French Entertainment Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dominique

"Dominique" a world-wide smash was the first French language song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. A real multicultural song this one: A Belgian nun singing, in French, about a Spanish monk (Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order) with a simple acoustic song that hit number one in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (but not the UK) with version sung in English, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese by the original singer.

Soeur Sourire, "The Singing Nun" was Jeannine Deckers, a member of the Dominican Order where she was known as Sister Luc Gabriel. Unfortunately, after contractual problems, she was reduced to poverty, quit the order, and died in 1985. The sweetness of her voice was her legacy, and her music lives on.

Question written by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1, who apparently would have been called Dominic if born two years later.

Answer: The Battle of Algiers

"The Battle of Algiers" is a 1966 French language, Italian-Algerian war film based on the Algerian War (1954-1962) against the French government, in particular the Battle of Algiers, the capital of Algeria. It was shot on location in black and white with a newsreel style to give a sense of authenticity. The French government is not portrayed in a favourable light. The movie was not screened for five years in France; but it was eventually released in 1971 after protests from the public.

The film was critically acclaimed. It occupied 120th place on Empire magazine's list of the "500 greatest movies of all time.

Question written by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1.

Answer: The Second Sex

"The Second Sex" (French - "Le Deuxième Sexe") is a two-volume 1949 book in which the author documents the treatment of women in contemporaneous society as well through history. There are two volumes, "Facts and Myths", and "Lived Experience."

Whilst being critically acclaimed, the book was controversial - it was banned by the Vatican and the Spanish government. Some of the translations into other languages caused problems as the translation often changed the original intent and meaning. Nevertheless "The Second Sex" is still regarded as a ground-breaking feminist philosophy treatise, and was the starting point of second-wave feminism.

Question written by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1.

Answer: Candide

That young man was Candide himself, a naïve and simple young man who falls in love with the Baron's daughter, Cunégonde. His tutor is Professor Pangloss, who holds the popular optimistic philosophy propounded by Leibniz, "all for the best in the best of all possible worlds." Candide and Cunégonde are cast out of the Baron's garden after a chaste kiss, echoing the fate of Adam and Eve. A series of travels and disasters follow, perhaps inspired by the great earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Lisbon in 1755.

The author, Voltaire, used this to satiric effect, contrasting the devastation and villainy that besieges the star-crossed lovers with Pangloss's ongoing optimism, despite being afflicted with syphilis and losing an eye and an ear. The novel was initially published anonymously in 1759, but Voltaire was quickly recognized as the author. It has been translated into multiple languages and has been adapted for stage and screen, including a musical initially composed by Leonard Bernstein and later adapted by Steven Sondheim.

Player pusdoc of Phoenix Rising's Red Crew fondly remembers the 1974 revival of the musical "Candide" on Broadway.

Answer: Madame Bovary

A novel by Gustave Flaubert, "Madame Bovary" was first published in 1856 in French. Set in Northern France, near Rouen, it charts the life of Emma Rouault, a beautiful, convent-educated young woman. She marries Charles Bovary following the death of his first wife. She longs for a luxurious life, one filled with fun and romance but finds her marriage to the dull but worthy doctor unsatisfactory. She embarks on a string of affairs, racking up debts as she purchases items beyond her means.

The novel was serialized in "Revue de Paris" in 1856 and was accused of obscenity, culminating in an unsuccessful trial of Flaubert. The trial made the novel notorious and it became a bestseller.

Red Crew's smpdit tried to read the novel many years ago, but admits to not being able to finish it.

Answer: The Intouchables

"The Intouchables", titled "Untouchable" in the UK, is a French comedy-drama film from 2011. Written and directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, it was a big box office hit both in France and became the most viewed French film in the world that year.

Francois Cluzet plays Phillippe, a wealthy, white man who is quadriplegic due to an accident. Omar Sy plays Driss, a younger, poorer, black man, who enters his life as his carer, despite having no previous experience in that role. The unlikely friendship that grows is due to Driss' attitude towards Phillippe, refusing to treat him as a subject of pity, and Phillippe's introducing Driss to art, opera and painting and the finer aspect of life different to his own.

