play everywhere, on all levels!

A comic to read and watch with pleasure.

Indiana Jones

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Raiders of the Lost Ark, also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is an American action and adventure film directed by Steven Spieldberg and who went of in 1981.

Starring: Harrison Ford, an archaeology professor who lives perilous adventures to get rare artifacts.

Paul Freeman as Doctor René Belloq, the villian of the story. In the film, he is also an archaeologist but he is working for the nazis.

Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. She is the daugther of Abner Ravenwood the mentor of Indiana and she is also in love of Indiana.

The story takes place during the year 1936. As the Third Reich continues its reign of terror, Nazis are on a quest for the Ark of the Convenant, resting place of the Ten Commandments, who supernatural powers (like the legend says) can wipe out an entire army. The government of the United States call Indiana Jones to find, before Nazis, this legendary Ark.

It’s one of my favourite film because it mix history, adventure and action. The cast is really good and the film as many humorous scenes which bring some dynamism. It’s also a journey through different countries like Amazonia, Africa and aslo Nepal.

Gotham

Gotham the good the evil the beginningGotham is an action American TV show based on characters published by DC Comics. The show began on Fox on September 22, 2014 and in March 2016 the series was renewed for a third season. It originally tells the story of Gordon’s early days on the Gotham City Police Department but the show include the childhood of Bruce Wayne and several of Batman’s villains: The Penguin, Catwoman, Poison-Ivy, Two-Face or also Hugo Strange.

The cast is:

  • Ben McKenzie as James Gordon
  • David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
  • Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth
  • Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/ The Penguin
  • Carmen Bicondova as Selina Kyle/ Cat
  • Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma

There are many others but I chose to put only the main teachers.

I like this TV show because it’s the universe of DC Comics Batman but we are on the origins of the hero. We can see how the murder of Bruce’s parents act on his mind ans how he becomes a regular kid again. We also can see that Gotham is a city full of danger and criminality and also the childhood of many villains. I appreciate the fact that the main character is not Batman but the police captain James Gordon at his beginning. The show mix criminal investigations and events wich allow us to understand better some of Batman’s state of mind.

Les Belles Vies by Benoît Minville.

« Mr. Minville, I do not congratulate you. I do not find it very fairplay to make cry the sensitive boys … I do not congratulate you but thank you! » -Simon Roguet.

 

 

     Today, I’m going to speak about Les Belles Vies by Benoît Minville, a French author that I appreciate a lot. I discovered him in Le Géant who had been a real favorite and then I found him in Je suis ta fille, a good novel also. In the book of today, Vasco and Djib are two inseparable boys from the suburbs, are sent for a summer pension in the heart of the Nièvre … A shock of cultures, with flamboyant characters.

 

     This is the beginning of « holidays » that have totally changed their lives ! Youth people from the stuborn who annoy old ladies on buses, Vasco, of Portuguese origin, and Djib, of African origin, find themselves in a hole lost at the bottom of the Nièvre, with sausage and cows. And some racists. They landed in the house of « Tonton and Tata », respectively 80 and 60 years, who welcomed more than fifty children in their life. Among those present that summer, there are Dylan, an apprentice to a butcher, who has great difficulty in containing a violent temperament, and Jessica, a bimbo who spins a bad cotton. They are brother and sister abandoned by a mother unable to look after them. There is also Chloé, a hippie, pationnated by theater, her past remains a mystery for us. And many other small children, some broken by life, others from former residents of Tonton and Tata. All this little world will spend the summer together, they will learn to cohabit, to discover themselves by spending a maximum of time together. They will do what the children do in holiday camps, bathing, cooking, tinkering, cycling, spending evenings together around a good DVD, like simple children gathered in a holiday home. Vasco and Djib will then discover another form of life and fulfillment in this lost village while encountering quite a lot of difficulties, between the racists of the village, the Dylan’s hot boiling temperament, the conflicts with some other young people of the village not really happy to see these younth of suburbs and the nascent attraction for the girls. Our two boys will have to learn to grow and begin gradually to behave differently than they were before they came. We quickly admire the characters of Tonton and Tata, this couple who is retirement age but who decided to give his love and energy to his children treating like theirs.

