I really love this movie and in particular I love Erwann, but as I'm not french I feel I'm missing something. They all describe him and his brother as Breton don't they? And I don't get what it means. And does he go to a Breton school or whatever? what is one of them?
Answers would be much loved. Thank you.
(Actually one more thing, why does he stumble over saying raisin buns to Ismael at the beginning? I can never figure it out ^^)
Breton is a type of people from an area. I believe they have their own language and cultures.
I don't know about France, but in Canada, we have a French speaking province called Quebec, and we called the people in it Quebecois. Breton is similar like that.
Aaaaahhh now that does make sense now ^^
Thank you.
Actually, Bretons are the people from Brittany, that is only a region of FRANCE(similar to a state in the usa),
So Bretons do speak French, and are considered as French as the other people living in France (same government and same country).
And some Bretons also speak Breton!
Erwann and brother Gwendal's apartment is in the 10th arrondissement, just North of Gare de l'Est at 51 Rue Louis Blanc (the actual address is very evident in the movie).
After Erwann meets Ismaël for the first time, Erwann then meets his school chum, and they walk East on the North side of Rue Louis Blanc; although it is not said or shown, they are probably walking two blocks away to Lycée Colbert (Paris 10), at 27 Rue du Château Landon, a well known high school.
http://lyc-colbert.scola.ac-paris.fr/
You can also look at the addresses at Google Earth--interesting!
Here are the words to the poem Erwann's chum is declaiming in grand French theatre style- Louis Aragon was a fantast writer famous in the 20's for Surreal or DADA poetry and prose-
Le cri du Butor
Il fait beau comme jamais
C'est un temps contre nature
Comme le ciel des peintures
Comme l'oubli des tortures
Il fait beau comme jamais
Frais comme l'eau sous la rame
Un temps fort comme une femme
Un temps à damner son âme
Il fait beau comme jamais un temps à rire et courir
Un temps à ne pas mourir
Un temps à craindre le pire
The subtitles do a good job of translation.
A Butor is a bittern, a marsh bird.
Yes, which is Bretagne in French--Ismael encounters a sign that says "Bretagne" near the end of the film, but I'm not sure what the "YES IT IS HERE" and the "CRY ME A RIVER" signs were supposed to mean.
shareIsmaël has just left Montparnasse (where the cemetery is, also the 'BRETAGNE' sign). He is going home in the 10th arrondissment when also sees the sign 'PETIT' ('kid'). Just think about why Ismaël then goes off drinking and gets loaded. You'll figure it out.
The rainbow sign, 'Cry Me A River,' is a well-known piece by the Swiss (and New York-based) artist, Ugo Rondinone. It was installed off the Boulevard Magenta in the 10th.
When Ismaël gets plastered, he's only two streets away from his office. He gets drunk in the Rue des Messageries, and his (fictional) office is on Rue Ambroise Thomas, both off the Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. You can see them on Google Maps or, even better, Google Earth.
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
I have no idea about Paris, so i offer a completely different interpretation to the neon inscriptions, although half of it was already said: it's simply a matter of the human feeling mechanism - when you're into someone, you automatically link everything you see to that person - BRETAGNE, because Erwann is Breton, YES! It is here, because he's walking around Erwann's place, CRY ME A RIVER written in all the colors of the rainbow, the internationally acknowledged symbol of homosexuals, and eventually PETIT, just to twist the knife. A sweet and well-thought out scene if you ask me.
------"Are you an American? I'm not an American, i'm a nymphomaniac"------
Thanks. Now I clearly see what the signs mean to him and got it, at last. "Yes, it is here!" Time to stop running away from love. So sweet this movie. I love this movie so much, I'm gonna check it out at amazon.com to buy.
shareThanks for nice explanation...
share"Yes It Is Here" means - "Yes, Love Is Here" as Ismael was walking and wondering whether it was love he felt.
shareI thank you for this imput. I didnt understand the signs and am glad everyone has chimed in on their significance. What was it that Ismael was feeling for Erwann? It was so soon after Julie's death, was Erwann just a warm body and bed or was he something maybe that was lacking in his life?
shareGrendal, look at the lyrics--especially in lines in bold face!
