The Sunday NY Times had an interesting article about a grass-roots phenomenon of a movie which they describe as "celebrating the joy of being stuck in the sticks". It's a low-budget comedy, which "has sold close to 19 million tickets in a country of 65 million people, and is on course to overtake the all-time domestic record of 20.7 million set by Titanic."
I don't think the film has made it across the Atlantic yet, but I wonder if any of our French correspondents have seen it and would care to comment?
I heard a short NPR piece about this film, and somewhere (on a dvd maybe?) I saw the trailer. I was intrigued because I'd never even heard of that area.
I'd love to hear comments from anyone who's seen it.
We watched "My best friend" the other night and liked Dany Boon, who co-starred with Daniel Auteuil. I looked him up on wikipedia and learned how he is passionate about his home, Armentieres, and so made the "ch'tis" movie. I hope we'll hear from somebody who's actually seen it.
A very good laugh - extremely light film to say the least - with a nice "hollywoodien" ending as the French would say. The irony, of course, is that the French tend to sneer at films with Hollywood endings but this one has become the most successful domestic film of all time.
Provence afficianados will appreciate scenes from Salon de Provence and Cassis and the drive above the falaises de Cassis. Then most of the action switches to up north.
Warning though that this is not a film well suited to non-French speakers. Much of the humor revolves around the crazy accent of folks up north (Pays de Calais). I'll admit to having had some trouble understanding some of it myself, but don't feel too bad as French friends have told me it's the same for them.
Here's an example: instead of saying "Ca va, toi" - les Ch'tis say (phonetically written) "shevati" -
Really can't imagine this film having any success at all outside of Francophone countries, but who knows...
Anyway, it's a good laugh and I think French movie-goers where in the mood for something like this just now.
Re: pronunication - sh-tea - don't pronounce the s. Refers to the patois, but is used to refer to people as well.
This really is a phenomenon in France, and has greatly enhanced the renown of the North.
We have friends here in the Perigord who have just retired here (he's from the area, she is from Lille, and he worked there most of his life.) His mother practically went into mourning when he said he was going to live in the North - she KNEW it was bleak, dreary, and hostile, a view shared by many. It took yeare before she would visit and couldn't believe that there were actually trees there! He says when they lived in Lille no one wanted to visit them - now that they've moved here, and the film has come out, everyone wants to go to Lille.
Other big Ch'ti news in France regards football - at a recent game between Paris St Germain and Lens (from the north) PSG fans spread out a huge banner with various insulting comments about ch'tis. They were amazed to be charged with disseminating hate literature (although it has just been declared not racist) and the club penalized.
And recently a ch'ti girl won the 'Elite Model Look" which is meant to open the way to the 'monde très fermé des top-modeles' like Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista.
The ch'tis are everywhere these days!
I haven't seen the film yet, having been struck down with a cold for three weeks, but it keeps coming back to the cinema in Souillac (and Sarlat) so hope to next week.
I recently had my daughter's future French mother in law staying and she told me all about this film.
She says (coming from the South herself) that she was amazed, astounded, (and lots of other superlatives) at the revelations of how people really are in this area of France. She says, for years the rest of France has made fun of these people thinking them backward, 'hick', inbred, unpleasant, the butt of jokes etc. and this film has totally changed their view.
They now have a new respect for the 'northerners' with their own unique culture and language. According to her, the whole of France has been educated and it has not been before time.
For years, even generations, in France, people have talked about "Northern hospitality" -- l'hospitalité des gens du Nord -- and those are the Ch'tis. It's just the opposite of the American idea of Southern hospitality. In France, in fact, the Southerners -- les gens du Midi, including Provence -- are considered by the rest of the population to be unwelcoming and clannish.
The translation of Ch'tis into "the sticks" is very misleading. The North in France, the land of the Ch'tis around Lille, Calais, Lens, etc., is the most densely populated and urbanized part of the country outside of Paris and maybe Lyon and Marseille. "The sticks" in American English means a rural, underpopulated place. So it's very misleading.
When we saw the film, we absolutely loved it. Of course, the same sort of film could be made about many other regions of France -- or most other countries.
I'd be very surprised if this film got a US theatrical release because too much of the humor, characters and plot concern cultural aspects which just aren't known in the US. The leading character, for example, is a civil servant (who works for the post office) who wants to be transferred to the south. He ends up being transferred to the "Nord" (one of the administrative départments of France.) Therein, you've got lots of concepts which are "typically French" and would require a lot of explanation so an American "gets it."
One great joke in the film is something I've experienced a hundred times: crossing the "border" into Normandy and driving from a sunny afternoon into a dark wall of rain. I suppose the same joke might be made for someone driving from California to Seattle. In the film, the protagonist goes past a sign "Bienvenu au Nord" (Welcome to the North).
Posts: 471 | Location: Bayeux, France | Registered: 01 December 2001
I saw the film last week in Paris and even though I understood probably at best one third of the dialogue, it was thoroughly enjoyable; a warm, "feel good" sort of film that I think will be appreciated everywhere. The U.S. release is scheduled in July and I hope to be able to see it again with sub-titles.
Posts: 56 | Location: Dunedin,FL | Registered: 01 December 2006
If I may mention a peculiar incident of anti-ch'ti prejudice.
Last month during a soccer match between the Paris St Germain team and a northern (Lens?) team, some particularly gentlemanly Paris fans smuggled in huge black-on-white lettering on especially thin material that would not be bulky or easily detected at stadium entrance. During the match they aligned to make the slogan "chomeurs pedophiles consanguins bienvenus chez les ch'tis". Soon afterwards that marginal fan club was dissolved by law. I must say I could help but be impressed by the sense of organization by these … soccer fans, who, - there were at least 51 of them since there were 51 letters - aligned seamlessly horizontally, spelling perfectly ! Some world! European soccer hooligans spell perfectly while the leader of the free world says new-cue-lar. I researched a little bit trying to find a youtube of the incident and found out that actually the northern team and the Paris team are historical enemies and have waged a war of complicated banners for a long time. It was by no means the first time that a complicated banner had been "composed" inside a stadium. In fact for years one insult banner would be the response to the previous insult banner, ainsi de suite. All those banners are highly offensive, sometimes sort of funny. Sorriest I don't feel right posting any link here, but it should not be hard to find.
Lastly, director and actor Daniel Boon was the victim of a harrowing carjacking incident a few years ago. He was roughed up not even during the carjacking itself but because afterwards he ran after his car trying to get back … his dog.
I subscribe to the France Monthly e-newsletter, and the one that just arrived must have been inspired by the movie, although it doesn't actually mention it. It is about The Black Diamond of the North Pas-de-Calais -- the coal mining region. It has an interesting write-up about the landscape and history of the area.
Americana, that was a funny bit of trivia, but you didn't tell us if you've seen the movie and if so, what you thought.
Roz, I have not yet seen Ch'tis but am looking forward to … for one reason. Ch'tis is now the kind of cult comedy that all you have to do is to say the magic title and the French are already laughing. There are a handful of movies with that status: "Tontons Flingueur"s, "Père Noël est une ordure", "la vie est une longue fleuve tranquille". People know all the lines. All you have to do is say the 1st 3 words of the line and everyone dies laughing already. If you don't see the movie, you feel out of the loop and out of French culture. Seeing them is part of naturalization. French people from all walks of life like these movies, from retirees to intellectuals to suburb kids to … everyone! Laidback, if you understand 30% of Ch'tis, bravo. I see "Père Noël est une ordure" about once a year and have worked up to understanding only about 60% to 70% of the lines. I need a script! Is the Ch'tis dialogue very slangy?
