Les bobos - French Accent Magazine

Nr 8 – August-September 2007
The French Scene — Valérie Lemercier
When you see the name Valérie Lemercier on a movie poster, you can rest assured that you
will be watching a comedy. Valérie has the talent of turning complex life situations into
funny ones. Not only is Valérie a great actress but she is a renowned stand up comedian and
well respected movie director and script writer.
Born on March 9, 1964 in Dieppe (Normandie), Valerie was a timid child but behaved
constantly like a clown at school and at home. Her talent for imitating people brought her
naturally to comedy. She worked at many jobs and also took acting lessons. Jean-Michel
Ribes gave her her first chance in 1988 by offering her the role of Lady Palace in the
successful TV show Palace. Valérie Lemercier became famous in this show playing a snobby
rich woman who was tight with her money.
Valérie has a real gift for imitating others and is known to play caricatures of the typical snob
“bourgeois” in the French aristocracy and does it very well! Her bold and frank personality
has made her very popular and well liked.
In 1993, she won a César (French film award) for best supporting actress in Les Visiteurs
(see movie details below). She also won 3 Molières (Theatre awards) for her one-woman
shows. Beside Les Visiteurs, she has played in several movies like Fauteuils d’orchestre.
Palais Royal is another movie she has also directed. Her latest film as an actress, L’Invité,
will be released on September 19th.
She has also been the highly successful host of the French Film Awards (Les César du
cinéma) for the last 2 years.
Vincent Anthonioz
A few DVDs with Valérie Lemercier
Palais royal
Directed by Valérie Lemercier, with Catherine Deneuve, Valérie Lemercier, Lambert Wilson.
The story of the king of a small Eastern European country who is killed in a helicopter
accident. His younger brother, although rather irresponsible, will take his place…
Fauteuils d’orchestre
Directed by Danièle Thomson, with Cécile de France, Albert Dupontel, Valérie Lemercier.
Catherine, Jean-François and Jacques have all devoted their lives to art, yet what kinds of
lives has art given them? They sometimes cross paths and nurse their neuroses at a café where
they are waited on by Jessica, recently arrived in Paris on her own quest for fame and
fortune…
Les Visiteurs
Directed by Jean-Marie Poiré, with Christian Clavier, Valérie Lemercier, Jean Réno.
A medieval nobleman and his squire are accidentally transported to contemporary times by a senile
sorcerer. He enlists the aid of his descendent to try to find a way to return home, all the while trying to
cope with the cultural and technological changes distinguishing his time from ours. A very comic
movie, which had a lot of success in France.
Coming soon to the French Screens
Week of August 29, 2007
Ceux qui restent
By Anne Le Ny, with Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos.
Bertrand and Lorraine are the ones who are still with us... To be able to deal with the guilt that
they are still alive, they decide to help each other to live life, to laugh and to continue to love
each other.
Week of September 5, 2007
La Vie d’artiste
By Marc Fitoussi, with Emilie Dequenne and Sandrine Kiberlain
Alice, a dubbing actress, dreams of a role which meets her standards. Bertrand, a French
teacher hopes to become a full-time writer. As for Cora, a provincial young person, she is
looking for a break through as a singer. The destinies of these three persons will intertwine .
Week of September 12, 2007
La question humaine
By Nicolas Klotz, with Mathieu Amalric and Michael Lonsdale.
In Paris, a man in charge of the recruitment in a multinational company sinks progressively
into madness at the same time as he is made responsible for developing a psychological
portrait of the manager of the firm.
Les bobos
Les bobos (a contraction of bourgeois bohème) is a category of people who are well off
socially and financially and mainly live in Paris and in the upper class suburbs. They
could be compared to the yuppies or new “bourgeois”. The popular French singer
Renaud had a huge hit with this song, which has also caused considerable controversy
over just who he is criticizing in it. Lots of people were incensed by the song, probably
because they could identify with Les bobos.
