Fragments

Does it do justice to the French Emperor? (my take)

For a while, since ‘Napoleon’, the film by Ridley Scott, had been released in France on 14 November 2023, I was facing this conundrum that was as insisting and repetitive as the famous line sung in the 1980s by the Clash! 

On the one hand I was reluctant to see a film in English about a French iconic historical figure who had had so much trouble with ‘Perfidious Albion’. As a French person, I was very biased and suspicious. And yet, Ridley Scott was known for being a francophile who also lives in Southern France, being one of the greatest film-makers of the last 50 years, having directed such masterpieces as Blade Runner or Gladiator. I told myself he should be expected to be fair and well-advised in his narrative choices. Added to that , there was no doubt that the rendering of the famous Napoleonic campaigns were to be remarkable cinematic performances. 

On the other hand, the film had been discussed extensively for months in the French press and media by critics, historians, movie buffs, and even politicians. The general opinion that I had formed was that it was not a success as I had even overheard such qualifiers as ‘boring and inaccurate’. However it didn’t stop the audience in France from flocking into movie theaters  and giving positive reviews. 

Finally, as  it was scheduled in the original version  at  my small local cinema, curiosity and good sense overcame my chauvinistic quandaries. 

Necessarily Incomplete Historical fresco  or awkward partly fictional period love story (or both) ?

First of all, let’s start with rectifying two wrong dates which appear on screen at the beginning : Napoleon’s date of birth is NOT 1768 but 1769 (15 August) otherwise he would not have been French but a citizen of the Republic of Genoa as Corsica where he was born was ceded to France by treaty in 1768. Similarly, Josephine was 6 years older than he was and not only one year. The actors’ real age in the film respects Hollywood’s mainstream expectations (wife much younger than husband) but not the reality of both characters’ age difference! 

The film’s length being  two hours and thirty minutes, it was normal not to expect to attend a complete and detailed unfolding of all Napoleon’s aspects of life as so much happened between the 30 years of his rise and downfall : the Revolution, the first Republic, the Consulate, the Coronation and the Empire let alone the many wars he waged, the famous battles,the conquests, the defeats. When he was not at war, he deeply transformed French Society and many consider that today’s modern France institutions for example derive from his time as an Emperor and a reformer. The film lingers on a few pivotal events ( meeting with Josephine, their wedding and divorce,  Egypt campaign, the Coronation, Austerlitz battle, the Russian debacle, Waterloo defeat, both exiles , birth of his son -‘L’Aiglon’ ) among which some are purely fictional : for instance, he was not present at Marie-Antoinette’s Guillotine execution and the pointed top of 2 Pyramids were not destroyed by his canons. I was disappointed though not to hear him exclaim there his famous quote : ‘Soldats, songez que, du haut de ces pyramides, quarante siècles vous contemplent’ . 

Nevertheless, let’s not be carried away by reminiscences of  School History lessons! Even if the title of the movie is Napoleon, the spectator realizes quickly the topic is not mainly about the intertwined destiny of a man and a nation. Both serve a guiding thread that is precisely about this man and his life passion for a woman, Josephine de Beauharnais. Indeed, in the course of their love story,  we learn that he hurriedly returns from Egypt because his wife was unfaithful, that he continues to love her even after their divorce, and that his last word on his deathbed was ‘Josephine’ (which is pure invention by the way)!

Branching out 

And yet, despite the beautifully filmed Vanessa Kirby as Josephine, the constant close-ups on the stern Joaquim Phoenix’s face expressions that haunted me long after the movie, the majestic filming of the battles, the sumptuous costumes, the clever choice of the love story over the judgemental lessons drawn from a controversial leader that could have upset the French all together, I did not enjoy the movie. I could neither feel any empathy for the tumultuous protagonists’ love story nor be satisfied with the difficult task of recreating a dense period of French History.

I wish some of the major changes in French Society could have been -even briefly- brushed for the international audience. What could they retain of the man otherwise? That he was an upset lover who was making love when not war and making war when not love ? 

