30 May 2010

Old losers


Mammuth, the film about a long haired looser - Serge Pilardosse (Gérard Depardieu) who since the age of 16 always worked hard, never been on a sick leave and now is retiring at the age of 60 - is a very charming history.
After the retirement a very common question arise - at least for those persons whos only interest in life has been their work:
What am I going to do after the retirement?
Serge has no interests in life, he doesn't even know how to do the shopping correct and when trying to do some carpenter's work at home, he fails.
Another problem arises, a problem his wife - Catherine (Yolande Moreau) - discovers:
Some of Serge's former employers have failed to fill in all the forms concerning his previous work in their companies.
Serge decides to take his motorcycle, go on a road trip visiting all these employers, seeing to that the papers are completed.
This proves to be harder than he thought as some of his earlier work places no longer exists, some of his employers are no longer able to help him as they either are pensioners themselves or more or less senile.
On this road trip he meets a lot of persons from his past and also persons he have never met before.
All these encounters constitute a restoration of his life, also helping him to look to the future.
At the same time his dead fiancée is present in his mind, a fiancée who died in an accident for which he feels responsible.
This is a very interesting film with a lot of layers and the aesthetics is very significative for the directors Kervern and Delépine, blending a 1960-70's ambiance with the contemporary.
They also use the cameras in a very specific way, creating granular images, changing back and forth between light and darkness.
Those of you who have seen the film Aaltra probably recognizes their special treatment of pictures and themes.
Both this film and Aaltra deals with people on the margine, fighting for their rights in society, a social agenda dressed in black humour.
To some extent one can find a resemblance between this film and David Lynch's 'The Straight Story'.


The second film at Cinéma Lux today was Iron Man 2. Director: Jon Favreau.

In this second part we meet Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) again, now being known to the world as Iron Man.
He's put under pressure from the government who want's him to hand over his "weapon".
He explains that "the weapon is me" and that he has no intentions at all to turn himself over to the government.
Instead he declares that the eventual aim the government have had - to create peace - is something he has achieved on his own, making other superpowers signing a peace treaty, under the threat of being punished by Iron Man.
Peace-making has been privatized.
Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow) - his right hand - tries to controll Stark and prevent him from taking to many risks putting the world at danger with his big ego. This efforts of her becomes even more intense after Stark - somewhat surprising - appoints her CEO of Stark Industries.
Other countries has started to develop their own 'Iron Men' and this worries the US government but also the organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) who wants to help Stark in a number of ways, not least with a cure against the palladium that slowly is poisoning his body.
S.H.I.E.L.D. also gives him access to his fathers artifacts, among them some films who provides Stark with clues to his own creation and the reactor he's wearing in his chest. Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johanson) infiltrates Starks company but she is also a member of S.HI.E.LD.
Stark is also attacked by Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), who later on is revealed as the son of Anton Vanko, a physicist who collaborated with Starks father with the construction the first reactor.
The son has succeeded in creating a similar prototype with some extraordinary powers.
Another opponent is Starks rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), who wants to take advantage of Vankos knowledge and powers.
This in combination with colonel James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) who uses his friendship with Stark in order to get access to his other Iron Men-prototypes, firstly in order to help Stark but later on being used by the government and the military, creates an explosive situation.

In its genre I think this is a quite entertaining movie made with a glimpse in the eye, not taking itself so seriously.
This not least thanks to Robert Downey Jr and his acting.
I must say that even if I'm not a huge fan of Downey, I think he has found a perfect role in this film - or rather the directors have found a perfect actor for the role.
Mickey Rourke is always interesting to see. He's an underestimated actor, even though he's often type casted.

In this film he's doing a role as a loser who wants to get back on the track, seeking revenge - like Depardieu in his above mentioned role as Mammuth.
They resemble each other to a certain degree in these movies, big and long haired, even though Depardieu's loser is a kind big bear, Rourke's a big mean bear.
Pepper Pots makes me think of Miss Moneypenny in James Bond - and this is of course deliberately - and Natalie Rushman is a real 'super hero' but without technical material in her body, a female Bond.

On the whole I found this second part of Iron Man better than the first.
As in the first film the end is the beginning of a continuation.....

27 May 2010

Château Fourcas Dupré 1999


This evening we went back to the French wines, drinking a Château Fourcas Dupré 1999 (Listrac-Médoc, Cuvée Réservée).
The etiquette is the same as above but not the year.
A very good wine anyhow!