     The story is simple as life on this farm in the Nièvre where you spend your days preparing meals, gather mushrooms, walk the paths by bike or plunge into the waters of the lake a few kilometers away. What is striking is the sound of the book. the accuracy, the pulsation, the emotion it releases. The text runs, he burns, laughs and the tears come to the eyes, the words are simple, sensitive and generous. To tell you the truth, what initially caught my attention was the fact that this story is happen in the Nièvre. Yes, it should speak to me, since I know rather well the place to live there. I was curious to see how Benoît Minville perceived the region. I have in the book, a familiar atmosphere of rural life. Each member of this « heart » family has its past, its history. The reader attends, silent, the first emotions, the doubts, the evolution of the characters on the road to maturity.Benoît Minville gives us a story full of tenderness and sincerity, with the help of all these destinies struck by life, without, however, embellishing the difficulties that sometimes exist at a very early age. He talks about the social fractures and testimony of a certain talent to tell the jolts of the adolescence. He draws portraits of attracting characters without ever falling into the caricature. This novel, it is a parenthesis out of time, a privileged moment. A summer where wounds begin to heal, even if the path a long. A summer of first time. Little moments of happiness that make everything. It is a novel of tolerance, of life, of humanity, born by true words, in which one senses all the passion, the hope, the tenderness, all the emotions of these children in boiling. A novel of which it would have been desirable that it never end, somewhat like when comes the end of the summer.

 

     To conclude, I can say Les belles vies is the story of broken children who try to rebuild themselves in contact with each other. Many obstacles will stand in their way because, yes, life is far from being a quiet river. And it’s hard to get up after being pierced right in the heart. So imagine the pleasure of seeing them evolve ! They are so touching that I only can only be encourage them.This summer will be memorable for our characters and I find that it is a perfect novel, although it deals with serious topics.

Unforgettable (Pure Love) by Lee Eun Hee.

     

 

 

 

Being a fan, since many years, of one of the most beautiful countries in the world that is South Korea. I noticed that I had never written articles about something of here.

 

  

 

     Today I’m going to speak about an amazing drama entitled Unforgettable (Pure Love) created by Lee Eun Hee and Han Chang-Hoon in 2016. This film goes back twenty-three years in a small fishing village where a small group of friends who had lost sight of each other had spent their summer holidays together. This film is composed of two parts : the first is happy and makes us really happy to share these moments with our heroes, and the second most sad makes us cry and suffer with them. In the end it’s a bit like life.

     We go back in time to find ourselves in the 1990s, twenty years ago. The charm of vintage operates (besides the clothes like the overalls that our heroine wear). We follow the holidays of these teens. They always smile, they’re happy, they’re best friends. I also greatly appreciated the gone back in time and all the questions that our protagonists raise. For example, their questions about « What is the age to become an adult ? 20 ? 30 ? or 40 years » ? Gave me a lot of thought. As they say, the common idea is that you become adult when you are responsible, then people who are not adult will never be adults ? If Pure Love is presented as a love story (from the title) to me, it goes much further. I would even say that before being a love story it is a story of friendship, a testimony of life, of a generation. Throughout the film, he has several things that are pointed with the finger and it offers a lot of depth to the story. Their friend, Soo-Ok is disabled and for them they will break all the rules to help her and realize her dreams. Being together makes them happy. Besides, almost all the moments they share in this first part made me smile. The atmosphere was really cool, warm, cheerful, the perfect vacation.

     In the middle of the movie, the clouds darken the sky under which our friends band was amusing. This part was really sad. I don’t cry a lot, but I can say, with this film I shed a torrent of tears and that I put a little time to recover so much I felt sad and unhappy for our characters. The moment when we learns that she can no longer walk has been the click to make all the intrigue tip and everything has become more poignant, sadder, harder. A little as if reality was always catching up. Because for there to be happiness, we must also have misfortune, without this duality we would not be able to appreciate our moments of joys. The second part shows the love. In the first part, it is clear that Beom-Sil has a weakness for his friend, but there is no advantage of elements, not romantic scenes. And I want to say : fortunately. While with this second piece of film, we have a beautiful scene that touched me very much : the umbrella scene. I found it so beautiful and poignant when he drops the umbrella and kisses him in the pouring rain. The other scene that struck me (that made me burst into sobbing) is when he goes down to look for it under water while it drowned and pressed against him. I Found it so hard…And sad.

     This group of friends particularly moved me for all their moments of complicity, of help, but also, somewhere, their disputes which makes it a kind of mirror of each one of us. Regrets, fears, anxieties, dreams, etc. The mistakes that we can make, say under anger, tenderness and the sharing of happiness when we feels united. Everything blends as if to depict a picture of adolescence and of that age so complicated that leads us to the moment when one will be adult. Soo-Ok, is afraid, desperately, of being left behind because of her handicap, she can’t have the same life as them. Going to school, going out into town, all this is impossible for him because of her leg that drags on. She clings to the hope of being able to be operated on, when she learn that it will be impossible, she said, « Am I a human being ? Not being able to walk alone, I am only a burden for others », and these are her last words before she committed her suicide into the wild sea.