Phillippe is involved in a long-distance relationship with Eleonore, conducted entirely by letter. Driss tries to persuade him to take the leap to arrange a meeting, Phillippe is wary, as Eleonore is unaware of his disability. I won't spoil the ending.

Based on a true story, the film won a slew of awards and was also remade by Hollywood, in 2019, as "The Upside" starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart. There is also a Spanish version known as "Inseparables".

Red Crew's smpdit has seen both the French and Hollywood versions and feels that the French version was the best.

Answer: La Mer

"La Mer" was written by Charles Trenet from a poem he had written as a teenager. The tune came to him whilst on a train and he collaborated with his pianist Leo Chauliac to flesh it out.

The song was initially recorded by French Singer Roland Gerbeau in 1945 but Trenet himself recorded it the following year. Trenet's version became popular, and he re-recorded a version in the US in 1947.

American songwriter, Jack Lawrence, wrote the English version but the meaning of the song changed in the process. While Trenet's version was an ode to the sea, Lawrence's version "Beyond the Sea" became a love song. This version was first recorded by Harry James and his Orchestra in 1947 and Bobby Darin's 1959 recording became a hit in both the U.S. and U.K.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 is quite partial to this song and has been known to request it whilst cruising "Somewhere, over the seas, somewhere..."

Answer: The Stranger

"L'Etranger" (The Stranger) is a 1942 novel written by Frenchman Albert Camus. The protagonist is a Frenchman, known only as Meusault, who is living in Algeria. Throughout the book, Meursault, who is narrating the story in the first person, appears detached and emotionally indifferent, even after the death of his mother and his homicide of an Arab man. The novel is set in two parts, before the murder and after.

When the book was first published, France was under German occupation and there was a possibility that the book would be censored, but the Propaganda-Staffei allowed it to be published as written. Originally there was only 4400 copies printed.

It has been translated twice into English in 1946, both times by British author Stuart Gilbert, and with the titles "The Stranger" and "The Outsider". Further publications were printed in 1982 and 2012 (The Outsider) and 1989 (The Stranger).

Since its original publication, "The Stranger" has been adapted into film twice, and has influenced follow up novels, songs and movies, and is widely regarded as a "must-read" classic.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 has put this on her "must-read" list.

Answer: Mon Oncle

"Mon Oncle" is a 1958 French comedy starring Jacques Tati. The English translation is "My Uncle". Tati plays Monsieur Hulot, the humble, old soul, and uncle of Gerard Arpel. Gerard's father is an executive in a plastic factory, and his mother is Monsieur Hulot's sister. The Arpel family is accustomed to living with all modern conveniences, albeit an impersonal way of life. The movie contrasts Monsieur Hulot's humble life in the old part of the city to the modern, sterile life of convenience. The Arpels cannot understand why Hulot chooses to live without modernization, and they attempt to sway him to the more modern way of life throughout the film.

As in other Tati, films, his character's bumbling actions and visuals create his "voice" more than his actual speech. The film is not silent, but close!

Phoenix Rising's jaknginger added this question to the team quiz.

Answer: Love is Blue

The song, "Love is Blue", was composed by André Popp, with lyrics by Pierre Cour, both Frenchmen, in 1967. Despite this French origin for the song, it was first performed by a Greek-born singer named Vicky Leandros as Luxembourg's entry into the 1967 Eurovision contest. The song did not win, but was released in several languages in over a dozen countries.

Later that year, the French orchestra leader Paul Julien André Mauriat released an instrumental version of the song which became a smash hit in many countries, spending five weeks as number one in the US. Of note, Vicky Leandros went on to win Eurovision five years later, and Paul Mauriat had many other successful US releases, including "I Will Follow Him" and the theme to "Chitty, Chitty, Bang Bang."

Player pusdoc of Phoenix Rising's Red Crew remembers the song's time on the Billboard Hot 100.