Despite Iraq war, America's love affair with France still going strong
By Keith Spicer, Freelance
December 10, 2009
So Carla Bruni--French President Nicolas Sarkozy's gorgeous wife-- says she will star in a Woody Allen movie? What's going on? Is this a bit of PR back-scratching between celebrities? Yes, but it's also a neat vignette of the 233-year love-hate relationship between French and American cultures.
America's most celebrated French ally was the Marquis de Lafayette, and his statues and city names abound in the U.S. A general in George Washington's army, he raised money for the American Revolution.
In 1886, recalling the 100th anniversary of U.S. independence, France gave New York the Statue of Liberty to symbolize Franco-American friendship.
And when the U.S. finally entered the First World War in 1917, Col. Charles Stanton proclaimed at the Marquis's graveside: "Lafayette, here we are!" Words recalled at the 1944 Normandy invasion.
That hiccup of George W. Bush's Iraq war? Then--France sitting it out--the friendship briefly soured. The French became "cheese-eating surrender monkeys," and their beloved frites turned into Freedom Fries. The spat blew over as Bush's Iraq occupation blew up.
The image of France in the view of Americans is seductive lifestyle, sex-appeal, gastronomy, high culture, and artistic creativity.
The French view of the American? Wide-open spaces, informality, space travel, energetic individualism, and "the sky-is-the-limit" social mobility.
Movies: American moviemakers look to Cannes for prestige. Their film schools study French directors: Jean Renoir, Jacques Tati, Max Ophuls, Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Roger Vadim, Alain Resnais, Robert Bresson.
The French study great Hollywood directors: Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, William Wyler, Brian De Palma, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, and scores of others, including French-revered Woody Allen.
Most American stars are street-famous in France.
Americans know fewer French actors, but love the ones they do know: Older Americans remember Maurice Chevalier, Claudette Colbert, Charles Boyer, Leslie Caron and Brigitte Bardot. Now: Catherine Deneuve (though not often seen in the U.S.), Juliette Binoche, Audrey Tautou and the unsinkable Gerard Depardieu.
The words 'auteur' and 'film noir' are now English words--just as remake, western and "un-travelling" are now French words.
French filmgoers display an encyclopedic knowledge of film techniques and actors' performances.
On a given day in Paris, you can see about 200 movies. The Cinematheque Francaise is as close as Hollywood has to a world film library.
For years, Sarasota, Florida, held an all-French film festival.
Since 1975, the French have hosted an all-American film festival in Deauville, Normandy. Major Hollywood stars appear there, as in Cannes. Many go on to Paris to pick up a Legion of Honour(Clint Eastwood last Nov. 13) or a medal of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Americans honour French filmmakers through remakes: La Cage aux Folles, Three Men and a Baby, The Suitcase.
Pop music? Another Franco-American lovefest. Even though language limits notoriety, music sweeps through to audiences.
American hits are hummed or sung by millions here.
Michel Legrand wrote lush scores for dozens of Hollywood movies. A couple of his many translated songs: I Will Wait for You and The Windmills of Your Mind. Paul Anka's words to My Way were originally Comme d'habitude in the original Claude Francois song.
Don't expect the Carla-Woody movie to flop. Film acting would be Carla's fourth career after being a top model, pop singer and First Lady--all acting jobs. A fast learner, and fluent in English, she will probably seduce America just as she did "Sarko" and Woody.
Besides, she also knows that Woody said 80 per cent of success in show business is "showing up."
Keith Spicer, a former Ottawa Citizen editor, writes from Paris.
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Marquis de LaFayetteby tmcd19655,239 views
You sound like the lady on the classical music channel.
HappyJake100 1 year ago
my love affair is still going strong for your proper voice
SersonReport 2 years ago 2