French movies, to be exact. I have taken my own advice and stocked up on a pile of romantic French movies. First there was Cyrano de Bergerac. Fabulous. Second was Amelie. A favorite of mine (and in the permanent collection) Lastly, this one that has been on my list for a long, long time - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Filmed in 1963, this classic is the first film for Catherine Deneuve. She is luminous. Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a romantic musical. Do not think this is a romantic comedy. This is French, so it is romantic, beautiful, and slightly tragic. All the dialogue is sung. The music is by Michel Legrand. The movie is surreal, yet lovely. The sets and costumes are what you will remember. They are quite frankly, the most amazing movie sets I have ever seen. Think of an everyday interior swathed in surprisingly color.
You won't be able to take your eyes off the screen. Oh yeah, that's another thing about French movies - subtitles. You don't get a lot of hand quilting done when your eyes are glued to the t.v. reading the text. (Note to self - best hand quilting shows are American t.v. fare where your eyes and mind can wander a bit)It was kind of quilty though. Not much stitching was done, but I sure did get inspired by it. It made me think of this quilt in progress.
This is Pookie's Nicey Jane quilt. You can read more about it here. (photo snagged from ipbeats.wordpress.com)
It was almost as if the entire movie was channeled by some fellow quilt fabric designers. Heather Bailey and her Nicey Jane look was unmistakable. I also saw quite a bit of Red Rose Farm by Elizabeth Scott.
(these pics were shamelessly snagged from The Late Bloomer blog)Rent it, or buy it and see for yourself.
Don't even get me started on the Amelie and Happy Zombie connection.
Laurie
13 comments:
I love French films too. Cyrano is one of my favorites. I could go on forever about all my favorites.
If you haven't seen them already, I would recommend "Jean de Florette" and its sequel "Manon of the Spring" and "The Closet."
Thanks for sharing. I've added the movie you talked about to my Netflix queue
thanks for the picture of the Nicey Jane quilt. I love your pattern done in this. I went to her blog and read and read some more. Cool stuff.
I vote for wathing Gigi! I know it's not Frenchy-French but it is Collette and there's always Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier!
love,love Umbrellas, but could never quilt while that was on and I never saw but did read Cyranno
I was looking at the wallpaper in the movie clips thinking... and then you showed my thoughts. lovely quilt!
Well, when you start posting in French, we will know you've seen too many!
I brushed up on my French before going for 2 wks and after a days there and a bottle of wine, I was speaking fluent French! Well, I had no trouble ordering and the waiters were VERY nice! :) I never met one rude French person! NEVER! lovely people. When in Rome...
People are often reminded of me when they see Catherine Deneuve!
(Thanks for featuring my quilt. That pattern is awesome, as you are well aware. :D)
That wallpaper would make some groovy quilt patterns. I must go and rent this one.
"If it takes forever I will wait for you , for a thousand summers I will wait for you " !!!! That song makes me cry when she sings it to her lover who just left her to go to war and she with baby on the way OH how sad! I do like the colors in the movie the walls are awesome they remind me of the colors of Nanny McFee. Happy stitching..
Another film to watch. Just saw Bright Star and it was lovely.
French movies are on my agenda now thanks to you. I'm a Steve Martin fan and loved Roxanne. The Cyrano de Bergerac adaptation Roxanne, a film Martin co-wrote, won Steve Martin a Writers Guild of America,and more importantly, the recognition from Hollywood and the public that he was more than a comedian. I may have to do a Steve Martin marathon while quilting.
I simply must know the connection!!!! When I get home... I'm going to netflix Amelie.
I had to laugh - the last time I picked up a pile of movies, most of them were subtitled and I got no applique done! I've learned to stick in a tried and true favorite when I'm stitching; that way I can listen more and watch less.
Thanks for the link to Pookie's page. I did not recognize your Chippewa Nine-Patch pattern, one of my favorites, but I love her take on it.
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