Finally, I don’t intend to be too negative as the film made me discuss this period of time and interestingly delve into it so much so that I found out I was the direct descendant of a soldier who fought (and survived) the 1812 battles, since the Great Army archives are available for all to consult on line. 

Have you seen the movie? What would you like to  add or discuss? Do you agree or disagree with my perception of the film ?

*Among the multitude of books/ essays written on Napoleon, Josephine, or this historical period I’d like to recommend a trilogy by Canadian author Sandra Gulland : ‘The Josephine B. Trilogy’ , it’s extremely enjoyable and thoroughly researched. 

What we may not have known about her

Brigitte Bardot’s funeral broadcast on tv

This morning, I  was video chatting with a friend  (actually with Judy McMahon , MyFrenchLife very fondatrice!) and at the same time I had the screen of my tv on and was glancing at it between two conversational exchanges. I agree, it was not very polite to be ‘multitasking’ while discussing with a friend but today, I had extenuating circumstances, it’s 7 January and Brigitte Bardot’s funerals are taking place in Saint Tropez and being broadcast live.

At first my intention for watching was pure curiosity; after all, I belong to a generation who grew up with her image constantly on magazine covers, and life largely commented upon, whether for her films and her Saint Tropez nightlife extravaganza first  or her complete  dedication to the animals cause and her political stands later on. 

Emotional reaction

However, unexpectedly,  I found myself shedding tears at the sight of her funeral cortege passing through the streets of Saint Tropez . Moreover I couldn’t agree more when I heard Mireille Mathieu exclaim ‘Brigitte Bardot, c’est la France!’ as she was a special guest about to sing during the funeral mass . 

Something good to remember

Since the day the former actress and French icon passed away, on 28 December 2025, I had read and heard and seen a lot about her, in a fair share of praises and critics.It was very confusing, she was one of those famous people still alive who had  embodied the time of my childhood, I just wanted to remain - if not for a brief moment - 100% positive about her. 

Among all the details that were going through the lenses of her detractors and admirors, I was surprised to find out she had played a major role in a story I remembered about Josephine Baker, when it was all about the news in the 1960s that she was losing her castle, which had been the home for her 12 (I have also come across the numbers 11 and 13) adopted children. 

What we may not have known about her

1964 : Although Brigitte Bardot  is at the height of her fame and filming career, she asks for a special interview on tv, not for more publicity but  to use her name and image to save Josephine Baker from bankruptcy. Indeed the American singer is about to lose the castle ‘Les Milandes’ in Périgord she had bought to bring up her adopted children.

The Josephine Baker story in short 

We all have in mind Josephine Baker singing ‘J’ai deux amours, Mon Pays et Paris’ in her sweet American accent and dancing  in the roaring Paris 20s wearing a skirt made of bananas! Surely, this was the beginning of her French successful career, but not what can entirely summarize her life.

WW2 Heroine

In the 1930s, while on holiday in the Perigord, she had spotted the dilapidated Château Les Milandes and had fallen deeply  in love with it . She then purchased her dream castle and even used it during the Second World War to hide people wanted by the Nazis . For these incredible acts in the Resistance, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and she was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle!

Her Rainbow Tribe -  the Castle of Milandes

After spending millions of the restoration work of Milandes, she adopted her 12 children of every race and culture, her “Rainbow Tribe”, which she hoped to show everyone that people can get along no matter what their race or culture. 

However the money went scarce with time and 30 years later she was unable to keep the Castle safe from her creditors.

Brigitte Bardot’s role in support of Josephine Baker

The Call

Hence, on 4 June 1964, Brigitte Bardot asked for a special appearance on French TV to call for the French generosity (there was one national channel in black and white at the time), just before the highly popular 8 pm evening news (which all people who owned a tv watched) to help Josephine Baker and her adopted children who were about to be homeless,  save their home (it was a sort of ‘gofundme’ ahead of time!) . 

Nevertheless it was an act of pure kindness, dictated by nobody but herself, that could only serve the people she wanted to help. 

In the video excerpt,  we can watch Brigitte Bardot’s call as well as Josephine Baker’s reaction afterwards, who is deeply moved by the star’s good deed as both celebrities did not know each other particularly beforehand.

