Addictions p.104 (suite)
Salle Obscure p.136
For the professionals who use them in their work, isn’t it an incredible time-saver to receive emails by phone ? To be able to forward files on to clients, perhaps between meetings, all without even setting foot inside your office. For those who use them in their personal lives, isn’t it an advantage to be able to make a date with all your friends at the same time? And to share a moment of happiness or of chagrin in real time, with just a simple call ? The cell phone remains without question the best invention in communication today, or at least in speed of communication. It is easy to say that we tend to spend more and more time on the phone, without seeing actually seeing our friends, and speaking to them directly. We must then find some happy medium and use the device in the best way possible. A call to your grandmother will always make her happy, but it is lightyears from a short visit. An sms to your spouse to say you love them will never be the same as a rose hand-delivered with a warm hug. “ Servitude. That’s what the telephone is. It rings : you run. Or perhaps you don’t, but then you agonize with regret or suffer from your unsatisfied curiosity .” ( Gabrielle Roy ) The telephone should not be a drug. It should remain a method of communication, in the same vane as a simple and banal conversation in person. Relations between people are at the base of it all, and a digital voice buzzing across a phone line could never change that.
Yes We Can American cinema, like the country itself, is known for doing things “ big”, very big…. “Casablanca” is a new example of that tendency even though it came out in 1942. Already at that time, the US was a step ahead of the rest of the world. The advantage almost certainly stemmed from a Europe engulfed in war and therefore unable to provide much cultural expansion. At the helm of this mythical film : Michael Curtiz. Of Hungarian origins, he is forced to flee his country to avoid the “ White Terror”. He arrives in Hollywood and quickly becomes one of the most influential directors of the 1930’s. Several of his films enjoyed a huge success, but it is “ Casablanca” that opens the doors to the Pantheon of Film for him. It must be said that the cast is as exceptional as the film itself : Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are the leads of this masterpiece. In addition to being a compelling love story, this film is also a bit of American propaganda against a Germany that seems intent on its occupation of Europe. But this time, the victory is in the other camp… The resistance is very real, and triumphs, even if the love story plays an equally important role. The story takes place in Casablanca Morocco, a French colony at that time. The city is not chosen by chance, as it is one of the strategic jumping off points for the US, and an access to the power that can put an end to the atrocities in the old continent. Rick Blaine ( Humphrey Bogart ) is the owner of a nightclub called “Rick’s American Café”. It’s the hottest spot in the city where the ambiance is lively and where one can forget everything….Rick is a personality in the city, respected for the way he carries himself : straight-shooter who is fair, without faults. Humphrey Bogart delivers a performance that only he could : the dialog is almost unnecessary, one need only look and appre-
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