     To conclude, I can say that it’s a really touching film that ended with a little note of hope, like the light at the end of the tunnel. I advise him with great force for human adventure, all these contradictory feelings and because this film will mark me for a long time, I am sure. Once again gathered, to meet and return near Soo-Ok. Their homage made me think again of the beautiful procession that they had made to her and to the full strength of their friendship. Soo-Ok said they had to be friends until they were 40 years old but it was at that moment that they found themselves, in her memory. I was also pleased to see that they had never forgotten when they each took their turn out of their door leaf that famous photo they had made younger. 

The characters :

Bum-Sil

Soo-Ok

San-Dol

Gae-Duk

Gil-Ja

Amadeus- Milos Forman

Amadeus, locandina e poster

Hey everyone !

Directed by Milos Forman, Amadeus is an American movie released in 1984 which is inspired by a Pouchkine play intitled « Mozart and Salieri ».                     This adaptation was a real success because of its 50 Awards in numerous competitions.                                                                                                             As its name suggests, it’s about the Mozart’s Life, the child prodigy also well-known as a really talented composer.Fichier:Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart 1.jpg — Wikipédia

Mozart was born in Salzbourg in 1756 and died in 1791 in Vienna. As a child, he composed his first minuet in 4 years old, his Symphony in 8 years and finally his Opera in 12.

He was a virtuoso of the piano of the violin, and he devoted his life to the music : He had one goal : Be the pride of his father, a great musician, that he admired.              

Since his 3 years, he got the perfect pitch and a fabulous memory who anabled him to replay music he heard as will.

The movie talks about a conflict between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, an Italian musician who lived in the same Period as the first one.Amadeus" de Milos Forman (1984) : Les pires erreurs historiques dans ...

It begins with Mozart ( played by Tom Hulce) as young who plays piano for the King of Austria : We follow his evolution age by age and the growth of his popularity in the world. Because of his virtuosity, and his musician talents, Salieri who have to collaborate with him will become jealous and make anything to destabilize him.

The Movie depicts a Mozart really selfish, arrogant and pretentious : Indeed, he amadeus è un film che narra la biografia di wolfgang amadeus mozart ...thinks that he is the « master », perhaps because of his education. Some people hypothetize that the real one had the same state of mind. According to him, his music is something beautiful, great and it’s the best.

That’s why, Salieri wants to get rid of him. As well, he will make everything in his power to become the most musician desired by the Austria nobility.

On the one hand, Mozart lead a very hard carrier : Despite of his magnificient works, like the opera :  The magic flute  or his Requiem , he will live a really precarious life : He give no more piano lessons, his beloved Father died and his works don’t give him enough money to live with his wife, Constanze.

On the Other hand, Salieri seems to have a really easy life : ... Amadeus, 1984 (dir. Miloš Forman) | the diary of a film historyHe plays for the weathiest of the country and is delighted of the financials problems of his rival.

We discover musics in their context : For instance, Requiem was written at the Mozart’s father death : Indeed, it’s a really dark and oppresive music.

 

At this Time, Mozart is in bad conditions. The death of Mozart is depicted with a lot of tensions, darkness, sadness and he composes until his exhaustion.

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I really appreciate this movie : It tell us the story of the amazing Classic composer with a poetic dimension, where the feelings and emotions are conveyed by the musics : It is clearful in particular at the end.

All of the Mozart’s compositions are choosen depending on the moments and the atmosphere of the scene of the movie, and makes it more incredible and deep.

However, we have to know that there wasn’t any conflict between Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Indeed, they knew each other but hadn’t collaborate or being in quarrel.

It’s a perfect invention !

I think that this movie helps to understand the animated and restless life of the Austrian composer, without forget the context of that time : The composer didn’t live of them works, they had to give piano or violin lessons.

Do you know this movie ? 🙂

Here one extract of the movie : (Mozart plays one one the Salieri’s compositions. and wants to change it.)

Sophie Scholl, The Final Days – Marc Rothemund

Sophie Scholl, The final Days, (Die letzten Tage in german) is a german film directed by Marc Rothemund, released in 2005. The movie was nominated at the Berlinale in 2005 and won Silver Bear awards for Best director and Best Actress concerning Julia Jentsch who plays one of the protagonist : Sophie Scholl. Even if there was no awards at the Oscar’s ceremony, it was presented as the Best Foreign Language Film.

Who is Sophie Scholl ?