Her call on French TV (video on youtube) Brigitte Bardot et Joséphine Baker (1964)

The Follow Up

In an INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel/ The French televised archives ) documentary Josephine Baker explains later that following Brigitte Bardot’s initiative, even children sent money from their Piggy Bank and she received hundreds of letters in support. Unfortunately she did lose her castle some time afterwards and another good fairy then intervened in the person of Princess Grace who gave her shelter in Monaco. 

Joséphine Baker ruinée | INA

In conclusion, I believe  that a person’s life  and their personality are more complex and hard to understand than one commentator could summarize in a few catch phrases. 

This episode in the life of Brigitte Bardot is worth accounting for, among those which got more visibility  . 

Let’s give Nobel prize for Literature  Marguerite Yourcenar, whom she shared  the same passion for the animals cause, the final words about her:

 « Il est bon que la beauté et la grâce soient en même temps la bonté »

Reopening of the Richelieu site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France

The historic Richelieu site of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) located in the centre of Paris has just reopened to the public after 12 years of work. Among other things,  the  BnF has another important site inaugurated in 1995 in the south of Paris by the President of the Republic François Mitterrand and which now bears his name.

The BnF collects, archives and restores all works published or edited in France. It also preserves national heritage collections, and items from bequests or donations.

Its origin goes back to the king's library installed in the Louvre in 1368 by Charles V. A  decision made by King François 1st in 1537 required the creation of the collection, making it a legal requirement to deposit all publications in the national library. This decision now makes the BnF the largest library in France and one of the largest in the world. The BnF's collections include nearly 16 million books and collections, as many prints and photographs, 2 million scores, 950,000 maps, plans and globes and some 370,000 manuscripts.  It has been open to the public since 1692.

Among these collections are the first editions of Emile, or the education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and La Princesse de Clèves by Madame de La Fayette. Many books published before 1500, called incunabula, such as Le Kal endrier des bergers published in 1493, and  very old illuminations, including the Great Chronicles of France dating from the late fifteenth century, are also kept there.

After many locations, the library moved in 1721 to the site of the current library in the former palace of Mazarin, rue Vivienne.  New rooms were built during the Second Empire, one for researchers, the other for the general public. The Mazarine Gallery designed by François Mansart became a museum in 1878. Finally, the impressive "Salle Ovale" 18 meters high was opened in 1936.

Since 2010, major redevelopment work has been undertaken, which has just ended (2022). The site now includes 5 reading rooms, 4 of which are reserved  for researchers, and the Oval room, equipped with 20,000 books and open to all, with free access. There is also a museum, a gallery of temporary exhibitions, a bookshop and a café. The entirety occupies about 58,000 m².

My mother with Alzheimer’s: not a unique French story

The perks of sharing: A French woman and a lady from Melbourne meet on holiday in England

A week ago, as I was visiting my son in Norwich, England, I made an unexpected new friend at the Bed and Breakfast where I was staying, a lady from Melbourne, Australia. Every day we would sit in the same dining area and engage in a conversation as we had our ‘very English’ breakfast (therefore much more nutritious and taking more time than a French one). Casual chitchat among tourists staying at the same place usually doesn’t go beyond the borders of its walls. This time it went differently.

Finding solace - sharing with strangers

We spoke about our respective mothers. And found out that they are both stricken by the same degenerative disease : dementia or Alzheimer’s… Whatever the name, our mothers have both gradually lost their memory and are incapable of taking care of themselves anymore.

Knowing this made us share the ordeal we, as both care givers and daughters, were going through. This disease has no particular language or place, it’s universal, and our telling to each other our experience and what it implied - the huge responsibility, including the guilt, the considerable amount of time spent, the worries, the struggle, the solitude, the devotion, the constant evaluation for what is best for our mothers - meant we connected quickly and in a very emotional way. It felt extremely comforting to hear the same words of empathy uttered by another woman of my generation who usually lives poles apart.