26 May 2010

California Ruby Cabernet 2009

It's almost regarded as blasphemy to drink other but French wines in France but tonight we did.
It was my mother-in-law who, among other wines, bought a bottle of California Ruby Cabernet 2009.
It was a somewhat sweet-tasting wine but quite good.

In Sweden, French wines are only the fifth most imported wines after South African, Australian, Californian and other wine-cultivating countries.
During the 1970's and 80's French wines were the most imported ones though.

(Photo California Ruby Cabernet copied from: http://www.athenshash.com/Images/Wines/Baywood_Ruby-Cabernet_Red_Cheap.jpg)

24 May 2010

Amélie au pays des Bodin's


Amélie au pays des Bodin's is a film about a family living and working in the center of France, more specifically in Indre (le département) - where I live.
It's a comedy originally being a stage play and running for more than fifteen years and - if I remember correctly - 3000 performances! This is the fourth or fifth film they've created about the Bodin's.
In 2008 it became the second most popular film in France after Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis.
The humour is however very rude and primitive but sometimes there are moments when the humour becomes more 'universal', understandable even for a Swede.
I think however that a film like this is best understood by the French and not least those living in Indre and the neighbouring areas.

In this film we get to meet the extremely original (or not?) mother Maria Bodin (Vincent Dubois), her likewise original son Christian Bodin (Jean-Christian Fraiscinet) (Dubois and Fraiscinet being the screen writers) and Christians wife Claudine Bodin (Muriel Dubois).
These are the main characters but who is Amélie? Amélie is a small baby born when her mother worked in the garden with beekeeping, commenting some of the events in the film.
In the end we get to see her when she becomes ten years old and the young actress is also the daughter of one of the directors.
Beside these principal individuals there are a number of atypical (or maybe typical for the region?) characters.
Maria is a widow and the 'godmother' running the business and also deciding how Christian and Claudine should live and work. They both live with his mother on her farm and this causes a lot of problems of course, not least as they both are afraid of Maria.
They all work on the farm - well Claudine not to much - selling products from it, notably cheese.
Christian and Claudine are being swindled by an estate agent selling a house that doesn't exist but not just selling it once but twice, at one occasion to Christian and at another to Claudine.
A talk show host (acted by a real television journalist) invites them to his show to come to terms with the estate agent but this causes more problems and they have already payed thirty thousand euros to him, leaving them broke.
They want to baptize their child but the priest prefers looking at a tv show instead and on top of this there are a number of burglaries committed in the area and Christian is accuesed of being the perpetrator.

On the whole I found the film and the jokes lacking subtlety because even if using rude jokes they might be good, blinking at different phenomena in society but in this case I found both them and the story to foreseeable. This even though they tried to make fun of everyone, the local inhabitants, the police, the priests, the journalists and tv shows and not least the British (a British woman employing Chrstian to work in her garden). Anyway: No surprises.
One and a half hour of entertainment but the laughs were limited - on my behalf - even though the audience seemed to enjoy 'the spectacle'.

Director: Eric Le Roch.

23 May 2010

Roller skaters in La Châtre









Fédération Française de Roller Skating
arranged a competition in La Châtre 22-23 of May.
The first one took place at the F3-track and the other one in the middle of town.

Some pictures from the course in town where the task was to skate as many laps as possible within a certain time.
In all, the competition lasted six hours yesterday and six hours today!

With the 26-28 degrees - or more in the sun today - it wasn't the easiest thing to do.
All ages, women, men and children participated.

A lot of spectators even if we can't see many of them in these photos.

Hôtel de Villaines à La Châtre: Women of Resistance

Vous trouvez le texte concernant l'exposition en français ci-dessous.


In the exhibition hall in La Châtre we looked at an exhibition displaying the resistance movement in France and in other parts of the world.

It began with a presentation of the French women who fought in the resistance movement during WWII.

It also gave a presentation of the women from other countries fighting for the liberation of France and even fighting in this area of France, Le Centre.

These women came from Poland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary and many other countries (though not Sweden of course!).

The exhibition then went on to present women fighting for human rights all over the world, with names like Taslima Nasreen, Anna Politkovskaia, Shirin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa and others.


Below follows the informational text in French:

« Résistance(s) » est une double exposition qui se décline autour du thème universel et intemporel de la résistance et de l’engagement : il a semblé intéressant d’associer ces deux expositions qui abordent à leur manière (historique, photographique ou documentaire) le sujet universel et intemporel de la Résistance et du combat.

