As all my faithful readers know, one of the numerous ways I am trying to learn French is by watching French movies. Or, more usually, the French version of English or American movies. Because, alas, it is almost impossible to get funny French movies abroad. French movies are supposed to be serious, high bow, depressing, and challenging. I am not overly fond of such movies! Learning another language is difficult enough without emotional hardship.
For this holiday I had brought along the movie, 84 Charing Cross Road London
However, the movie, though wonderful in every way – it has an ancient looking bookshop full of old books, a middle aged slightly eccentric New York lady writer, old fashioned clothes and furniture from just after WWII, and so on and so forth, it cannot be said to be wildly funny.
But since I am on holiday, I feel entitled to the odd laugh here and there, and thus rootled around the la Bourboulian newsagents for another DVD I might watch to augment my visual holiday experiences.
What I found was ‘Comme un Chef’, a Daniel Cohen movie starring Jean Reno
This is one of the most amazingly funny movies I have ever seen!!!! A must see for anyone who loves cooking, eating, going to restaurants, or watching cookery programmes. And there are any number of happy endings, every loose thread is tied up and brought to a satisfactory conclusion. I love love love this movie!
It actually cost me Euro 20, which is pretty hefty for a DVD (you can have your pick for half that price of any number of classics) but boy is it worth it! I wish everyone who hates French movies for being elitist and challenging would watch it. Not that they will get a chance; because really good French movies never seem to get translated into English or even sport English subtitles, and ‘Safari’ and my all time favourite ‘Le Crime est Notre Affair’ are impossible to recommend to friends, because even if they speak French it is rarely good enough to understand these movies.
‘Comme un Chef’ is unusual in that it actually has English subtitles, so I can recommend it to all and sundry and say – Watch This Movie! Unless you like dark, difficult, challenging, soul-searching, morose, virtuously negative, ‘Noir’ movies – then you must avoid it like The Plague.
Sometimes I wonder whether the reason why funny entertaining French films never make it into the English speaking world is that the French cultural establishment, anxious to maintain an image of French cultural superiority, conspire to prohibit their exports? The notion that all French films are sophisticatedly artistic and incomprehensibly depressing is about as true as the one that all French people are pencil thin and exquisitely dressed – not true! French movies can be funny, French people are just like everyone else – some thin some fat, some good some bad, some helpful some bloody minded, some – sorry, where was I?
Ah yes, go watch the French film ‘Comme un Chef’!
PS New camera has arrived, much better photos than the old one!
