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Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis


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Compare my review of the Ch'tis here

with the one in today's Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/meet-the-french-directors-bemoaning-the-gallic-film-boom-810827.html

me : "It is a mildly amusing.."

Independent "A pleasant, mildly funny but mediocre movie,"

me "much that is derivative and anodyne "

Independent "a cheerful, cliché-ridden, underscripted attempt "

me "an escape from reality"

Independent "He has tapped in to the same vein of French sentimentalism"

me "It's not "la Grande Vadrouille"

Independent " It does not deserve to be considered alongside La Grande Vadrouille,"

they also compared it to "allo allo as I did in Jill's thread about French films for Art or Entertainment

Do you think the Independent have a lurker in here
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Yes, it's been in London this month at the Cine Lumiere in the French Institute.  Yesterday it also opened in Islington, Notting Hill, Hampstead - and the Empire Leicester Square!   (I am off for my second viewing tonight;  Sorry Norman!)

Angela

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Well I laughed almost as much the second time as the first!  And my friend, who was reliant on the subtitles, thoroughly enjoyed it too.
(Oh dear, Frenchie, I think I can hear a despairing sigh from Norman as he gives up on us!)

The cinema in Notting Hill was only about half full though, on a Saturday night, so I don't think it'll stay around here as long as in France.  However, people clapped at the end.  [:)]

Angela

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Seems the PSG fans have used the film to stir things in the French cup final v Lens.

http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20080421-french-football-hooligans-offensive-boulogne

Note, just noticed there are even more offensive football banners on that page if you scroll down, so please don't click if you are easily offended.

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[quote user="Frenchie"]

Yes, and because of that banner the Paris Saint Germain won't be able to play in the " Coupe de la Ligue" ..

My son says " serves them well" [blink]

 

Hey Loiseau, yes, [;-)]

[/quote]

Tell him to say 'serves them right'...

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I say that he should continue to say "serves them well", it carries just as much meaning and makes the recipient have to think a little about the differences in languages, no bad thing IMHO.

As for being French........................?

Admittedly considered to be a little inconsidate by some, but[:D] you didnt really have much choice did you?[:D]

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Please carry on writing Frenchie.

They are not mistakes, just different ways of saying things which I  find charming when other nationalities speak English, personally I would only correct someone if what they said was unintelligible or liable to be misconstrued.

I also find that by listening to the different (again not mistakes) way that the French speak English, it teaches me  how to say the same phrase "correctly" in French.

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[quote user="J.R. gone native"]

...by listening to the different (again not mistakes) way that the French speak English, it teaches me  how to say the same phrase "correctly" in French.

[/quote]

 

I quite agree, JR.  [:)]

Angela

 

(There, was that worth changing your name for?  [;-)] )

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[quote user="J.R. gone native"]

I say that he should continue to say "serves them well", it carries just as much meaning

[/quote]

"serves them well "   is a bit ambiguous. It could be construed to mean something like ' it suits them' or even to have a positive meaning as in 'he serves them well'

"Serves them right" is a particular idiom which carries the slightly malicious joy at the other person's situation, a bit like "schadenfreude" in German.

There was no implied criticism of anybody being French, but if faulty idioms are not corrected they can become habitual, and there is no learning.

This is why language teachers have a reputation for being 'difficult' .

I never take criticism of my my mistakes in French  personally, which is just as well, given how many I make [:)]
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[quote user="J.R. gone native"]

I also find that by listening to the different (again not mistakes) way that the French speak English, it teaches me  how to say the same phrase "correctly" in French.

[/quote]

I do that too. It's not just about translating and learning new words for our words, it's the logic of the whole language that must also be learnt. And that is the hardest part imo.

But the thing that's always made me struggle with learning French is the jargon that goes with it eg future principle, past principle etc etc I don't ever remember having to learn that jargon when I learnt English. Probably why I like Michel Thomas' method, he cuts to the chase.

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  • 6 months later...
neighbour lent us DVD when in the Jura last week. We needed cheering up as we had just finished emptying, clearing , cleaning - dad's house (25 years of keeping EVERYTHING that might be useful one day - attic, garage, etc, full to the brim - both parents now in OP home) - both OH (English) + moi (native French/Swiss) found it a bit difficult to understand at first - but we had a good belly laugh. A bit 'culcul la praline', but we did enjoy it. It might help to know that les Chtis say 'ch'  for c'/s...

Very stereotypical, basic, etc, - but fun.

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Back in May, I dragged some Parisian friends round the North of France, finishing at a tour of a mining establishment at Bruay la Buissiere (near Bethune), where they were enchanted to have a tour of the mining galleries by a retired miner. 

At the end, we had shown such interest in every aspect of mining, that the old guy offered to guide us to the streets in Bruay where the "decrepit coron" scenes were shot!  I had already seen the film twice, but my Parisian friends not at all, so sadly I had to turn his offer down.  (The said Parisians could not believe that the people of the north did not feel patronised by the film - which of course they had not seen.  But I maintained that the people of the north have a well-developed sense of humour, like the British, and can laugh at themselves - while feeling quietly satisfied with their own lives!).

I also have bought the video now; I re-ran it again last week and laughed just as much on the third screening as the first.

Angela

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  • 2 months later...
Watched the DVD last night avec sous titres, we borrowed it from our french friends in the village. Fantastic - so so funny. Living in a small village in the Pas de Calais we know what it is like trying to understand the ch'tis. Wonderful, welcoming people here. Loved the film and also the additional bonus disc.

Suey
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