Can anyone enlighten me as to why the President of the French Republic has a dog called 'Nelson'?
Taking painting to the pictures ...
www.thepicturepalace.co.uk
Because it's funny?
share
exactly, the french president has a dog that brings him the ball and is called Nelson, if you need an explanation why this is funny then there is no point in trying to explain it.
Its digital and exposed! www.digital-exposure.com
That immediately struck me also. Especially as the dog in question was Scotch - would make sense if it were "Mactavish" or whatever.
But what do I know? For all I know, Nelson is a traditional name for a dog in France!
Not very likely, is it? Think about it! share
For all I know, Nelson is a traditional name for a dog in France
Logically, not. But there is no logic in popular culture.
shareLord Horatio Nelson was a British officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars against the french.
sharePrecisely. Hence this thread.
Nelson was a very famous and successful enemy of the french, defeating them many times in battle. I assume the president did this to 'cut the great enemy down to size' by naming his little pet dog after Nelson.
In the same way, an english person might find it amusing to name their little pet dog 'Napoleon'. It's reflecting the historical rivalry between England and France.
I get all that, I don't suffer from an irony deficiency. Given that the French managed to kill Nelson (even though they lost at Trafalgar) it seems more than a little perverse, not to say triumphalist.
I suppose I wondered if there was some explanation contained in the original BD that didn't make it into the script. Such as the dog being a gift from the British to celebrate the entente cordiale or some such, which would be in equally bad taste, but much funnier and less puzzling.
Taking painting to the pictures ...
www.thepicturepalace.co.uk
devansarty-1: "Given that the French managed to kill Nelson (even though they lost at Trafalgar) it seems more than a little perverse, not to say triumphalist. "
I'd be suprised many French individuals know that Nelson had been killed (by a Frenchman) during the battle of Trafalgar (even before the level of knowledge in history of the average Frenchman started to plummet several decades ago).
You shouldn't overthink that. No perversity intended, I'm sure.
[addendum: Besides, when a French director adds strong nationalism in their movie that's almost always to mock the character concerned by it (a statement about nationalism in general and more particularly about the chauvinistic tendencies of the French)]
"I suppose I wondered if there was some explanation contained in the original BD that didn't make it into the script. "
No, the French president Fallières had no dog in the BD. In fact, there were many many changes from the original BD - way too much for my tastes. I used to be a fan of the BD (you guys call this a graphic novel, right?) a long time ago and it was painful to see Besson transforming it to fit the movie requirements and put his own "signature" upon it (he also added things that radically altered the nature of the original thing).
I basically never like adaptations. And the fact that it's Besson that did the job makes it even worse for me. And he's about to do the same to another of my childhood fondly remembered BD : Valerian. Brrrrr.... It never ends.