Got 200 Francs? Moi...Lolita

[edgar93]

Originally Posted by Roman

Seems like this kind of thing should be cataloged somewhere. I know that at Alizée-Forum much has been posted in the resources section (as opposed to the sea of thread posts) including translations of songs and various articles.
In any case, thanks also to Ben for the pointers to the past discussions. This stuff never dies eh?

You mean like a gallery? I'd love to have one too, but I guess AAm is very busy these days, hopefully it will happen later

[Gh0sT]

It was interesting reading this. Many thanks to whoever found it and translated it.

I wonder if we have translations of the other 4 articles about MCE. This is the main page - http://jodel.saint-marc.club.fr/pas20ans.htm. Anyone know?

[Roman]

It should say Lolita with the boy in love. It's funny how at one point the author writes, Lolita avec je garçon amoureux instead of le garçon. Freudian slip? je means I, le means the
And check out the songs of Nathalie Cardone that are mentioned. Familiar imagery. One gets the impression that much of the powerful imagery that is special in the performances of these women comes from Boutonnat. So, his M.O. - find beautiful female singers and bring out their beauty and power to move the soul (amongst other things)? Seems like it. Seems like a nice job.

[Roman]

Here is my translation of that page. I will attach the original in a zip file since it appears that web site is now gone.

Moi... Lolita
Quand je rêve aux loups, c'est Lola qui saigne ( When I dream of the wolves, it's Lola who bleeds )

"Got 200 francs?"

It's the first time in eight years that Laurent Boutonnat has had the mission to attach images and a story to a text from Mylène Farmer. After having composed the music for Moi... Lolita and left it to her to write the lyrics, Laurent Boutonnat produces (rather belatedly) this eagerly awaited video. Though he shoots, as in his heyday, on 32mm film, he no longer works with the same band of friends, such as Carine SARFATI for the costumes or Jean-Pierre SAUVAIRE for lighting. The latter will be replaced by Philippe PAVANS. Working on the biggest secret at the end of June, after a long preparation, the film is distributed for the first time Wednesday the 26th of July 2000. Laurent Boutonnat, who frequently had the habit of using professional actors (Zouc, Louise FLETCHER, Frederic LAGACHE) engaged here semi-amateur actors like Jérôme DEVOISE, who plays the role of the boy in love or Liliana, the sister of Alizée in the film. Only Anne-Marie PISARINI, who takes on the role of Lolita's mother is accustomed to the stage. The filming took place during two days. The first day of filming was outside for the photo shoots of the big barley fields, the road, and the court-yard of the mother's house. Laurent Boutonnat went to film these scenes in the vicinity of Senlis, in the Oise. The second day of shooting was necessary for the shots in the Parisian discotech of Bains-Douches where like a hundred extras were engaged.

This video is of course far from that which Laurent Boutonnat produced for Mylène Farmer eight years ago. What's strange, on the other hand, is that it's also far from what he did for Nathalie Cardone not yet so long ago... For her, he had both revived his performances of grand spectacle (Hasta Siempre-1997 ) and been given to a terseness that essentially played on a certain image of the singer (the milk of Populaire-1998 or the cloudy sky of Mon Ange-1999 ). Laurent BOUTONNAT seems to be capable, today, to tell the stories of our age, to move away from the battle fields, the receding centuries or the timeless stories. [I agree. From what little I have seen, I consider Boutonnat to be a very important mark on the French culture.] This time, Laurent Boutonnat certainly got back to story telling videos, but he let go of the ambiance, the universe, the themes in order to concentrate on the esthetic of his new heroine. Certainly, the misanthropy inherent in his work and the hardness of the characters toward each other are always present. The characters are sensible, if not loving or appreciative of each other, such as the mother and her daughter, Lolita with the boy in love. [note: le garçon] What seems to be important to him is the opinion one will have toward Lolita... and by extension, Alizée. Because of that, we are entitled to believe that this video is perhaps the first in a series, coherent, with its own symboles (though rare) that will make us follow, sort of, the adventures of Alizée. After an initial two-episode saga in which the name given to his heroine was the adjective "libertine", Laurent Boutonnat could make a new recurring heroine of Lolita. The continuation in the next episode? [Well, it did sort of continue with Parler Tout Bas anyway.]