It was never planned

We hear everywhere that ‘boomers’ in the Western world are supposed to be blessed because they lived their younger years and professional life in a prosperous society and that on the eve of retirement, with an empty nest, a still fit body and a sharp mind, they’re expected to have the best time of their life.  Well, a tiny detail is missing from this near-perfect picture. If life expectancy has increased to over 80, so has the rate of elderly people with dementia.

At this stage, we, the ‘bookers’, the next of kin of the older generation, the lucky ‘60 is the new 40’, are directly held responsible for our parents. in France it’s also the law. We normally do not need to be reminded of the law to take care of our parents, but the love and sense of duty we have for them and the normal payback attitude that ensues,  may gradually become a burden , if not a nightmare.

The conundrum

-          To stay at home

Six years after my mother was diagnosed with this degenerative disease, I might have reached a burnout . As a matter of fact, the breakfast sessions with the lady from Melbourne had a salutary effect. I could envisage my lassitude and feeling of helplessness not as bad luck anymore. We even admitted we had in common some hard and cynical truth: “the people who might attend our mothers’ funeral one day, we confessed, had long buried them already”.  I sometimes wonder if what makes us human and therefore sociable is first and foremost our capacity to remember. No one is to blame in this though. It’s but a fact.

Of course, in a country like France that prides itself for its welfare and free health system, there’s a whole array of artillery deployed (state institutions, associations) to take care of the elderly. My mother is no exception, she benefits from such services.  Twice a day a care-giver comes to dress her, wash her, gives her medication in the morning and changes her into her night clothes in the evening. She has two weekly physio therapy sessions, all this covered by the French Health Insurance ‘la sécurité sociale’ and she has a cleaner too. But this is the tip of the iceberg of the attention she needs. I do the rest, I‘m the boss, I make the decisions, do the paperwork, make sure this little enterprise works well (always on the brink of dysfunction), take her to the doctor, do the food shopping, buy the clothes, do the washing… I say she is my Benjamin Button, my old baby, in my best effort to find figures of speech to avoid feeling sorry for myself.

-          Or not to stay at home: the ultimate heart wrenching solution

I hear it well from close circles ‘”you should consider a nursing home”, “you can’t keep on exhausting yourself like that”. In France, places which welcomes such patients are called EPHAD (Etablissement d’hébergement pour personnes âgées dépendantes) . They have long waiting lists, and even though one mustn’t generalize what are often rumors or exceptions, they suffer a not so good reputation: the staff is underpaid and outnumbered,  patients are given medication to sleep and are put to bed at 5pm, some articles report testimonies of ill-treatment… and since my mother still recognizes me and tracks the date everyday on her daily newspaper, begs me not to abandon her each time I leave her house, this is not a possible option… as of today .

The silver lining

If I’ve learned one thing since my mother’s decline, it is this: that I should take one thing at a time. 

However, this is not the only lesson.

Indeed, despite the few sacrificed bits for a more comfortable, carefree and entertaining life I could aspire to have otherwise, this unplanned twist of fate also allows me to mark a pause, to reflect on my life and assess the new direction I am taking. All this would not have been possible without my mother’s help, presence, disease.

I am therefore all the more convinced that I am doing the right thing.

My great grand uncle died on the battlefield, during WWI

My grandfather had a young uncle who was drafted as early as 1914 to fight in the war, and died  on battlefield  on 23 April 1916, 2 months before the deadly battle of the Somme started, yet it was in the same area where they had started gathering troops. There were lots of English casualties for this battle too.

 His name was Jean Couleau and he was the younger brother of his mother, he was born in a village in the Center of France before the family moved to the South where my grandfather and the rest of the family were born.  Before 1914, he had been first drafted into a regiment in North Africa and the soldiers were called ‘zouaves’ (there’s a famous statue of one of them at Pont de l'Alma in Paris). He stayed there from 1910 to 1912. From this period we have books of songs and group photos. In 1914, as he was 25 and single, he joined the regiment of infantry of Montpellier. 