« Parcourir un tel témoignage en faveur de la reconnaissance des femmes, aussi universel, aussi contemporain, ne peut que nous encourager toutes à poursuivre nos combats. »
Talisma Nasreen, écrivaine bangladaise, Prix Sakharov 1994

- Grandes résistantes contemporaines

Exposition de Pierre-Yves Ginet

Présentation de l’engagement continu de « nos » grandes résistantes aux femmes emblèmes de la paix dans le monde à travers 26 portraits de grandes figures féminines engagées.

Des combats contemporains des grandes résistantes françaises de la seconde guerre mondiale à Anna Politkovskia, nombreuses sont les femmes qui écrivent l’histoire de notre temps. Pour elles, lutter est souvent un mode de vie, comme le montre l’engagement de nos grandes résistantes, ici ou ailleurs, hier comme aujourd’hui, reconnues ou non...

A travers le prisme du rôle de ces femmes, l’exposition aborde des questions-clés telles que le respect des minorités, des luttes contre des lois injustes, les combats pour gagner une citoyenneté pleine et entière...

Cette exposition a été crée avec le Centre d’Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation de Lyon. Elle est une réalisation de Pierre-Yves Ginet, photojournaliste attaché à la prestigieuse agence Rapho. Son travail est exclusivement dédié à ce projet depuis 1998 et l’exposition concrétise son intention de témoigner des actions conduites de par le monde par des femmes ou groupes de femmes, en matière de respect et de préservation des droits humains, de solidarité.

Sur ce thème, aucun photographe n’avait jamais poussé si loin son étude.

- Les étrangers dans la résistance (1939-1945)

Exposition du Musée de la Résistance Nationale (Champigny-sur-Marne)

Présentation de l’engagement des étrangers dans la résistance sous l’occupation allemande sous la forme de 16 panneaux illustrés et commentés.

On très peu parlé des étrangers dans l’histoire de la Résistance. Ils sont venus de lieux et pour des raisons différentes s’engager dans le combat de la France Libre.

Certains étaient des antifascistes allemands qui choisirent de quitter leur pays dès l’avènement de Hitler en 1933, d’autres sont venus d’Espagne pour fuir Franco à partir des années 1935-1936.
Certains, encore, que l’on qualifiait de MOI (Main d’Œuvre Immigrée), venus travailler en France se sont regroupés autour de Nissak Manouchian pour lutter contre le régime fasciste et collaborationniste.
(JPG)
Olga Bancic

Olga Bancic était de ceux là. Juive, née en Roumanie en 1912, elle vit à Paris quand éclate la guerre. Elle s’engage auprès des FTP MOI de la région parisienne et aux côtés de leur chef Manouchian. Elle est arrêtée par la gestapo et emprisonnée en Allemagne. Elle sera décapitée à la hache dans la cour de la prison de Stuttgart, le jour de son 32ème anniversaire, le 10 mai 1944.

Dans des vitrines seront présentés des archives et documents de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, comme autant de témoignages locaux de l’engagement des étrangers et des femmes dans la Résistance. Un panneau évoquera tout particulièrement l’engagement des étrangers dans la résistance, dans le département de l’Indre.

Un prénommé « Julius » sera évoqué. Ancien soldat des armées nazies, il choisira de déserter la base de la Martinerie et de rejoindre le maquis Indre-Est, près de La Châtre. Il fournira des informations importantes, transmises à Londres.

Dans le cadre de la journée nationale de la création du Conseil National de la Résistance, le 27 mai 1943, le comité local de l’ANACR commémorera cet évènement le jeudi 27 mai 2010 par une cérémonie de remise de gerbe et de parcours tout au long de la rue nationale jusqu’au monument aux Morts. A cette occasion, et ce comme chaque année, les écoles, collèges et lycées de la région seront associés au défilé.

(Photo Aung San Suu Kyi copied from: http://www.buddhachannel.tv/portail/local/cache-vignettes/L260xH320/aung_san_suu_kyi-3-c5552.jpg)
(Photo Rigoberto Menchu copied from: http://www.literaturismena.com/espacehispano/rigoberta_menchu/0819_rmt.jpg)
(Photo Shirin Ebadi copied from: http://www.smh.com.au/ffxImage/urlpicture_id_1070732295389_2003/12/11/240shirin_ebadi,0.jpg)
(Photo Taslima Nesrin copied from; http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/images/2007100660621301.jpg)
(Photo Anna Politkovskaia copied from: http://www.elle.fr/var/plain_site/storage/images/societe/news/un-documentaire-sur-anna-politkovskaia-au-cinema/12717150-1-fre-FR/Un-documentaire-sur-Anna-Politkovskaia-au-cinema_mode_une.jpg)

Pique-nique in May in La Châtre



This was our second pique-nique and the sun shined down on us and after a while it became rather hot on the spot! 26 degrees Celsius in the shadow and of course a lot more in the sun.
Luckily we had a suntan lotion with a high sun factor to protect us.
It didn't however protect Aurore from the dragonfly ('libellule' in French, 'trollslända' in Swedish), as you can see. I didn't protect her either but on the other hand the 'threat' wasn't to serious.