Sophie Magdalena SCHOLL was born the 9 may 1921 in Fortchtenberg in Germany and was executed the 22 February in Munich.

She was one of the main leaders with Hans, her brother, of the Weiße Rose (translated by White Rose) , created in 1942 , a German resistance group against the dictatorship led by Hitler. Today, she’s an inspiration for the germans.

Based on Real facts, the plot is about the Sophie Scholl
and Hans Scholl’s life during the second world war in germany. We follow them into the White Rose Organization.

Their goal is really simple : Raise compatriots’ consciousness and fight in a passive way through leaflet distributed in Munich : However, whereas the siblings were handing out the flyers in the Munich University, they were arrested by the police.

Subsequently, they are asked by the gestapo investigator (political police during the Third Reich) about these flyers : Although Sophie denied being culprit, and told she was apolitical, the investigator doesn’t want to believe her and led her and Hans in the Jail waiting to her Trial.

Guily of High Treason, the Scholl’s siblings and Christopher Probst, a friend who is also involved into this case, are judged by Roland Freisler, the well-known german Judge, president of people’s court in the Nazi regime, who was held responsible of thousands and thousands death sentences.

As in the real life, the Freisler’s Actor plays the role of a very bossy, authoritative, nasty,ruthless man who does not carry of the accused. The Trials didn’t take a lot of time : Indeed, the judgment fell very quickly most of the time.


After having questioned the White Rose members students, the judgment falls : The execution of the protagonist. Whereas someone told to Sophie that she could have 99 days waiting to her killing, she will be executed the same day.

 

Before leaving the Court’s room, she said  :

where we stand today, you will stand soon“

And the movie ends at her last words  :

« Es Lebe die Freiheit »

( translated by ‘Long Live Freedom » which is not meaningless.)

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I saw the Movie in VOSTA (Original Version with English substitles) and I found it really admirable as much by actor’s play as the adaptation of the real history facts. Indeed, we found the historical context of the second world war and the movie present Sophie and Hans as Heroes of their time : They made a lot to improve things during the Hitler’s dictatorship which led to oppression and Terror.

They fight against them in a passive way with a Resistance Group and entered in History like many other groups like Red orchestra, or Edelweiss Pirates. Unfortunately, all of these didn’t be active for a long time before be dismantled by the Nazis.

Through this adaptation we can see how was the situation in this time and how hard it was. The Original Version gives us a lot of shivers because of the Protagonist’s Anger, anxiety, and hopelessness face to the Totalitarian Regime which are accentuated in german (according to me).

Have you seen it? 🙂

Here’s the trailer :

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IAljVEG4tk[/youtube]

Lion, Garth Davis

Hi everybody !

Today I would like to talk about the movie Lion directed by Garth Davis, and adapted from the novel A long way home written by Saroo Brierley.

Garth Davis is a young australian beginner in the film industry, with only « big » creation : a TV serie name Top of the Lake with Jane Campion. However in realizing Lion Garth Davis is at the top of the great directors. Lion is an autobiographical film from a true story.

It’s the story about Saroo, a young indian boy, who gets lost in India. After days of walking the little boy arrives in Calcutta, capital of West Bengal, city of nearly 4,5 million inhabitants. During few months Saroo wanders and learns to survive alone before being hosted in an orphanage and being adopted by an Australian couple. 20 years later Saroo still lives in Australia but his memories, his biological family, his roots call him to their search.

Lion became one of my favorite movies. The authenticity of the actors and the sets ( the film was shot in the town of Calcutta). The director shows us the reality without embellishing it, notably by denouncing the actual penomenon of children left in the streets ending by disappearing in thousands without the government reacting. Dev Patel (Saroo adult) and Sunny Pawar ( Saroo child), interpret briantly the character with a certain humility what makes the character very endearing. During this film we cry, we smile but on leaving we ask ourselves the right questions about our human condition for example.

« Do you have any idea what it’s like ? How everyday my mother screams my name ? »

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

Hi everybody !

Today I would like to talk about the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck.

John Steinbeck is an american author. His novels took place regularly in Californie, the birthplace of Steinbeck. He also often stages common characters, of working class confronted of the Great Depression or of the Dust Bowl. Of Mice and Men was published in 1937. There is a cinematographic adaption with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise (1992).

The book deals with two characters, George Milton and Lennie Small. Both are ranch workers who move from place to place in California in search of a new job during the Great Depression. These two friends have a same dream: they want to have their own farm and raise rabbits. On the one hand there is George described as small but with strong hand. On the other hand there is Lennie Small, unlike his friend he is very tall and strong but it is a mentally disabled (there is a link with his name).