He was first wounded in October 1915 and recovered, then was sent back and was shot the following year. We also have in his papers a postcard written in German in 1915 and we assume he might have found it on a dead German soldier’s corpse. When he was shot, the bullet went through his military book, and left a hole. It was not thick or strong enough to act as a bulletproof vest of course. This book was at my grandparents’ and when I was a young girl I was hypnotized and appalled in the same time by this hole surrounded by dry blood. It gave way to melancholy and imagination of a world that was extinct, a war that killed too many of these young men in atrocious conditions. 

Author Ulysse Pasquier ‘ I have my writing featured in Areo Magazine! It's a contemplation on the ways we perceive the world, drawing from my PhD work and other readings for inspiration. I manage to have a go at climate change deniers, political parties and flat earthers all in one go’

              Becoming Colette again                                                                                        From Paris to Hollywood and back

 A French novelist’s life turned into a Hollywood period piece

I love historical period dramas and am always on the lookout for new films or series generally based on literature masterpieces which would be as blissfully delightful and addictive as Downton Abbey, to name only one of the most popular adaptations of the kind. Accordingly, in order not to miss any new production, I found a few months ago an Instagram account to follow, that completely met up my expectations. It was not long before I came across a still from the movie ‘Colette’ starring Kiera Knightley, cast to play the French novelist, posted on this very account, simultaneously with its first public screening at 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Colette’s 2018 revival, French literature honored

As the movie ‘Colette’ is now more widely distributed in US theaters (but will only reach European shores at the beginning of 2019 -France is not featuring on the list on its imdb page yet), this major author is about to be discovered or re discovered to enjoy a renewed moment of fame and this is astonishingly happening beyond the French borders.

You may say, ‘this is good news’. And I will agree. Kiera Knightley is the perfect choice to embody the French writer. She is a lovely popular English actress specialized in period pieces (Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina …), and in addition, I suspect her to be a true Francophile, which is a valued add-on for the French audience (she owns a house in the South of France and got married there) and may have had her say when they were filming. It is also a self-evident truth that movies have more happy endings than just the one narrated within its story. Movies convey messages, they open up on new horizons and they trigger emotions. I am certain that the world will soon count more readers of Colette’s novels than before the movie was released.  

However, why would a female novelist - mainly known in France and not as famous as Simone de Beauvoir abroad, who died in 1954 – be the object of an English director‘s affection?

Since there is hardly anything nowadays which remains unanswered especially when a movie is being promoted by its makers, I found a rather satisfactory answer online. Colette’s project started in the late 90s, between director Wash Westmoreland and his partner Richard Glatzer. The latter had a PhD in literature, was an avid reader of Colette’s novels and was fascinated by her personality, which at the time was not regarded as interesting enough by the producers. By 2015, when Julianne Moore was awarded the Oscar for ‘Still Alice’ which Westmoreland had directed, Glatzer was dying of ALS and expressed on his deathbed the wish to make the movie Colette. He passed away before Hollywood gave the green light the following year, a change of mind due to the Oscar and its topic that had become then relevant. Indeed, although the movie is set in the pre-ww1 era, focusing on Colette’s first marriage, it deals with today’s society particular concerns on gender identity and sexuality. Colette’s lifestyle, feminist struggle to be recognized as a writer, free spirit are inspiring modern topics and can definitely appeal to the younger generations of millennials.

Colette and the French

But don’t be misled reader. Colette is regarded in France as an untouchable national monument of French literature heritage. She might not be as much read nowadays but people of my baby-boomers’ generation knew her well.  We had been told by our parents and our teachers that we should not read her audacious novels too early, which, of course gave us one more reason to steal away such books as ‘Chéri’ or ‘Le Blé en Herbe’ (‘Green Wheat’) from the shelves and devour them in hiding when we were 14. Thus I am not certain that the French are ready to welcome with enthusiasm a creation they might consider as ‘a cultural appropriation’. How can Colette possibly express herself in English in a movie which was not even shot in France but in Hungary and England? Is this the reason why no French release date was announced yet? I am aware I’m quite the devil’s advocate here as the history of cinema is paved with writers’ biopics which were not necessarily created in their birth country (in that respect, the French are not the last to indulge in this exercise either, for proof, I’ll quote the excellent 1979 film ‘Les Soeurs Brontë’ by André Téchiné starring Isabelle Huppert, Isabelle Adjani and Marie-France Pisier). So let’s relax and if the film accounts for a new or revived literary craze, why not plan a future trip to France and make the most of this opportunity?