On les appelle bourgeois bohêmes
Ou bien bobos pour les intimes
2
Dans les chanson d'Vincent Delerm
On les retrouve à chaque rime
Ils sont une nouvelle classe
Après les bourges et les prolos
Pas loin des beaufs, quoique plus classe
Je vais vous en dresser le tableau
Sont un peu artistes c'est déjà ça
Mais leur passion c'est leur boulot
Dans l'informatique, les médias
Sont fiers d'payer beaucoup d'impôts
Les bobos, les bobos
Les bobos, les bobos
Ils vivent dans les beaux quartiers
ou en banlieue mais dans un loft
Ateliers d'artistes branchés,
Bien plus tendance que l'avenue Foch
ont des enfants bien élevés,
qui ont lu le Petit Prince à 6 ans
Qui vont dans des écoles privées
Privées de racaille, je me comprends
Ils fument un joint de temps en temps,
font leurs courses dans les marchés bios
Roulent en 4x4, mais l'plus souvent,
préfèrent s'déplacer à vélo
Les bobos, les bobos
Les bobos, les bobos
Ils lisent Houellebecq ou Philippe Djian,
Les Inrocks et Télérama,
Leur livre de chevet c'est Cioran
Près du catalogue Ikea.
Ils aiment les restos japonais et le cinéma coréen
passent leurs vacances au cap Ferret
La côte d'azur, franchement ça craint
Ils regardent surtout ARTE
Canal plus, c'est pour les blaireaux
Sauf pour les matchs du PSG
et d'temps en temps un p'tit porno
Les bobos, les bobos
Les bobos, les bobos
Ils écoutent sur leur chaîne hi fi
France Info toute la journée
Alain Bashung Françoise Hardy
Et forcement Gérard Manset
3
Ils aiment Desproges sans même savoir
que Desproges les détestait
Bedos et Jean Marie Bigard,
même s'ils ont honte de l'avouer
Ils aiment Jack Lang et Sarkozy
Mais votent toujours Ecolo
Ils adorent le Maire de Paris,
Ardisson et son pote Marco
Les bobos, les bobos
Les bobos, les bobos
La femme se fringue chez Diesel
Lui c'est Armani ou Kenzo
Pour leur cachemire toujours nickel
Zadig & Voltaire je dis bravo
Ils fréquentent beaucoup les musées,
les galeries d'art, les vieux bistrots
boivent de la manzana glacée en écoutant Manu Chao
Ma plume est un peu assassine
Pour ces gens que je n'aime pas trop
Par certains côtés, j'imagine...
Que j'fais aussi partie du lot
Les bobos, les bobos
Les bobos, les bobos
(Renaud Séchan / JP Bucolo)
A really well done video montage and the entire song can be found on the Internet:
www.dailymotion.com/video/xh4ed_renaud-les-bobos
Glossary
Bourges = bourgeois.
Prolos (prolétaire) = the poorest people among the lower classes of society – proletariat.
Beauf = an abbreviation of beau-frère (brother-in-law), but is used as a pejorative expression
to refer to narrow-minded, vulgar and chauvinistic French people.
Boulot = job.
Racaille = bad guys, scum (a term used by Sarkozy for the youth who burned cars in the riots
in the suburbs in 2005).
Michel Houellebecq & Philippe Djian = Avant-garde and controversial French writers.
Les Inrocks & Télérama = French magazines.
Cioran = Emil (E. M.) Cioran was a Romanian philosopher who lived for many years in
Paris.
Restos = restaurants.
Ça craint = it stinks.
Arte & Canal Plus = French TV channels.
PSG = the Paris-St.Germain football team.
Alain Bashung & Françoise Hardy = Popular French singers.
Pierre Desproges = a satirical & cynical journalist and humorist.
4
Guy Bedos & Jean-Marie Bigard = French stand up comedians.
Thierry Ardisson = a TV personality.
Pote = a slang term for a friend.
Se fringuer = to buy clothes.
La manzana = a Spanish (Basque) drink.
J'fais aussi partie du lot = I’m also one of them.
Les sirènes
Sur la route des Marquises
J’ai croisé une baleine grise.
Faisant voile vers Bornéo
J’ai trouvé un cachalot.
Au large de Santorin
J’ai aperçu des dauphins.
Je n’ai pas vu de sirène,
Est-ce que je n’ai pas de veine ?
J’ai cherché un peu partout
N’y en a-t-il plus du tout ?
Chosen and read by Alexandra
Glossary
Une baleine = a whale.
Un cachalot = a sperm whale.
Un dauphin = a dolphin.
Une sirène = a mermaid.
Veine = a very usual and politically accepted argot word meaning “luck”. Je n’ai jamais de
veine = I never have any luck.
Extrait de Comptines de la mer et du vent, de Corinne Albaut, Actes Sud Junior.
5