Scottish girls in hem-line scandal!

It has been proven that Scottish girls really do wear the shortest skirts!

Research by Debenhams found that Northern girls wear skirts (on average) 17cm shorter than Southern girls.

They found that the average skirt length in Edinburgh is 30cm, and 32cm in Glasgow. (We all know that Glasgow gurls are just that wee bit classier!) 

In comparison apparantly the average skirt legnth in Southampton and Cantebury is 46cm, closely followed by Bournemouth at 47cm long!

Seriously – who put time and energy in to this research?!

Le Dernier Metro

Truffault’s Le Dernier Metro (1980) is based on the extreme popularity of entertainment during the occupation when people flocked to theaters for warmth and escapism.

 

It is set in, and rarely leaves, a small Parisian theater in Montmartre and revolves around a play which is being staged there. In a sense the occupation is never the main subject of the film, instead it lurks in the corners of every scene, and we see its affect on every character. Le Dernier Metro interweaves a love story, the lives of actors performing in a play and historical events in to a gripping tale filled with suppressed emotion.

It tells the story of Marion Steiner, the wife of a Jewish director Lucas Steiner, whom she is hiding in the basement of the theater.  She tells everyone including their friends that he has fled to South America, and even the viewer does not realize that Lucas is in the basement until later in the film.

The central focus of the film is the love triangle which plays out between Lucas, Marion and Bertrand – the leading actor in the play who is secretly a member of the resistence.

The character of Marianne is totally intriguing. She is poised and emotionless in the face of danger; lying to the authorities and even attacking her husband, in a shocking scene in which he decides in a moment of madness to give himself up and she knocks him out in order to stop him.

The role is played by French icon Catherine Deneuve. Interestingly she had an affaire with Truffaut whilst starring in his “Mississipi Mermaid” and the lines she is given in the love scene “c’est une joie et une souffrance” are thought to reflect Truffaut’s memories of their affaire.

Much of the film plays on the blurred line between play acting and genuine actions, and intertexuality between the film and the play within it. For example the love scene from the play between Marion and Bernard is charged with tension.

Truffault’s personal childhood experiences of the war are woven in to the film – for example a scene in which a german soldier ruffles a young boy’s hair and his mother forces him to wash it reflects a similar incident from Truffault’s childhood.

This film is definitely worth a watch – check out the trailer here.

Le huitieme jour

Le Huitieme Jour (Jaco Van Dormael, 1996) oozes magic and I fall a little bit more in love with it every time I watch it.

The film is the tale of an unlikely friendship between two men. Harry (Daniel Auteuil) is a middle-aged workaholic whose life has hit rock bottom. His young children have travelled by train to come to visit him and he is so distracted at work that he forgets to pick them up. This scene is so sad; two tiny wide eyed French children abandoned at a big busy station for hours until the older one leads the younger on to the train.

After this his ex-wife and children no longer want him in their lives and he is left with nothing but his monotonous daily grind. An almost suicidal Harry crosses paths with George, a downs syndrome sufferer who has strayed from the residential home where he lives. As Harry can get little sense out of George and is unsuccessful in getting the police to sort out the matter, he is stuck with him until he can find out where to take him home to.

A friendship slowly builds between the two men and George teaches Harry to enjoy the simple things in life. The affection between the two men is totally heart warming but never cheesy.

It confronts the really sad, serious problem of disabled people being marginalized in society, yet manages to be moving without getting too depressing. Pascal Duquenne is a real downs syndrome sufferer and his performance in the film in phenomenal.

George’s imagination keeps us entertained throughout the film: he is followed around by his dead mother and a Latino singer in a sombrero hat who sings to him.

The Weather Man meets Amelie: a male in mid-life crisis type film, dusted with the sparkle of French cinema. Le Huitieme Jour keeps a heavy subject light without trivialising it.

The opening sequence George describes the world the way he sees it. I love it, I think  it’s really beautiful and sums up the atmosphere behind the film, so I’ll leave you with that (I’ve done a wee translation):

“To start with, there was nothing at all , all you could hear was music.

On the first day, he made the sun, it hurts your eyes.

The second day, he made the water, its wet, it soaks your feet when you walk in it.

Then, he made the wind, it tickles.

On the third day, he made the grass, when you cut it, it cries, its hurting, you need to comfort it, talk to it gently.

On the fourth day, he made the cows, when they breathe, it’s hot.

On the fifth day, he made aeroplanes, if your not flying in them you can watch them pass.

On the sixth day, he made people, men, women, children. I prefer women and children because it doesn’t jag when you kiss them.

On the seventh day, for a rest he made clouds. If you look at them for a long time you see stories drawn in them.

Then he asked himself if anything was missing.

On the eighth day he made George and he saw that it was good.”

The Christmas Jumper

This year ‘winter chalet’ style chunky knits with wintery patterns are very much in, so why not go one step further and treat yourself to a proper christmas jumper?

Think quirky knitwear of the Bridget Jones variety, the brighter and jollier the better:

I reccomend this site and I particularly like this jumper!

If you’re looking to spare funds, you could even make your own, a lovely festive activity to share with a loved one by the fire:

Enjoy!

The bow tie is back

Listen up boys, the bow tie is back!

Whether clip on or tie on, plain or patterned, this look is guarenteed to make you stand out at the christmas party.

Both the preppy look and the groomed gentleman look are back with a storm so you can’t go wrong!

Equally for girls, boyfriend chic is so hot right, so wear if you dare…

But make sure you learn how to tie it properly!

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