To walk into Colette’s footsteps in France

Since Colette’s last Paris apartment by the Palais Royal Garden cannot be visited (but it’s possible to stroll under her 2nd-floor windows along rue de Beaujolais where a commemorative plaque was installed) , the best way still to immerse oneself into Colette’s world is to visit her birth house, in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puysaye, 170km South of Paris, which is now a museum entirely devoted to her life and works. Visits, activities, conferences, workshops are organized jointly with the city hall and the association ‘Les Amis de Colette’, which was founded in 1956, in order to keep her memory and her writings alive. For the 60th anniversary of her death, in 2014, for example, this circle of friends organized several events which took place both in the countryside and in Palais Royal Garden where four French actors read extracts of her works.

Colette, an inspiring modern woman

As the movie insists on the period covering Colette’s marriage to Willy, her being used as her husband’s ghostwriter, finally getting recognition , I have no doubt that her story will appeal and inspire an audience who would not have heard of her otherwise. It’s already the case for Kiera Knightly, who will be given the final word here … while I’ll be looking forward to seeing the period drama and biopic, and read again in the meantime one her nefarious novels without having to hide!

My French Life™ - Ma Vie Française® BOOK CLUB

IT'S TIME TO BUY BOOK #3

***' You Will Not Have My Hate' by Antoine Leiris ***

- This book was not my first choice. I changed my mind after interviewing Sam Taylor, the translator of both Leïla Slimani and Antoine Leiris, who confessed: 'The biggest emotional reaction I’ve had to a translation was with Antoine Leiris’s ‘You Will Not Have My Hate’, which made me cry several times.'

-It's the poignant testimony of the days that followed the 13 November 2015 Paris terrorist attack where the author lost his wife and mother of their 17-month old toddler. It's a 129-page novella you may read in the span of 2 hours.

- In addition, My French Life - Ma Vie Francaise also published a 2018 Summer reading list of recent English books set in France and I invite you to discuss them at the same time. (https://www.myfrenchlife.org/…/french-summer-reading-top-b…/)

- Book club meeting #3 is likely to take place 2nd half of September.

 Members’ first comments after announcement

ANNE: I have just purchased the ebook and I look forward to the Book club meeting in September.

DEANIE: I recently watched the documentary on Netflix so I'm looking forward to reading this.  

JACQUELINE: It will be interesting to discuss both the book and the documentary (and since it was made by the husband of a member of MyFrenchLife Community, I suppose we'll be able to ask her questions if we need to)  

CAROLYNE: I've started reading the French edition. The prose style is exquisite, the subject matter heartbreaking.  I think it is a type of oxymoron, although not so incongruous in this literary context as oxymorons usually are, since there are many works telling of the death of people close to the author yet written so beautifully, so we don't feel it is incongruous so much, although we still reel from the emotional weight of it. Joan Didion's book about the death of her husband and daughter does this too, although in a diffferent way to this author. There is also an Australian author who wrote about the loss of his family many years ago in his book 'Year One', of which this French book reminds me somewhat.  JACQUELINE:I have not read it yet but since I saw author in 'La Grande Librairie', I know that most recent novel by Daniel Pennac 'Mon Frère' (April 2018) also deals beautifully and poetically with the loss of a loved one. We can't envisage comparing pains, however, in our Western world, where last war was waged 70 years ago, terrorist attacks and killings are a totally brutal, incomprehensible way to cope with mourning. In that sense, I believe this book is among a few only.  

ANNE: I finished reading this book this afternoon and most of it I was reading through a veil of tears. It was so poignantly beautiful to read.  

My Summer reading list of 11 books in English where France plays a starring role:

(Description and article on https://www.myfrenchlife.org/2018/06/13/french-summer-reading-top-books-france/)

https://www.myfrenchlife.org/2018/03/27/french-book-club-edouard-louis/