Sometimes, I run out of witty observations about life in France and I get the feeling that it might be too soon for yet another “interesting” etymological history. Today is one of those days, so I asked myself, “Why not give them a recommendation on something French?” Not a bad idea. So here goes …
I strongly encourage you to run to your local movie store, add to your Netflix queue, or somehow stream to your computer :
Le Hérisson
(The Hedgehog)
I first saw Le Hérisson about a year ago, and it ranks as one of my favorite French movies of all time, along with Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, Le premier jour du reste de ta vie, Un long dimanche de fiançailles (even though I still haven’t seen the end), and La Reine Margot (because, yes, I am a history nerd in addition to being a hopeless romantic, and I embrace that).
Le Hérisson is director Mona Achache‘s adaptation of Muriel Barbery‘s novel L’Élégance du hérisson (The Elegance of the Hedgehog). It’s the story of unexpected connections among the most unlikely of friends: Madame Renée Michel, the grumpy (and frumpy) 54-year-old concierge of an upper-class Paris apartment building; Paloma Josse, an eleven-year-old resident and amateur nihilist philosopher; and Monsieur Kakuro Ozu, the enigmatic new resident of the building.
je parle américain 