~ Poet: Jacques Prévert ~
Âne Dormant / Donkey Sleeping by Jacques Prévert
A charming animation made for French television in 2014 by Caroline Lefèvre. (There’s also a version without subtitles.) It’s one of thirteen shorts made by different directors for the collection “En Sortant de L’École,” a televised tribute to Prévert. For more on the making of Âne Dormant, see the blog.
Cet Amour (This Love) by Jacques Prévert
I didn’t expect to like this, but I did. Noah Oros directs. English subtitles are included.
Paris at Night by Jacques Prévert
http://youtu.be/zTZxcww5OCY
Poem by Jacques Prévert
Video by vandicla
Here for reference purposes are the text and an English translation as copied from an anonymous webpage, which notes that the title of the original is in English:
Paris at Night
| Trois allumettes une à une allumées dans la nuit La première pour voir ton visage tout entier La seconde pour voir tes yeux La dernière pour voir ta bouche Et l’obscurité tout entiére pour me rappeler tout cela En te serrant dans mes bras. |
Three matches one by one struck in the night The first to see the whole of your face The second to see your eyes The last to see your mouth And the complete and utter darkness to remember them all While holding you in my arms. |
Though in other video poems I might object to a less than fully audible reading, here, I like the way the poem is submerged — a low mutter appropriate to the darkness from which flame, face, and song struggle to emerge.
