Qu’est-ce que cela veut dire mes amis ?
That someone can put symbols on paper and several centuries later someone else half a world away can decipher the symbols and burst out laughing or crying, is nothing short of miraculous.
Much has been discussed about the comparative merits of books and films. The main advantage of books it is often asserted is that readers can use their own imagination when ‘visualising’ and interpreting what is written on the page. Readers can deduce their own meaning which may not always be what the writer intended.
One of the most impressive books I’ve read, has to be ‘Catch 22’. The book’s delicious irony of what is a rather dark and depressive subject is rarely surpassed. It is not surprising that the phrase ‘catch twenty two’ has been incorporated into colloquial English. I was thoroughly disappointed when I subsequently saw the movie. The script writers seemed obsessed with blood and gore, which in my opinion seriously missed the point of what is a very funny yet deeply meaningful book.
Carl Zuckmayer’s play ‘Der Hauptmann von Köpenick’ was first staged in 1931. As I remember it (having read the publication) the protagonist Wilhelm Voigt, on being released from gaol, can’t get a place to stay because he hasn’t got a job, and can’t get a job because he hasn’t a place to stay. Catch 22.
Several movies have been made about Der Hauptmann. I didn’t see any of these.
Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch 22’ was published 30 years later.
A Warlpiri friend of mine having reached an age greater than 65 applied to have his accumulated Superannuation funds reimbursed. A message for him to phone the Super Fund about his application was prompted by the fact that the Driver’s Licence he’d lodged a certified copy of, to prove his identity, had expired. I fail to see how the Super Fund can conclude that the expiry of my friend’s right to drive a car means that his identity has also expired.
One of the most impressive films I’ve seen, has to be ‘Babette’s Feast’ based on Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen)’s novel. I didn’t read the book and don’t feel a need to.
As for Gabriel García Márquez’s surrealistic metaphorical novel ‘Cien Años de Soledad’, set in the oppressive tropical climate of Macondo, should a film be made of it, I wouldn’t feel a need to see it.
When I read Yann Martel’s allegorical Life of Pi, I could never have imagined that it could be rendered on film. Yet director Ang Lee’s cinematographic triumph is nothing short of miraculous. In the film nothing of the book’s deep meaning is lost.
The words in Bob Dylan’s songs are deceptively ‘simple’, yet are imbued with deep meaning.
…and he hands you a dime
And he asks you with a grin
If you’re having a good time
Then he fines you every time
You slam the door….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti6Te-exY4Q
Recently on TV, I saw David Suchet’s retrospective on his 25 years of portraying Agatha Christie’s Poirot. David Suchet kept switching from himself to his Poirot persona. At one point he quotes Poirot in his Belgian/French accent: “I hear what you say, I listen to what you mean”
If only the multitude that have descended on remote Aboriginal Australia to impose Stronger Futures and Close the Gap would follow Poirot’s example. They come and organise endless meetings at which they push their agendas. If only they didn’t just hear what is being said, but listened to what is meant.
…..Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin…..
(I don’t know the meaning of my sadness)
(Je ne connais pas le sens de ma tristesse)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0_PtHwbCiY
When a Warlpiri child continues to do something they have been told repeatedly not to do, the parents say that “He can’t listen, he can’t learn”. In other words he takes no notice.
The Warlpiri verb ‘purda-nyanyi’ means both to hear and to understand.
I’ve often heard Warlpiri people say of those that come and organise meetings and workshops and farcical so called ‘consultations’ that “they couldn’t listen”.
Listen to your heart…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktRsl2hAPhY
In other words they took no notice.
For this they are highly paid.
It is an important part of their job… to take no notice.
(I don’t know the meaning of their meanness)
(Je ne connais pas le sens de leur méchanceté)
All my people right here, right now
D’You Know What I Mean? Yeah Yeah
All my people right here, right now
They Know What I Mean? Yeah Yeah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltf4sgmBU2w
A bientot
François
Yuendumu 20 June 2014