I walked by a store in Paris with old magazines including “Nous Deux.” My favourite magazine cover featured a picture of a couple. The man was relaxing on a sofa reading a book. Beside him was a large bookshelf including a ladder. On the ladder was a woman with a big pile of books and an alarmed expression on her face. There were too many books in her pile and a few books had spilled out of her arms and were aimed right at the man’s head.
“Nous Deux” makes me think of
Julia Kristeva’s article: "Nous deux" or a (hi)story of intertextualityabout America, history (personal and political) and intertextuality. She fell in love with America with the same tempo that I now fall in love with France. She loves the simplicity of American streets, bustle and academic pursuits. Here the love affair differs. I love the intertextuality of watching movies with subtitles in France. I also enjoy wandering the streets and prefer the moments when the speed of life is leisurely and casual. I'm on vacation after all...
I walked by a store of sorts that read “La Maison de La Cravate.” I said to myself, “cravate, where do I know this word from?” I knew I had seen the word recently and often. Finally it hit me: watching “Frenzy” (directed by Hitchcock) in Nantes just a few days prior with French subtitles. La cravate means tie, which is what the killer uses to strangle his female victims in the movie. The word had come up often on the screen. Have you seen this film? A protagonist without a carefully plotted reputation (he drinks on the job, has an anger management problem and ‘to be helpful’ goes down in his divorce papers as the guilty party) is set to take the fall for the murders of his ex-wife and current fling. He is sent to jail and then escapes to pursue the killer. I could somehow relate (to the protagonist not the murderer just to be clear).
The film is 'set' in the present moment with only one or two rare memories surfacing in the minds of the protagonist and cop on the case. The cop replays our hero's words in court which echo in his mind and the voice-over track (I know the use of the word soundtrack is bad via Gorbman's translation of Michel Chion. Lately I've been wondering what the french word for 'soundtrack' is that Gorbman has translated. ?). Memory stumps me still. Of mice and men. I am stuck in a memory of 'la cravate' and thinking of 'nous deux' wandering the streets.
Maybe a video of dance will help break the spell?
Here is the equivalent of 'Nous Deux.'
Apparently b-boy Junior is battling Kujo at the end of March. There's a battle to watch out for.
B-boy Junior:
vs. Kujo:
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