Bonjour! Hello! I (Sal) know some French as I've met several French speaking majors or enthusiasts at the University of Minnesota-Morris. I had one opportunity to attend a French Club gathering when a friend invited me to eat crepes with chocoalate-it was good!
Joan the Arc
When I decided to do this particular website, I was motivated when I watched another clip of the movie "The Messanger", which is about Joan the Arc. There was a line/script that was very relavant to a conversation last week about "Why"..does God let this happen?
In the movie, there was a scene right before Joan became well known. She was a young child question a relative or an adult why a love one had to die. Joan felt she should've died. This adult told her something like....
"we don't know God's will. Sometimes we don't understand why God lets people die. However, God always come up with something better with "bad" things. It might be God's will for you to live and do something important."
Later on Joan (still a child) goes to a nearby Catholic church and drinks the red wine to commit her life to His will or something. Then the story goes from there where her life become more significant as she "redeeems" France from British rule or something. I don't know much about it, so here are more resources:
French Film Festival
February 11: ”Pas sur la bouche” (France)
Directed by Alain Resnais, "Not on the Lips" is a tribute to the comical productions of the 1920s. The art-deco sets and costumes, the singing, the clever dialogue and the happy ending make for a sophisticated and highly entertaining farce.
*saw this, which was my first French film to watch. It was actually funny despite some of the moral choices that I don't agree with (e.g. adultery)
February 18th-La Petite Jerusalem
Reviews:
Seattle Weekly PickLa Petite Jérusalem
Showing at Grand Illusion, Fri., May 12– Thurs., May 18. Not rated. 96 minutes.
By Kellie Hwang "A sad and gloomy French film probably doesn't sound like anything new. But this provocative debut from writer-director Karin Albou is nothing short of extraordinary. Superficially, it's about the strictures of religion and the desire of its 18-year-old protagonist, Laura (Fanny Valette), to escape its confines. Then you realize the story is much more complex than that. Smart but somewhat uptight, Laura lives with her extended family in a Jewish suburb of Paris. There she struggles between their rigid Orthodox beliefs and her study of Kantian philosophy, hardly able to figure out who she really is.
Although Laura is suffocating within her family [Mother is from Tunisia, northern Africa], the film sympathetically shows how each member of her clan faces a similar challenge. It would be too easy to blame Laura's kin, but their flaws are entirely human, and therefore relatable. It's like your typical dysfunctional sitcom family cast in a painfully serious light. Albou's directing of each individual's character development is done superbly. (She also colors these domestic scenes a dull blue, accenting the sullen lives of a bleak suburb.)
Ultimately, the story is about love and passion—Laura finds a Muslim [Algerian] boyfriend, leading to inevitable conflict, while her older and more religious married sister deals with her own problematic sex life. Incrementally, each character decreases the hold of religion, philosophy, or old-country ways. Albou is too much the humanist to paint a pretty picture out of this process; her characters are flawed, real, and refreshing. Even if the general mood is rather depressing, Valette leaves you with an optimistic glow. She's got the innocent beauty of Audrey Tautou and the screen presence of Sophie Marceau." Wikipedia Interview: Fanny Valette (small Jerusalem)-translate (Eccranlarge-originially in French) Fan of Valette (origianlly in French)
Restaurant
Le Cafe Paris, French Cafe/cofee shop in Glenwood (35 miles east of Morris on Hwy 28)
"this video shows rare archive images about the normandy landing from the airborne drop to the gi's landing at Omaha" The Invasion of Normandy; Military Triumph, youtube.com "This is my History Day project! enjoy Normandy Invasion 1944: D-day German footage, from youtube.com "Impressive combat Footage. German newsreel (Die Deutsche Wochenschau). Normandy Invasion" Fall of Falaise , Normandy. France. Aug 1944, from youtube.com "The last major battle of Normandy by British and Canadian armies, in August 1944. Cartonboy's Grandad was a bofor gunner whoses Regiment went into Reserve for Rest, until they moved into Belguim and holland in Aug/sept 1944" D-Day 60 years later. A trip to Normandy, part-1 "Part 1 of a short video-report of a trip, my brother, his wife and I took to Normandy in june 2004. It was the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings and we took an authentic ww-2 Willys jeep and a Harley Davidson 'Liberator' with us. We made the trip from the north of the Netherlands to Courseulles-sur-mer in France, in three days. Stopping off in Belgium and at Batterie Todt. This is part of the 'Atlantic Wall' defences and has a campingsite direct next to the bunker. Inside this bunker, which used to house an enormous coastal gun, is a very nice museum. We went from there to Cape Gris-Nez where we looked at some german bunker installations. From there we went to our final destination, Courseulles-sur-mer. You can see that in part two, which you can find on my channel www.youtube.com/user/raffy2006"
*see U.S.A. Military
D-Day Plus Six
"This short film centers on a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who encounter a German counteroffensive in the French countryside during World War II."
Related Sites:
Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia "Inside you'll learn about the characters, weapons, equipment and locations featured in the movie, as well as details regarding the film's authenticity. If you've ever wondered about how much of the film is real, you've found the right place."
GLOBAL
Geography
-Cities Wikipedia "Marseille is the centre of a large metropolitan area, the second most populous commune and the second largest city in France...."
MARSEILLE POUR CHRIST 2 MARSEILLE FOR CHRIST 2 The Great Commission Marseille For his Name 2
"Our prayer is that the Lord will use this site to save those who are lost, give answers to those who are seeking, encourage the people of God, and further the ministry of the local church. We hope you will stay with us and support us in this effort. The gospel of Jesus is literally ?good news,? so we hope you enjoy exploring the miracle and wonder of what the God of all creation did for you. Marseille , Jean Francois, E mail: witnessmassalia@aol.com"
"The current Jewish community in France numbers around 606,561, according to the World Jewish Congress and 500,000 according to the Appel Unifié Juif de France (France Jewish community main organism), and is found mainly in the metropolitan areas of Paris, Marseille and Strasbourg.
The French Republic contains the largest Jewish population in Europe. French Jews are mostly Sephardic and span a range of religious affiliations, from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi communities to the large segment of Jews who are entirely secular." French Aliyah
CURRENT NEWS: Fearful Jews Fleeing France, from CBS News (July 28th 2004) "France is widely viewed in Israel as biased in favor of the Palestinians. The French Jewish community — at 600,000 the third-largest in the world — tends to be strongly pro-Israel, creating friction with a Muslim population of almost 5 million.
The latest French Interior Ministry figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the first six months of 2004 — compared to 593 for all of last year.
While France has strengthened security at Jewish institutions and enacted tougher punishments for people convicted of such crimes, a sense of uneasiness and betrayal has some Jews questioning where they belong."
-Muslims
"A study conducted by Michèle Tribalat, a researcher at INED, and based on 1999 French census returns, showed that claims of 5 to 6 million Muslims in France were largely exaggerated. According to the census returns, there are only 3.7 million people of "possible Muslim faith" in France (6.3% of the total population of Metropolitan France in 1999). [2] These millions of Muslims who come from countries where Islam is the dominant faith may or may not be observant Muslims."
Thank you for visiting UMMAlpha! Please feel free to e-mail me (Sal) at ummalpha@yahoo.com on any comments, suggestions (e.g. any new websites),complaints, or anytype of feedback to improve this website.