I read this book when I was in 3ème, and I re-read it not very long ago, and it always a pleasure. I was transported into the universe of Steinbeck from the very first page of the novel. But I think that the thing I prefer are the characters because I found their friendship very touching. However my favorite character is Lennie, I don’t know really why, but I think his innonce contributed to my attachment to this character. In brief this book is a masterpiece to read urgently !!

      “Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Scorpion

Hello!

 

For the last article, I’d like to talk about one of my favourite series: Scorpion. I have started it recently, thanks to a good friend (hi Jeanne), but as soon as I watched the first episode I loved it and I immediately hooked on the concept, which seems to be slightly different from what I have seen.

Scorpion is an american serie produced by Nick Santora and released on September, 22, 2014. There are three seasons, and it was renewed for a fourth one ! It is based on Walter O’Brien’s life, a computing expert who founded « Scorpion Computer Services Inc. » and who has one of the biggest IQ in the world (he has hacked NASA when he was only 13).

I

               

Now let’s talk about the series. « Scorpion » is the name of a team composed of four genius : Toby Curtis, a behaviorist graduated from Harvard, Sylvester Todd, a human calculator, Happy Quinn, a great mechanic and Walter O’Brien, one of the most intelligent person in the world. But as they’re genius, they don’t really know how to interact with others and express their feelings. So they « hired » Paige Dineen, a former waitress who helped them in the first episode. Her role is simple : she helps them to « translate the real world », as they said. It means that she helps them to interact with « normal » people. In exchange, they help her to understand her son, Ralph, who is also a genuis. Finally, the last (but not least!) member is Cabe Gallo, a Federal Homeland Security Agent. Together, they deal with different problems which require their intellectual capaticies. They always do their best to help Homeland Security, and sometimes to save lives. There are many turnarounds, and they often have to b
reak the law (for instance, they can hack governmental computers).

              

 

All along the series, you see the character’s evolution through the cases they have to face. Even if sometimes it seems impossible to solve, Scorpion always make it. Also, the actors perfectly fit their roles. According to me, Toby is the funniest character since he analyses his friends’ behaviors. Moreover, watching them reasoning in such a scientific way makes you want to become a genius…! But unfortunately, our IQs are lower…

I really advice you to start this series. It gathers all the ingredients of a good one : great actors, action, suspense, humor, and even love stories…

The series faced many bad reviews but when you think about it, the idea of presenting the daily life of a team of genius rescuing people can be complicated. Unless a real genius produces it, you can’t have detailled theories or calculations. Nonetheless, I don’t think it removes credibility because their explanations seem relevant. And no one needs to have made long scientific studies to understand their reasoning. 

Let me know if you’re a fan, or if you already watched it.

the Spy – Paulo COELHO

Today I would like to talk about Paulo Coehlo’s last novel : the Spy. The novel tells the story of Mata Hari, a woman accused  of spying for the Germans and so betraying her country.  Coelho imagines one of the last letters  that Mata Hari wrote from her prison, a week before her execution , to his lawyer  and the answer of the last one.

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Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, also known as Mata Hari, arrived in Paris in the early 20th century. She managed to become a famous dancer and to seduce her public, including affluent and powerful men. But admiration soon gave place to jealousy. Arrested in 1917, she is shot in the courtyard of the fortress of Vincennes at the dawn of October 15. The prosecution is simple : we think Mata Hari  stood with the Germans during the First World War. However, it had appeared during her trial that she never provided the least valuable information, either to the Germans nor to the French. Then, why these accusations?

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Through his novel, Paulo Coelho makes Mata’s voice heard. Page after page, we learn more and more about this woman in search of freedom. He makes us think about this improper execution. All along the book, he captures the legend and takes us into the universe of the 1900s and of the First World War. We are absorbed by Mata Hari’s destiny, an innocent woman who was shot. Perhaps she was guilty of being free, of enjoying life, money and men, of becoming one strong woman. According to Coehlo, guilty of being « one of the first feminists ».

 

I admit that before reading it, I didn’t know who Mata Hari was. If I bought this book, it’s only because I like the writer and the cover looked nice. And honestly, I don’t regret! Coelho’s writing makes the novel easier to read, and in the end you’re just like « wow it is sooooo fascinating! » If you’ve also never heard about Mata Hari’s story, I advice you to read the book. As a huge fan of both history and Coelho, I obviously loved this novel! It is incredibly captivating and interesting. By the way, a few movies about Mata Hari’s life also exist. 

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 I promise it’s worth reading it!