"J'ai cru entendre" (2:54)
Louis Garrel (Ismaël) and Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet (Erwann)
Les Chansons d'amour
Listen:
http://moulou.imeem.com/music/ord5zAqt/grgoire_leprinceringuet_jai_cru _entendre/
Ismaël
(Louis Garrel):
Mon petit depuis ce matin
J'ai traîné comme un crétin
Au niveau du caniveau
De Montparnasse à Château d'Eau
J'ai bu des verres, des verres, et puis des verres
Zubrowska, Riesling, Piper
À court de tout à bout de moi
Je suis revenu chez toi
Moi je voulais juste un corps
Je cherchais seulement des bras
Un lit de réconfort
Des délices sous les draps
Mais hélas au lieu de ça
J'ai cru entendre "Je t'aime--"
J'ai pensé c'est son problème
J'ai cru entendre je t'aime
J'ai pensé c'est son problème
Peu importe que tu y croies
Peu importe que je sois
À bout de moi, à court de tout
Mais pas de ça entre nous
Erwann
(Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet):
Être un corps je suis d'accord
T'offrir mes bras pourquoi pas
Mon lit, ok, encore
Pour rire en salir les draps
Mais je crains que pour tout ça
Tu doives entendre "Je t'aime--"
Tu doives entendre "Je t'aime!"
Ismaël:
je suis vieux, veuf et sectaire
Un pauvre imbécile secrétaire
Erwann:
Je suis beau, jeune et breton
Je sens la pluie, l'océan et les crêpes au citron
Ismaël:
Tais-toi un peu petit trésor
Erwann:
Tu as tout faux une fois encore
J'suis très précieux, épargne moi
Ismaël:
D'accord, mais--entre nous pas de ça
Erwann:
Être un corps je suis d'accord
Ismaël:
Je cherchais seulement des bras
Erwann:
Mon lit, ok, encore
Ismaël:
Des délices sous les draps
Erwann:
Mais je crains que pour tout ça
Tu doives entendre...
Ismaël:
(!)
("Aime-moi moins mais aime-moi longtemps")
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
Thank you but I dont read french so I have no idea what it means.
shareIsmaël
(Louis Garrel):
I thought I heard him say "I love you--"
I thought that was his problem
I thought I heard him say I love you
I thought that was his problem
Erwann
(Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet):
You need to hear "I love you--"
You need to hear "I love you!"
Ismaël:
Shut up, you little treasure
Erwann:
But I think for all of that
You need to hear...
Ismaël:
(!!!)
Ismaël kisses Erwann, and says (or thinks):
("Love me a little less but love me a long time")
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
thank you so much for this. Although It may be too soon in their relationship for either of them to be saying "I love you" I do love the song and the lyrics make sense to me now. I think Ismael was right singing to Erwann that he was a mystery to him and how difficult it will be to hold onto him considering the emotional baggage he is carrying around. Erwann is young and naive to the complications of love. With that last line, is Ismael saying he is ready to consider a relationship long term?
shareIt seems to me that he's setting up the same relationship with the kid that he had with julie. He was with her 8 years but didn't want to say i love you, and it ends with him him telling the kid to love him less and stick around for a long time which seems a lot like the relationship he had/wanted to have with Julie.
shareYou could have simply looked up Breton on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_people
I suddenly realised: Christophe Honoré (the director)is born in Brittany. So this is one of the many inside jokes Gaël Morel (the writer and good friend of Christophe Honoré) has put in this film.
As someone said elsewhere, Bretons are from Bretagne, wich is Brittany in english. Bretons speak french of course, but at the same time they have their own language and their own culture wich are very particular. So, french people find them awckuard most of the time, quite different from what the French is.
shareGwendal and Erwann are Bretons, ie have parents or grand-parents who were born in Brittany (the western peninsula of France). Bretons are French citizens and they speak excellent French -but both Gwendal and Erwann are typical Breton first names and Erwann is proud of his Breton heritage. Identities are dealt with a lot of subtlety in this film. For instance, Ismaël is coming from a Jewish family but refuses to define himself as a Jew and his first name could be a muslim name.