Nearly everyone interested in French language and French culture knows about the cartoons ( les bandes dessinées ou BD) with Astérix and Obélix but not so many people are aware that Goscinny created these characters ( ces personnages) although his name appears on each book next to Uderzo who drew them.
The Christmas break is fast approaching, sometimes a change of scene is welcome, what about a short break to Paris where you can go and find out all about Goscinny and the whole of his work!
La Cinémathèque française à Bercy (http://www.parisetudiant.com/etudiant/lieu/cinematheque-francaise.html ) has a fantastic exhibition called Goscinny et le cinéma: Astérix, Lucky Luke & Cie until 4th March 2018.
It starts with Goscinny as a child who dreamt of working with Disney and who was brought up with the great American classics to the creation in 1974 of his own studios, les studios Idéfix which closed down soon after Goscinny’s premature death in 1977.
We follow Le Petit Nicolas with his cheeky friends ( ses amis chahuteurs), la maîtresse d’école, le directeur et le Bouillon.
We watch extracts of Westerns which were Goscinny’s inspiration for the Lucky Luke stories like La Diligence inspired by John Ford’s Fort Apache.
Then of course, several rooms are dedicated to Astérix et Obélix with life size characters, costumes worn in the films like Gerard Depardieu’s enormous pair of trousers when he is playing Obélix as well as the animation films like Astérix et Cléopâtre where you can watch the best extracts.
There are quite a few interviews of Goscinny when you can enjoy his great sense of humour.
If you have some spare time, do stop at the bookshop on the way out as you can purchase some books and DVDs as well as the latest Astérix, Astérix et la Transitalique by two very talented artists Jean-Yves Ferri et Didier Conrad.
If you are a real fan, there is another exhibition on Goscinny, also in Paris, au Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaisme (https://www.mahj.org/en/node/74202 )
If you can go have fun! Amusez-vous bien !
Thanks to our French teacher Martine for writing this blog. You can contact us at any time to join our French classes and events in Bristol and Bath. A bientôt!