So much to do, so little time! [2]

Monday 13 November... FILM: The Page Turner

On from Monday 13 November 2006 through to Thursday 16 November 2006 (3:50 PM, 6:35 PM)

"Dercourt has crafted an expert behavioural thriller with an attention to detail that highlights both the strict social mores of the wealthy and their emotional aridity. A young girl, Mélanie Prouvost (François), nervously undergoes her piano audition, the outcome of which will determine her future. The examiner, famed recitalist Ariane Fouchécourt (Frot), allows a fan into the audition room in the middle of Mélanie’s performance, signing an autograph. Mélanie’s concentration falters and she stops playing altogether, causing her to fail. Many years later Mélanie gains employment with Ariane’s husband and works her way back into Ariane’s life. Vanity, deception, selfishness and false liberal charity play their part in this beautifully observed film that somehow works on the barest elements of both plot and character development."

@ The Cameo

Tuesday 14 November... FILM: Bob le flambeur

Bob le flambeur / Bob the Gambler: Melville’s famous film is showcased at the Filmhouse!

"The cable car leads us down from the 'heaven' of the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre to the 'hell' of Pigalle, and as the neon is extinguished for another dawn, a weary Bob the Gambler treads his way home from the tables. Melville's 'love letter to Paris' is shot, like all good city films, between the hours of dusk and dawn, and is a loving recreation of all that is wonderful about the dark American city thrillers of the '30s and '40s. What doubles the pleasure, however, is that in spite of the heist, the double-crosses and the sudden death, it is still remarkably light in tone: an underworld comedy of manners. The courtly Monsieur Bob may wear a trenchcoat and fedora, but he rescues young ladies adrift in the milieu, remains loyal to his friend l'inspecteur, and gives the impression of wanting to rob the casino, not to assuage his gambling fever, but simply so that he can perform a robbery in a dinner jacket. A wonderful movie with all the formal beauty, finesse and treacherous allure of green baize."

@The Filmhouse, various times

Tuesday 14 November... French conversation (9-11pm) (free)

Meet French speakers at The World - excellent and very recommended! I went there last week, and there was quite a large crowd!
All ages welcome.

9-10pm: English spoken
10-11pm: French spoken
(though not necessarily that strict!)

@ The World, on Thistle Street

Wednesday 15 November... Meeting other French speakers (free)

MEETUP -- Edinburgh French speakers meet in a pub. Very friendly atmosphere: people are always interested in meeting new folks!

Whether you are new in town, or you want to meet new people with an interest in French language and culture, this is the event for you!

More info.... here!

Wednesday 15 November: 7.15pm : Talk
M Denis Charles Courdent, Directeur, Alliance Française de Glasgow, Droite et gauche, de la biologie à l’histoire des idées (French)
A meeting organised by the Franco-Scottish Society: more info
All meetings are held at 7.15 p.m. in the French Institute,
13 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TT.

Friday 17 - Sunday 19 November.... FILM: Le Cercle rouge

Le Cercle rouge / The Red Circle
Another Melville’s work, with Delon, Montand, Bourvil...

"Melville's special achievement was to relocate the American gangster film to France, and to incorporate his own steely poetic and philosophical obsessions. He described this, his penultimate film, as a digest of the nineteen definitive underworld set-ups that could be found in John Huston's picture of doomed gangsters, The Asphalt Jungle. Darker, more abstract and desolate than his earlier work, this shows, set piece by set piece, the breakdown of the criminal codes under which Melville's characters had previously operated. Masterful."

@ The Filmhouse, various times

Saturday 18 November... LITERATURE: Book Club (free)

First meeting of this new French book-club. You need to be a member of Meetup to come along (but it's all free!). More info on the French Edinburgh meetup website, here. You need to have a good level of French, or be a native speaker, as it will involve reading one French book a month.
@ Brandon Terrace

To look forward to....

Thursday 23 November at 6.30pm- Philippe Meyer Event

@ the Institut Français d’Ecosse - Admission Free - Tel.: 0131 225 5366 - contact@ifecosse.org.uk
"Writer, journalist, satirist, actor, director, animator, researcher and teacher of social sciences, all barely adequate to describe Philippe Meyer, as he has many strings to his bow. Among his investigations, he has studied the mysteries of the city of Paris through, on the one hand, a show called “Paris la Grande” based on texts and songs illustrating life in the capital and, on the other hand, a book under the same title. Not to be missed by those in love, the curious and the sceptical of the “ville lumière” and a must for the fans of Philippe Meyer!"
22 Nov: 6.00 - The Watson Gordon Lecture: Caroline Elam
Roger Fry was Britain’s leading art critic in the first half of the 20th century. Caroline Elam will explore his journey from scholarship in Italian quattrocento art, to Post-Impressionism and modern French painting. @ National Gallery of Scotland: Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, 0131 624 6200 - Free

22 Nov: 8.30: JAZZ: Gilad Atzmon Quartet
"Music with a message, as impressive Israeli sax virtuoso Atzmon welds east-European folk with hard bop, funk and French accordian tunes to tell the story of Palestine."@ Jazz Centre
0131 467 5200
£10

23-25 November: French Market

25 Nov: 2.00: TALK: George Buchanan: Scotland's Voice in France
"Five hundred years after Buchanan's birth, Dr Jamie Reid-Baxter explores the poet, dramatist, philosopher and classical tutor to Mary, Queen of Scots' impact on France, his 'second homeland'." @ Royal Museum Lecture Theatre
0131 247 4219

Fri 1 to Sun 3 Dec - Du Rififi chez les hommes @ The Filmhouse
Thursday 7 December at 6pm- Lecture by Joëlle Pagès-Pindon: "Marguerite Duras, a myth, an opera" (also Friday 8 December at 5.45pm - Filmhouse: presentation and screening of “Hiroshima, mon amour”)
"Marguerite Duras, a major figure of the 20th century French literary scene remains, a decade after her death, a controversial character. Her minimal novels and to her activities in theatre, film, and journalism have given her both a national and an international notoriety. This lecture will offer an opportunity to rediscover an outstanding personality. The following evening, the Filmhouse will screen “Hiroshima, mon amour”, a film by Alain Renais on a scenario and the dialogues of Marguerite Duras, of course!"
14 Feb 2007: 2.15 - France in America
Alison McCleery explores the little-known French islands of St Pierre and Miquelon. @ Royal Museum Lecture Theatre, 0131 247 4219 - £6; free for students and RSGS members