Jump to content

Ici Najac, A Vous La Terre


CatherineS2
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hi!

I have played there with one of my bands in my  'local village fete' days and I think Ron Avery lives nearby.  It's a lovely Aveyronais rural village and a good place for trout fishing and cep (wild mushroom) picking. 

I've heard about the film but haven't seen it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I live nearby and agree it is a very pretty village and lively in the season.   It is one of the 'plus beaux villages' and from a distance it looks like Sleeping Beauty's castle - absolutely fantastic views everywhere and buildings so pretty it looks like a film set.   However, sadly, it is about 65% maisons secondaires so a bit sad and closed up out of season.   I haven't actually seen the film (I missed it at the local cinema and keep meaning to do something about it)  Consensus of opinion locally, English think it is great, French don't like it saying it is 'folklorique' and makes them all out to be potty.  I must watch it soon to make up my mind.  What did you think of it?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

''Ici Narjac'' will be shown on Wednesday, Feb 21 at 20h 00 at the town centre cinema ‘Cinemovida Palace’, BEZIERS. 

 It’s a special Cine-Debat evening, so the film will be discussed with the director J-H Meunier after viewing. 

CatharineS2, if I go, I’ll let you know what I think, here or via pm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

If this is the film I think it is, with the goose being shoved in to a bucket with no bottom nailed to the door and its kneck broken, then it has been shown a few times on ARTE[:'(]

Its quite a long film and I was told that very few of the old people in it are still alive, it is quite old now, I think it was shot in 1997/8.  As Cerise says Najac is one of the most beautiful villages in France, its about 3 Kms from me and the reason I suppose that I moved here,  I just love the views of the castle from all directions.  The castle dominates the Aveyron valley and was never taken in any war, it looks complete but it isn't as the back wall fell in when the locals took all the stones from the back staircase to use for houses!!  It is not a place to visit for the unfit, as from the medieval centre and place it is downhill to the bottom of the village and then up an equally steep climb to the castle, and then back down and up again you can gert nearer by car outside of July and August.

There are esentially two hills one has the castle, the other the village.  At the bottom of the hill on which the castle stans on the road towards Parisot, over the river, there is a sports centre, pool and camping site, there is also the station, featured in the film, though I have yet to find it manned.  By the staion there is a good hotel/ restaurant called Le Belle Rive and there are also other places to eat on the descent down towards the castle. I think the local bar is featured in the film, its by the fountain at the end of the medieval part and called Cafe de la Plage, it was supposed to be Cafe de la Place, but the blind maker had a liquid lunch that day and they left he name as it was and it is now called cafe de la Plage.   If you want to see what the village looks like have a look at:

 http://www.aveyron.com/tourisme/plusbx/najac.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="CatherineS2"]

Hi LanguedocGal!

Did you go to the screening? If so, how was it?

Thanks!

[/quote]

RA, not sure we are talking about the same film.

Ici Najac was filmed over a period of 10 years from 97 and only released in 2006 so I do wonder if Arte could have shown it a few times already. 

CatherineS2, there was a bit of music in the film (a lot provided by the Irish singer, resident of Najac – I loved his voice) so do not know which you are talking about.  In any case, it was all pretty fantastic including the baroque/medieval/atmospheric (really not sure how to describe it) piece.

The Director was present to reply to audience questions. People were very appreciative of the simplicity and beauty of the film.  He chose 12 residents of Najac and filmed them over the 10-year period. He said that Najac is a town of 800 inhabitants and the film was not about Najac but about these characters. It was basically a documentary of their lives over 10 years.

My friends and I  loved it and the female ones are all now part of the fan club of the 75-year old mechanic  [kiss] whose personality to die for, inspired the Director to make the film.  The Director admitted that had this mechanic’s character been written, only one French actor could have carried it off.  Personally, I don’t think any actor could have managed that feat.

Don’t want to give too much away but I would recommend it. For some, the French may be difficult to understand as the characters speak with a heavy local (Occitan-ish?) accent. Before seeing it, I was slightly afraid it may have a been a sort of tourist board type production but nothing of the kind, thank goodness!

Someone asked how many times a day the train stops at Najac.  You have to watch the film to understand why this was asked[:D].

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="LanguedocGal2"][quote user="CatherineS2"]

Hi LanguedocGal!

Did you go to the screening? If so, how was it?

Thanks!

[/quote]

RA, not sure we are talking about the same film.

Ici Najac was filmed over a period of 10 years from 97 and only released in 2006

 Someone asked how many times a day the train stops at Najac.  You have to watch the film to understand why this was asked[:D].

[/quote]

Well certainly the still photos on the website were from the film I saw (twice) on ARTE, I suppose the acid test is whether that white goose was shoved into the bucket like frame and killed with the blood then dripping out of the bottom, it was in the ARTE screened film[+o(].  One of the teachers at French school lives in Najac and she told us at he time it was shown on TV that a number of the older people in the film have since died, certainly the old lady who had the party, if it is the same film, but the bric- a- brac man is still there with his little store on the road away from the village down towards the river.  AFAIK only four trains in each direction stop at Najac, but it is a beautiful station to wait for a train to Toulouse at,  with the castle towering above on the hill to the left, the river behind and the train emerging from the right out of a tunnel in a hill covered by pine trees.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's odd, I've seen a film about the inhabitants of Najac, but I'm sure I watched it in 2004. I've searched on IMDB, but can only find reference to one film about Najac, and that's Ici Najac, released in 2006.

The one I saw featured an elderly eccentric inventor who was building a helicopter (I think) in his back garden, an old lady who died during the filming, and a couple of travelling clowns, amongst others.

I've been on that Najac train, and waited a very long time at the station.  I don't think many trains stop there, most of the ones I saw whizzed straight past me!

EDIT, aha!  The film Ron and I saw is La Vie Comme Elle Va, a film by the same film maker about the inhabitants of Najac, released in 2004  http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3476,36-780111,0.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The director mentioned ‘La Vie Comme Elle Va’ and gave a website from where it can be downloaded for free but I did not retain it.  He is now making a film on characters in Toulouse.

Having seen the trailer for La Vie Comme Elle Va  -link below -, it appears that Ici Najac is a sort of part 2 (the finished product) with a number of characters not in the first and vice versa.

Ici Najac also features our adorable mechanic that Cat refers to as the inventor seen in the Bande Annonce below opening the garage door, talking about not smoking, drinking or going to dances and also on the helicopter thingy. The stationmaster in the trailer is also in Ici Najac. 

I understood that those featured in Ici Narjac are very much alive. However, the credit did mention a ‘this film is dedicated to…’ but I don’t know the role of the person in the film.

Ron, the train does indeed stop 8 times a day (The director confirmed this). However, if you watch Ici Najac, you will understand why the question was asked. Priceless![:D]

http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18360384&cfilm=54862.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a link to Henry's song which was in the film...

http://www.henrypadovani.com/uk/album/icinajac.htm
(That's his 12yr old daughter Fedora in the background). I've seen the video for this song and it features lots of characters from the film, but I don't think it's available on line. It does look idyllic! 

By the way, listen out for his new single, Welcome Home, which is shortly to be released and features Henry (the original guitarist of the Police befiore Andy Summers), along with Sting on bass and Stewart Copeland on drums. The original Police line-up.... :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...