It has been some very fine days with sunny and warm weather and I hope it stays this way.
In the background we had some young men fishing in 'Indre', the stream or watercourse traversing La Châtre and other small cities in the area. There are some fishes, even though not particularly big - but eatable.
I know that Aurore used to fish when she was a child and adolescent living in La Châtre.
Personally I have never fished!
The sun and summer has finally arrived to France and La Châtre but one can't be sure it stays this way.
I saw in the weather forecast that the Nordic countries also enjoys sun and warmth but it seems as if this will change next week.
On the whole I prefer the climate here in the center of France (or further south) than that in Sweden, even if the summer in Sweden can be terrific.

21 May 2010

Rails d'Or and Prix OFAJ de la (Toute) Jeune Critique

Rails d'Or and Prix OFAJ de la (Toute) Jeune Critique (above)!
Aurore has some part in it as she worked on this film as a production assistant.
This was the fourth time Johannes Stjärne Nilsson and Ola Simonsson participated in Cannes Film Festival but the first time with a feature film.
Tomorrow Saturday, Sound of Noise competes for the Caméra d'Or prize, handed to the best first time director.

Lunch for me and Pique-nique for Aurore

Today Aurore is going to have a pique-nique without me but with one or more colleagues at work.
She bought and arranged a very tasty pique-nique-meal - with one criterion:
Everything they're going to eat has to have a green color. Why?
Because it has to match the green absinth(e) she bought the other day (see an earlier blog article)!
It's a lovely weather today and Aurore had checked the weather forecast before deciding on this pique-nique - of course!
Drinking absinth(e) when it's 23 degrees Celsius in the shadow, could become a hot experience but I know she brought other drinks too.

This is the absinth Aurore chose for the pique-nique:
La Coquette

I'm going to eat with my father-in-law and as my mother-in-law is not at home, she has arranged with everything as I'm not a particularly competent cook and neither is my father-in-law!


(Photo pique nique basket copied from: http://www.louprada.com/images/piquenique3.jpg)

20 May 2010

Sunshine in La Châtre


The last few days the temperatures have risen somewhat, even though it's not as warm as usual this time of the year.
Today we're looking at a clear blue sky and the sun is shining on us, the temperature rising to 18-19 degrees.
The weather forecast in French:

Right now: 16 °C
Température ressentie: 16 °C
Humidité : 48%
Vent de Nord Nord Est a 19 km/h
Index UV : 4
Protection : Modéré
Visibilite : 10 km
Pression : 1031 millibars
Prevision Meteo du Jeudi 20 mai 2010
La nuit
Température maximale : 21°C
Température minimale : 9°C
Humidité : 54%
Vent de Nord Nord Est à 16 km/h
Lever du soleil : 6:13 AM
Coucher du soleil : 9:25 PM

Thursdays in Sweden the tradition tells us to eat pancakes, pea soup (evokes some strange allusions, pronounced in English), mustard and drinking punch.
However, so far we haven't followed this tradition here in France but The Swedish Academy, always gather their members on Thursdays, eating and (mostly?) drinking the above mentioned delicacies(?).
This tradition dates back to the 18th century.

What we will eat today I don't know as the only thing I do in the kitchen - when it comes to cooking - is (exactly!) pancakes, crêpes, waffles and cakes/pastries. But I'm very good at it!



(Photo the sun (not the newspaper) copied from: http://faktabanken.nu/solsyst/solen1r.jpg)

(Photo pancakes and pea soup copie from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHQYivovM-5PjGVUrP1aMs8aqJ5GkEcWcScGkHGOA2QgVyHRo5yXK-mluKIhXI9r3_IES3GVZsJRXUFudZOGLnxsoJqxu1mxbLTO_ExAvqMpF2K56xxOulqxDqy6gerMkRrap/s400/PC100517.JPG)
(Photo the Nobel House/Swedish Academy copied from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Svenska-Akademien.jpg/320px-Svenska-Akademien.jpg)

17 May 2010

Absinthe to celebrate Norway! (and Marilyn Manson?)

