FROM PARIS WITH YAGG

I am a journalist. Those who know me or regularly read my writing know that I have to be up to speed on everything going on in the world. I'm not a journalist by accident. I used to blame it on heredity – I come from a family of journalists –, but the truth is, I just 'gotta know'. Gotta dig, tell, spread the news.

I am a journalist, and thus over-informed. Current events; that's my life. Even when I don't know the details of an event, I know something. I know something about everything. It's my job.

Because I am super-informed, when I read a book, when I watch a tv series, when I watch a film, it's to step outside of my own cloistered world and enter another. Nothing surprising, then, about the fact that I am a Star Wars fan or that I read more easily in English than French (I live in French, so I trade-off with reading in English). I love tv detective series, even though they deal with the grungy, sordid side of life (I am not naive, I know that murders, rapes and kidnappings really do happen), but the bad guys are punished and the innocent are set free.

I don't read autofiction (Editor's Note: a genre of writing that combines fiction and autobiography), I never watch 'social cause' movies or films that mirror real life. In short, I don't need anyone to show me what life is, I need to evade it.

WOUNDED AND STRENGHTENED
Still and yet, I went to see Precious (which came out in France yesterday). I read the book Push when it was released in 1996. At the time I was not a journalist, I still read serious books and went (often) to see deep, serious movies. I would have never imagined that someone would risk bringing this incredible novel to the big screen. I just had to see the result. And as with the book, I left the theatre shattered and (hopefully) wiser.

Push is a huge punch in the face, really. The first time you read it, and the second time too. You gotta really get into it to effectively decipher what Precious really wants to say and to be able to deal with what she is living through. But the takeaway after you finish the book isn't violence, it's hope.

A BOOK THAT YOU JUST CAN'T ADAPT
Push is an unadaptable book. Precious could only be 'less': less strong, less violent, less touching, less beautiful, less hopeful. But that fact doesn't make the film any less excellent. The producer, Lee Daniels, who is openly gay, did the best he could with such a book. François Truffaut had this to say about screen adaptations: "Betrayal of the letter or of the spirit is tolerable if the filmmaker interests himself in on or the other and if he succeeds in doing 1) the same thing; 2) the same thing, but better; 3) something else, but better. Not admissible are dulling down, shrinking down or sweetening down". Lee Daniels didn't do either. He neither dulled, shrunk, nor sweetened. He did the best that could be done. Some books just aren't adaptable to film, but at least some attempt the impossible and emerge unscathed. And since cinema is more accessible than litterature, Precious will reach a larger audience than Push could have. One compelling reason to admire Lee Daniels.

But it's not the only reason. Not very long ago, I wrote about Valentine 's Day and its extraordinary casting. Here as well the casting is extraordinary, but not just for its roster of superstars – the acting was excellent. To be sure, the movie counts Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz (in a role written especially for him), Mo'Nique, and the comedian Sherri Shepherd (The View, 3rd Rock), who will be one of the three hosts of the Red Carpet for the upcoming Oscars. The press is giddy over Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Mo'Nique (Mary, the mother), absolute relevations who, if Hollywood is just a tad fair, should finish the Oscar weekend with an armful of statues. While we wish Gabourey Sidibe a long and prosperous career, it bears mentioning that there aren't many roles out there for an obese black woman. Finally, one last up and comer to keep your eye on: Paula Patton, who interprets a very luminous Blu Rain, the (lesbian) professor who helps Precious find her place in the world.

THE LITTLE THINGS
Lee Daniels also succeeded in slipping in little details that ended up being the discernable 'oomph' behind Push. For example, phonetic writing, which is impossible to convey orally, that you find in the opening sequence of the movie. And the daydream scenes, when Precious can't deal with reality and flees into a parallel universe where she is the star – loved, and well-treated.

It will take a long time to digest Precious, to find the hope that grew out of the book but has a harder time breaking through on the big screen, behind all the pain contained therein. But if Precious can break through it, so can her viewers.

Click here to see the Lee Daniels interview Yagg did when he came to Paris.
Click here to see the Gabourey Sidibe audition and interview in Interview magazine

Sapphire on casting Gabourey Sidibe:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WVr0LE8Ixc

It's 1975, and they're about to explode. This is the hook of the English poster for the much anticipated The Runaways, which debuts in the US March 19th (we will probably have to wait until autumn to see it in France). For the rollout, movie headliner and co-producer Joan Jett, one of the stars of the group portrayed in the movie, sat with the magazine Interview.  A few snippets:

On being a female rocker: « On my first lesson I went in and told the guitar professor: «Teach me to play rock and roll». So he tried to teach me On Top of Old Smoky (a folk song, ndlr). It was my last lesson. The idea that girls couldn't play rock music seemed very illogical to me. What does it really mean, that girls can't learn how to play an instrument? I go to school with girls who play the cello and piano and Beethoven and Bach. And no one ever said that they can't master an instrument. So what it really means is that they are not socially permitted to play rock rock, not because they don't have the talent. It's a socialization issue. They won't let you play rock because it means you'll end up playing Sticky Fingers. Rock 'n' roll, that means Whole Lotta Love. Listening to these songs, it is obvious that they are oozing with sexual undertones.

On Kristen Stewart, who plays Jett in the movie: « I saw immediately that Kristen was very professional, and very nice. What's more, we are eerily similar in a physical sense. We met for the first time one year ago, on December 31st. She came to see us in concert. We spent the day together, and I told her everything I remembered about The Runaways-the good, the bad, and the ugly. Since she was busy filming Twilight 2, I didn't see her again until 2 weeks before we began filming The Runaways. Kristen is very authentic. What struck me the most is how seriously she takes the learning process-she really wanted to get everything right for the movie. So I gave her all the Runaway's songs, tapes of me talking… While we were together during the filming, she spent her spare time studying me. And it didn't bother me because I knew she was studying my countenance, my movements, everything to better capture my character on film. It was so perfect that I really felt like I was looking at myself in a mirror when I observed her on the set of the movie. It was great. Truly special.

On the way society interprets feminine sexuality: It's as if things have remained largely unchanged since we started The Runaways. Movie the movie can help rejuvenate the debate. Not just in rock 'n' roll or women in rock 'n' roll, but also how society views women in general, especially when they display their sexuality or use their sexuality as a force, they are judged very differently than men.

On sex scenes in the movie and people associating her with the terms « lesbian » and « bisexual »: All young women girls have these experiences, and it is ridiculous to not pay any attention to it. I think everyone always thought of me as a lesbian or bisexual some way or another. The best way to discover who I really am is just to listen to my lyrics, I always put myself in my songs. Back when The Runaways was a group, I learned really early not to directly address the issue, because I could tell whenever journalists would ask us about our offstage shenanigans and personal lives that that would be all they would write about, and I wanted the journalists and our audience to focus on the music.

Pre-order the soundtrack here:

The tv ad for the motion picture below

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NlWWcZeOUY

Runaways Youtube video Cheery Bomb-Live Concert in Japan in 1977

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBDMthZ0c80

Joan Jett in concert at Sundance

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9k4THELKNw