In the open countryside, a man in his thirties [uh, don't think so] runs after a young girl of fifteen. She stops. The man is embarrassed, visibly strongly affected by the young Lolita. He declares his burning flame for her and he just wants to know if she loves him. His regard is tender, the declaration sincere. The response of Lolita is this: "you got 200 francs? Thanks, I'll pay you back." In this introduction to the video, LB has presented to us the character of Lolita. In one sentence we know who we are dealing with. [note: "à faire" should be "affaire".] The rest of the film will be naught but a long confirmation. The 200 francs in pocket, Lolita returns home, without a glance toward the boy in love. He will remain on the road, awaiting a new sign of life from the minor with whom he has fallen in love. Is she prostituting herself? Has she allowed him to believe in a possible love? Lolita is simply a girl that one enjoys watching, and to whom one would give everything. [and Alizée took on that characteristic truely enough] On will recognize, at her arrival in the courtyard of the house, the vocabulary of LB. The slight lateral tracking shot that he uses to introduce a place is reminiscent of those of the Giorgino (1994) orphanage or the Cuban home of Hasta Siempre [goodbye forever?] (1997). Her mother is washing the clothes and her little sister of six is sitting on the steps of the house (like "poulette" [chick] in the Giorgino hostel). The mother advances toward Lolita to insult her and make violent reprimand regarding her dress and tardiness. Lolita takes her sister, changes clothes and leaves through the fields with her. They meet the bus that will take them into town. The man will have to really run, he will not reach it before its departure. He will only be able to see the young girl leave on her bus, through the back windows.

That same night, she is in a discotech where, in the midst of scantily clad girls with make-up, she's dancing without hiding the fact of being the youngest in the place. Little by little, all eyes turn toward her. Whether dancing in the middle of the dance floor or reapplying make-up in the restroom, as many men as women fall for her charms. In her thin little dress, one can do nothing but love her. Lolita sets her little sister on a bar stool where she watches her big sister become a phenomenon. The guy from the country followed her.

He is there. He just entered the discotech where he watches dumbfounded as Lolita dances amongst people ten years older than she. Lolita pays no attention to that, the main thing for her seems to be the number of looks she attracts, not their identities. The little sister is now also dancing on her stool while watching Lolita on the dance floor. Finally, we see the two sisters return early in the morning, hand in hand, on a country road. This little one is the only object of her attention. The little one will just say, to her sister: "I'm a bit tired." No response. They are heading off together in the distance, the guy in love is still there behind her, following Lolita and will probably follow her for a long time.

Besides the camera movements and images reminiscient of Giorgino, one can easily carry the analogy much further, having the comparison between this title and the film in one's sights. First of all, the lyrics can not but recreate a certain paranoia that reminds us of that of Catherine: "It's not my fault". On can also hear certain autistic phrases to which she was victim: "When I give my tongue to the cat, they are all ready to throw themselves upon me". It's also Lolita who "dreams of wolves", while this is precisely what Catherine was reproched for; who had dreamed of wolves while the orphans were drowned. As for the into to this song, with the violin, it recalls the theme of the original soundtrack for Giorgino that played over and over. At the very beginning of the video, moreover, one is witness to a scene symbolizing, in its presentation to the public and in its production, a sequence from Giorgino, which corresponds to the veritable first appearance of Mylène Farmer in the film... We are evoking here the scene where Giorgino has just left the orphanage, crosses the village square and grabs Catherine, who is fleeing, by the arm. She turns then to ask him to request repayment... In Lolita, it is she who asks of the young man the same thing.

[Criss_pl]

Big, really big THANKS to you for that translation Great job
It has very interesting references.
Once more, THANK you!

[User22]

i finally got the full jist of what was happening btw alizee and the man....thx for the explanation