A colleague to Aurore suggested a pique-nique some of the coming days - if the weather conditions improve.
It's not at all bad but in this region and this time of the year, the temperatures are normally higher than right now (17-18 degrees Celsius).
Aurore suggested an absinthe-pique-nique and therefore ordered a couple of bottles from the boutique in Paris where we earlier have bought absinthe, Vert d'Absinthe 11 rue d'Ormesson.
For those of you interested in trying this mythic drink, I recommend a visit.
It's not at all dangerous to drink this, not more dangerous than other drinks, if in moderate quantities.

This is what she ordered...
















...and this is what we drank: Mansinthe!

The boutique:

and its proprietor:



(Photo boutique and proprietor Vert d'Absinthe copied from: http://www.vertdabsinthe.com/)

The Norwegian National Day: "Ja vi elsker dette landet"

As:
1. Aurore and I met at the Norwegian Film Festival in Stockholm 2005,
2. Aurore has written about the Norwegian film director Knut Erik Jensen,
3. she is a great fan of Norwegian rock music, literature and film (Scandinavian but not least Norwegian),
4. we had two neighbours in Stockholm with Norwegian parents living on each side of our house,
5. we've visited Oslo together (invited by Knut Erik Jensen for a premiere screening of one of his films),
6. we both would prefer Norway if choosing to live in one of the Scandinavian countries:

We Hereby Pay Our Ttribute To Norway And To All The Norwegian 'Gutter' And 'Piker'!

Congratulations and Happy New National Day!!




(Photo Norwegian Flag copied from: http://www.stalvik.com/images/Flaggor/flag_norway.jpg)

13 May 2010

Robin Hood


The new Robin Hood by Ridley Scott premiered in the whole of France at the same time, that is to say in La Châtre too (Cinéma Lux).

This story is somewhat different compared to the much older 'classic' versions with Douglas Fairbanks (Sr) and Errol Flynn, later on Kevin Costner and others.
In the older versions - especially the Fairbanks and Flynn-versions - the focus is more on Robin Hood, 'the outlaw' and his particularly controversial position towards the sheriff of Nottingham and the king.

In this film we get to know more about Robin Hood (Russel Crowe) before he became 'Hood' and fighted with Richard the Lionheart (Danny Huston) as Robin Longstride, the archer.
When Richard the Lionheart dies he is succeeded by his brother John (Oscar Isaac), who already before the death of Lionheart conspired against his brother in order to gain control over the country as king.
When - among others - Johns 'special adviser', Godfrey (Mark Strong) conspires against John, the latter is obliged to use Robin Longstride and his man, including others who he earlier had looked down on and betrayed, fighting side by side towards Godfrey and not least the French king, whom Godrey is allied with.
A contract is drawn up, under the pressure of Longstride and his men, including human rights and other advantages for the population if they conquer the French king and his men.
John agrees but later on he betray those who have helped him, of course.
The film ends with the following (roughly quoted): "...and here starts the legend...", that is to say after John has betrayed the people and becomes the ally of the sheriff of Nottingham.
The film also circles around how Robin met Marion (Cate Blanchett) and becomes her husband.
It's a well produced story but not at all extraordinary.

The idea of beginning with the 'before Robin became Hood'-story is'nt a bad idea at all and of course there are battle scenes like in the old versions.
We also get to meet Robins later to be 'outlaw'-friends; Little John (Kevin Durand) and Friar Tuck (Mark Addy) among others.
However well produced I lacked the specific description of the different characters, something I think I found in older versions.
Friar Tuck, Little John, the sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen) and others become rather bleak and anonymous individuals in this version.
On the other hand I very much liked the characterization of Marion who is described as a very tough and independent woman, knowing how to run a farm as well as fight with the sword when needed.
Russel Crowe as Robin, lacks the humour and charm that characterized the Fairbanks- and Flynn- Hoods.
I guess even a freedom fighter has the right being humourous from time to time?
In this version Robin becomes a rather stiff and uncharismatic person with two or three different facial expressions.
Max von Sydow appears as the blind father to Marion and profiting from his age his character becomes a wise, warm and courageous person.

11 May 2010

Berry Movies affiche 2010


This is the new poster for the short film festival Berry Movies!

