Adele says it's a song her mother taught her (her mother was a high-end prostitute) and Jane looks a little uncomfortable and surprised at the end and seems to not want to relay to Mrs. Fairfax the words or the song's meaning. Maybe it was a bawdy/inappropriate song? I don't speak French!
Yes, I've wondered about that, too.
shareMaybe Jane was simply surprised that someone so young knew a song like that. It was a cute scene and Adele was perfectly cast.
You four-eyed psycho.
Yeah, it was a cute scene, but I'd still like to know the english translation of what Adele was singing - maybe it was perfectly innocent, but I don't know for sure. In the context of the scene, Jane is the one who can understand what she's singing, not Mrs. Fairfax. The english society of that time was oh so proper, and the french were seen as risque (they still are). Doesn't ANYONE speak french out there?
Speaking of translations, it would be interesting to see this version dubbed ... interesting, but probably not good.
http://www.hancinema.net/photos/fullsizephoto166744.jpg
I don't speak French but I've caught the general gist of the song.
It is about a young woman waiting for her lover. A very inappropriate song for a child. And the fact that she was taught to sing it for her mother's Johns makes it even more creepy.
And the fact that she was taught to sing it for her mother's Johns makes it even more creepy
LOL In the 2006 version they have subtitles. The song is totally inappropriate.
"What happens to a dream deferred?"
My schoolgirl French has failed me dismally in translating the words! Lol.
Here's what the book says:
She had finished her breakfast, so I permitted her to give a
specimen of her accomplishments. Descending from her chair, she
came and placed herself on my knee; then, folding her little hands
demurely before her, shaking back her curls and lifting her eyes to
the ceiling, she commenced singing a song from some opera. It was
the strain of a forsaken lady, who, after bewailing the perfidy of
her lover, calls pride to her aid; desires her attendant to deck her
in her brightest jewels and richest robes, and resolves to meet the
false one that night at a ball, and prove to him, by the gaiety of
her demeanour, how little his desertion has affected her.
The subject seemed strangely chosen for an infant singer; but I
suppose the point of the exhibition lay in hearing the notes of love
and jealousy warbled with the lisp of childhood; and in very bad
taste that point was: at least I thought so.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
Yes, it's quite an inappropriate song for a child of 8 ! She sings a part of La Flamme Vengeresse, from the third act from Le Domino Noir by Daniel-François Auber
Here are the lyrics in french:
"Comment le fuir et le bannir _ le moyen, ah mon dieu, je l'ignore.
Je veux ici l'oublier, oui, je le veux et je le vois encore."
The translation in english would give something like this:
"How to to flee him and banish him _ the way, oh my god, I ignore it.
I want to forget him now, yes, I want it and I still see him."
Here is a video with the lyrics (in french, sorry...( I'll upload a version with english lyrics as soon as I can ( my account on YouTube: Clem Marchal))): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE_F7Wl0EcQ
PS: Even if you would have spoken French you wouldn't have understood anything unless you would have found the lyrics: opera is quite hard to understand, no matter the language ;)
"J'ignore" doesn't mean "I ignore" the way it does in English, as in not paying any attention to something. It simply means "I don't know." For example, "J'ignore son nom" means "I don't know his name."
That changes the meaning somewhat.
http://currentscene.wordpress.com
Oh, okay, forgive me, I wasn't sure about it ;-) thanks for the explanation :-)
shareWell done, mariemail! The answer was on the IMDb pages the whole time!
If there aren't any skeletons in a man's closet, there's probably a Bertha in his attic.