As you can see the actual day for the competition is set to the 29th of October but I think they've already started looking at and selecting films coming to them on a regular basis.
As we've written before, this competition is open to everyone, regardless where you live in the world and among the different contributions (last year more than 50), ten are being selected for the main competition.
If you intend to become a director, send your short film(s) to Berry Movies and maybe this might become your first step towards stardom!

09 May 2010

Chopin en Berry Château d'Ars

Today we visited Château d'Ars.

As we (you?) celebrate the bicentennial of the above great composer and as he had strong links to Berry and specifically Nohant and George Sand, Château d'Ars opens an exhibition displaying Chopin and his 'summer holidays' in Berry with Sand and others.
The ambition with this exhibition is to show Nohant and Berry as an imaginary Poland, the juvel case for his composition and reveal another Chopin, far away from the Parisian salons, planted into the more intimate world with shared friendship among people he more or less loved.
In this it evokes the years in Nohant 1839-1846, during which he also composed some of his finest works (as I've mentioned before).

One have chosen this castle - Château d'Ars - some kilometers from Nohant (the latter since long a museum displaying the life and works of George Sand, the different well known writers,painters and musicians visiting her, her private theater and the puppet theater of her son, Maurice among other things) a beautiful renaissance castle where Chopin often used to be, visting his friend doctor Gustave Papet, a close friend to George Sand and att the time the proprietor of this castle.

On Saturdays there will be muscial interludes.


(Photo poster copied from: http://www.musees.regioncentre.fr/Actualite/expositions_crois_%C2%AB_chopin_berry_chopin_europ_%C2%BB-1435.html?idcat=B)

02 May 2010

Victor Hugo raconté par les caricaturistes du 19ème siècle

After the Clash of the Titans we visited the exhibition hall in La Châtre, taking a look at another titan, namely Victor Hugo, or rather caricatures of him.
There were about thirty caricatures from contemporary newspapers, with a time span between 1835 and 1885, displaying how one saw Hugo at the time with both negative and positive comments concerning his life and works.
I would say that the positive aspects predominated.
Displayed was also scenographic notes with texts presenting the caricature as an art form of the nineteenth century, how it developed, why and who the artists were.
Of course - I'm inclined to write - there were also some caricatures depicting George Sand and her friends, being - as we are - in the geographical center of the romantic movement in France.
These caricatures also conveyed to us insights into the daily life, not least the political life of the epoch, not least Victor Hugo's struggle for what he thought was right and righteousness.
He was a giant, not only as a writer but also as a politician, debater and intellectual, not always appreciated by all of course.

The artists whos oeuvres we get to see some glimpses of, are: Daumier, Grandville, Faustin, Roubaud, Philipon ("the Father of Political Caricature") and others.


(Photo caricature Victor Hugo copied from: http://www.pays-george-sand.com/Exposition-Victor-Hugo-raconte-par)

Clash of the Titans



..by the French director Louis Leterrier is a grandious story about the struggle between men and gods.

The clash between the immortals and the mortals take place in the city of Argos, a famous Greek city in which the king thought he had beaten the gods when crushing the statue of Zeus.
Sam Worthington (an actor we've seen in Avatar among other films) plays the semi-god Perseus (the founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty) whos earthly parents are killed by Hades.
He's not aware of that he is the son of Zeus when the latter in one of his seductive moods, disguised as the husband of the woman he makes love to, becomes the father of their son, that is to say Perseus.
The biological and mortal mother of Perseus and Perseus himself are thrown into the sea by the husband who regard this seductive move from Zeus being something shameful.
Perseus survives and gradually he becomes aware of his origin and destiny: As the semi-god he is, he has to defend the city of Argos against Hades and his Kraken monster.
The story blends different more or less accurate stories about the ancient Greeks and their gods, displayed against a fantastic background of fearless warriors and giant monsters, including the Medusa.

This film is a remake of an older version from 1981 (director Desmond Davies), a film Aurore has seen and found more charming even if this one is full of special effects and different kinds of more or less interesting scenery.
We agreed on that it was a well produced film but it was very much of a 'video game-aesthetical' execution and this was really a minus. Unfortunately it has been very common with this kind of aesthetics the last ten years in order to be able to release the film in that very form when it's not running in the movie theaters, and hereby earn more money.

We saw Liam Neeson in the role as Zeus and Ralp Fiennes as Hades and these two actors I sometimes mix up, wherefore it was a good stroke, in my view, letting them become brothers.
In the role as Draco we saw Mads Mikkelsen.


(Photo statue of Perseus copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus)