Ô saisons ô chateaux (1958) - full transcript
The director takes us to a trip to the castles of the Loire; from the fortresses bold of the Middle-Ages-Chinon (which was destroyed by Richelieu) Langeais, Angers-to the exquisite Châteaux Renaissance (Chenonceaux: the Dames' castle, Azay-Le Rideau and its reflection in the river Indre, Cheverny and its gardens "A la Française"), not forgetting the castles which came between such as Amboise and Blois. Varda ends her trip to the Loire in a less famous mysterious castle.
Pierre Braunberger
95 Champs-Elys?es
presents
THE BEAUTIFUL CHATEAUX
OF THE LOVELY LOIRE
O Seasons, O Chateaux...
Narrated by
Dani?le Delorme
Poems read by Antoine Bourseiller
CHATEAU FOR SALE
(water tower)
Around the year 1000
Fulk The Black, Count of Anjou,
was at war with
Thibault The Cheat, Count of Blois.
Fulk The Black built
more than 20 keeps.
The one in Langeais...
Look.
This cedar,
after the one at the Tours museum,
is the largest in the region.
The one in Montrichard...
The one in Loches...
All in the same square style.
After the feudal wars, the crowns
of France and England fought.
Sharply angled towers were built,
like in Loches...
Or round towers like in Chinon
and Montr?sor.
The Angers fortress was ruled by
Fulk The Good, Fulk The Black,
Fulk The Ill-Tempered
and then Geoffroy The Fair,
who wore broom (genet)
In his hat,
giving the name Plantagenet
to a dynasty:
Richard The Lionhearted,
John Lackland
and the good King Ren?,
his heart full of love.
The Chateau in Chinon
saw the arrival of Joan of Arc...
who walked through this great hall,
recognized the Dauphin Charles
hiding among his advisors,
and promised him
he would be crowned in Reims.
Chinon, with its picturesque walls,
attracts Sunday painters.
Jean Schubnel,
former caretaker of the Chateau,
spends all his free time painting,
stone by stone,
the chateaux of the Loire.
He's a na?ve.
He has a paper-souvenir-grocery-
tobacco-haberdashery shop
in Langeais.
Langeais, where Louis XI built,
near the old keep,
a fortified castle.
A single span,
130-meter-long sentry walk
meant a besieged garrison
could rapidly reach
the scene of the attack.
Seen from the courtyard,
the castle is austere.
Langeais is, above all, a fortress.
The high walls prevented attackers
from using ladders
and facilitated communication
between watchtowers.
MEN
PLUM TREES
WIDOWS
The construction of these high walls
was supervised by Jean Bourr?.
For himself,
he built a different type of chateau.
The advent of the cannon
had changed the art of defense.
Large moats were needed
to protect against cannonballs.
The Plessis-Bourr? Castle
was once known as
Plessis The Windy.
It is built of tufa,
a local stone
which is very soft and white
and comes from quarries
around the village of Bourr?.
The last stone cutter,
Ren? Hardouin,
does only restoration now.
Tufa is not used
in modern construction.
The wars in France finally ended.
Peace settled over the Loire Valley.
Fortresses gave way
to more gracious dwellings.
In Ronsard's day
there were no lime trees.
Like this chateau in Talcy,
where Ronsard
courted Cassandra Salviati
who inspired him
to write the first
in his Amours series.
I would like to turn a rich yellow
And fall drop by golden drop
Into the bosom
of my lovely Cassandra
As her eyelids lower with sleep
Will I never see a season bring
Truce or peace, life or death
To rip out the teeth
Of woes gnawing me
My heart worn down
by a powerful rasp
But Cassandra wasn't interested.
She preferred her neighbor.
And yet you do not know
That as this lovely season,
So your age will pass
Like a flower
Languishing down below
That passing time
Has failed to pluck
You despise nature
Are you so cruel as to scorn love?
Here the shepherdess
Spinning her spindle
Rattles on about her loves
And the shepherd boy
Answers her song
Here all things love
Everything speaks of Love
And yearns to burn in its flames
Only your cold heart
As the coldest ice
Remains stubborn
And refuses to love
The House of Valois
fell under the spell of this place
and decided to bring
its Court here.
Young Charles VIII
wanted to build a grand residence
and chose Amboise,
like amber
and framboise (raspberry).
From the Ile St. Jean,
formerly known as the Isle of Gold,
one could see on the hillside
a castle that was at the time
only a fortress.
Charles VIII wanted Gothic,
and the chapel was soon completed.
He drove the workers hard,
making them work by candlelight.
The King's abode was soon ready.
But the King was at war in Italy.
Impressed by the gardens
and palaces of Naples,
he brought back Italian artists
and gave them free reign.
This marked the beginning
of an important artistic movement
which continued
under Louis XII and Fran?ois I,
The Renaissance.
Charles VIII died
and his wife Anne of Brittany
was legally required to marry
the new King Louis XII.
Their daughter Claude
grew up in Amboise.
She became Queen Claude,
namesake of the reine-claude plum
and wife of Fran?ois I.
In Blois,
architectural progress is visible.
In the early 1400s, Louis D'Orl?ans
inherited a feudal castle.
His son Charles D'Orl?ans...
The world is weary of me
And I am weary of the world
...returned to Blois after 25 years
of exile and imprisonment,
added on
the Charles D'Orl?ans wing
and took up poetry.
The Blois poetry contest was famous.
Fran?ois Villon took part it in.
I die of thirst beside the fountain
Hot as fire, shaking tooth on tooth
Charles' son Louis XII
built the Louis XII wing
in which Italianate design elements
were created
and incorporated
in the Gothic style.
His son-in-law Fran?ois I
built the Fran?ois I wing
where Italianate ornamentation
cover the walls
in the Flamboyant style.
Among the resident poets
at the chateau under Fran?ois I
was Cl?ment Marot.
I am no longer who I was
And no longer will I ever be
My lovely spring and summertime
Through the open window
have flown
Love,
You were my Master
I worshipped you above all Gods
If I were born a second time
How much better I would serve you!
Gaston D'Orl?ans,
in the 17th century,
built the Gaston D'Orl?ans wing.
Blois witnessed
many historical events:
ASSASSINATION
OF HENRI DE GUISE
Silence on the Guise dynasty.
Silence also on all the ghostly
Ladies of Chenonceaux.
Pieced together like patchwork,
this legendary chateau
is a whimsical collection
of oddities.
On an old dungeon tower,
a pinnacle.
On the foundations of a water mill,
a chapel.
On a bridge,
a great hall.
If Chenonceaux
is full of fantasy and charm,
Azay-le-Rideau is pure Renaissance,
with no surprises.
This cedar turns silver
at Christmas time.
Its towers and machicolations
are decorative.
Symmetry reigns.
Chambord, a royal dream castle,
is full of contradictions.
The decision to build on marshland
meant costly foundations.
It's a hunting lodge,
built on a vast scale.
In this place of perpetual rain,
terraces and rooftops
were built for social gatherings.
Fran?ois I
probably never imagined
that the 365 rooms,
complete with fireplaces,
would be neither furnished
nor inhabited
except during brief Court visits.
Or that those
who would most enjoy the palace
would be three generations
of caretakers.
Meet the caretakers' branch
of the Chambord family.
They're back again,
showing off.
From their terraces, the Ladies
would watch their Lords
leave for the hunt with their dogs,
horses and falcons.
They sashayed in Court dress
through perfume stalls
and ribbon shops
and the balconies
of this fashionable place.
In Valen?ay, the architecture
is similar to Chambord,
built on a solid foundation.
Entertainment here
wasn't on the rooftops,
but was nevertheless lofty.
There were perching peacocks,
perching cats,
and perching ladies.
The dungeon tower still exists,
purely decorative.
Deprived of its raison d'?tre
it surrenders
and becomes a corner pavilion.
Like this early example
in Villandry
dating from the first half
of the 16th century.
But the medieval moats remain.
Villandry is a model garden,
French style.
Artichoke and lettuce
Asparagus and parsnip
And the melons of Touraine
Are to me more royal fare
Than all the royal meats
Heaped upon the plate
The vegetable gardens
are ordered
and decorated with extreme care.
Every detail has a meaning.
The alleys are lined with lime trees.
The maze is hornbeam.
I love to be free
And long to be captive
As for love,
tragic love
with its daggers and swords...
Flighty love,
fans, love letters, butterfly wings.
Tender love,
hearts and flames...
As for mad love,
that's another maze!
At Chanteloup Castle,
ghost of the marshes,
all that remains
is a pagoda.
The Duke of Choiseul,
to show appreciation
to friends who remained faithful
to him in exile,
built this temple
in their honor.
He had it engraved
with Chinese characters
signifying gratitude, kindness,
harmony and knowledge.
Because his father
was a ship owner in Nantes
and in his youth
adventure beckoned him,
Mr. Siffet, a General under
the Empire, romantic and rich,
bought some land
on the banks of the Loire
in order to build...
some ruins.
Those ruins ruined him.
He would stroll
the stairways leading nowhere
and the unfinished rooms
overlooking the water.
His whim became
the strangest Loire chateau of all,
known as Siffet's Folly
in memory of a General
who dreamt of the sea.
95 Champs-Elys?es
presents
THE BEAUTIFUL CHATEAUX
OF THE LOVELY LOIRE
O Seasons, O Chateaux...
Narrated by
Dani?le Delorme
Poems read by Antoine Bourseiller
CHATEAU FOR SALE
(water tower)
Around the year 1000
Fulk The Black, Count of Anjou,
was at war with
Thibault The Cheat, Count of Blois.
Fulk The Black built
more than 20 keeps.
The one in Langeais...
Look.
This cedar,
after the one at the Tours museum,
is the largest in the region.
The one in Montrichard...
The one in Loches...
All in the same square style.
After the feudal wars, the crowns
of France and England fought.
Sharply angled towers were built,
like in Loches...
Or round towers like in Chinon
and Montr?sor.
The Angers fortress was ruled by
Fulk The Good, Fulk The Black,
Fulk The Ill-Tempered
and then Geoffroy The Fair,
who wore broom (genet)
In his hat,
giving the name Plantagenet
to a dynasty:
Richard The Lionhearted,
John Lackland
and the good King Ren?,
his heart full of love.
The Chateau in Chinon
saw the arrival of Joan of Arc...
who walked through this great hall,
recognized the Dauphin Charles
hiding among his advisors,
and promised him
he would be crowned in Reims.
Chinon, with its picturesque walls,
attracts Sunday painters.
Jean Schubnel,
former caretaker of the Chateau,
spends all his free time painting,
stone by stone,
the chateaux of the Loire.
He's a na?ve.
He has a paper-souvenir-grocery-
tobacco-haberdashery shop
in Langeais.
Langeais, where Louis XI built,
near the old keep,
a fortified castle.
A single span,
130-meter-long sentry walk
meant a besieged garrison
could rapidly reach
the scene of the attack.
Seen from the courtyard,
the castle is austere.
Langeais is, above all, a fortress.
The high walls prevented attackers
from using ladders
and facilitated communication
between watchtowers.
MEN
PLUM TREES
WIDOWS
The construction of these high walls
was supervised by Jean Bourr?.
For himself,
he built a different type of chateau.
The advent of the cannon
had changed the art of defense.
Large moats were needed
to protect against cannonballs.
The Plessis-Bourr? Castle
was once known as
Plessis The Windy.
It is built of tufa,
a local stone
which is very soft and white
and comes from quarries
around the village of Bourr?.
The last stone cutter,
Ren? Hardouin,
does only restoration now.
Tufa is not used
in modern construction.
The wars in France finally ended.
Peace settled over the Loire Valley.
Fortresses gave way
to more gracious dwellings.
In Ronsard's day
there were no lime trees.
Like this chateau in Talcy,
where Ronsard
courted Cassandra Salviati
who inspired him
to write the first
in his Amours series.
I would like to turn a rich yellow
And fall drop by golden drop
Into the bosom
of my lovely Cassandra
As her eyelids lower with sleep
Will I never see a season bring
Truce or peace, life or death
To rip out the teeth
Of woes gnawing me
My heart worn down
by a powerful rasp
But Cassandra wasn't interested.
She preferred her neighbor.
And yet you do not know
That as this lovely season,
So your age will pass
Like a flower
Languishing down below
That passing time
Has failed to pluck
You despise nature
Are you so cruel as to scorn love?
Here the shepherdess
Spinning her spindle
Rattles on about her loves
And the shepherd boy
Answers her song
Here all things love
Everything speaks of Love
And yearns to burn in its flames
Only your cold heart
As the coldest ice
Remains stubborn
And refuses to love
The House of Valois
fell under the spell of this place
and decided to bring
its Court here.
Young Charles VIII
wanted to build a grand residence
and chose Amboise,
like amber
and framboise (raspberry).
From the Ile St. Jean,
formerly known as the Isle of Gold,
one could see on the hillside
a castle that was at the time
only a fortress.
Charles VIII wanted Gothic,
and the chapel was soon completed.
He drove the workers hard,
making them work by candlelight.
The King's abode was soon ready.
But the King was at war in Italy.
Impressed by the gardens
and palaces of Naples,
he brought back Italian artists
and gave them free reign.
This marked the beginning
of an important artistic movement
which continued
under Louis XII and Fran?ois I,
The Renaissance.
Charles VIII died
and his wife Anne of Brittany
was legally required to marry
the new King Louis XII.
Their daughter Claude
grew up in Amboise.
She became Queen Claude,
namesake of the reine-claude plum
and wife of Fran?ois I.
In Blois,
architectural progress is visible.
In the early 1400s, Louis D'Orl?ans
inherited a feudal castle.
His son Charles D'Orl?ans...
The world is weary of me
And I am weary of the world
...returned to Blois after 25 years
of exile and imprisonment,
added on
the Charles D'Orl?ans wing
and took up poetry.
The Blois poetry contest was famous.
Fran?ois Villon took part it in.
I die of thirst beside the fountain
Hot as fire, shaking tooth on tooth
Charles' son Louis XII
built the Louis XII wing
in which Italianate design elements
were created
and incorporated
in the Gothic style.
His son-in-law Fran?ois I
built the Fran?ois I wing
where Italianate ornamentation
cover the walls
in the Flamboyant style.
Among the resident poets
at the chateau under Fran?ois I
was Cl?ment Marot.
I am no longer who I was
And no longer will I ever be
My lovely spring and summertime
Through the open window
have flown
Love,
You were my Master
I worshipped you above all Gods
If I were born a second time
How much better I would serve you!
Gaston D'Orl?ans,
in the 17th century,
built the Gaston D'Orl?ans wing.
Blois witnessed
many historical events:
ASSASSINATION
OF HENRI DE GUISE
Silence on the Guise dynasty.
Silence also on all the ghostly
Ladies of Chenonceaux.
Pieced together like patchwork,
this legendary chateau
is a whimsical collection
of oddities.
On an old dungeon tower,
a pinnacle.
On the foundations of a water mill,
a chapel.
On a bridge,
a great hall.
If Chenonceaux
is full of fantasy and charm,
Azay-le-Rideau is pure Renaissance,
with no surprises.
This cedar turns silver
at Christmas time.
Its towers and machicolations
are decorative.
Symmetry reigns.
Chambord, a royal dream castle,
is full of contradictions.
The decision to build on marshland
meant costly foundations.
It's a hunting lodge,
built on a vast scale.
In this place of perpetual rain,
terraces and rooftops
were built for social gatherings.
Fran?ois I
probably never imagined
that the 365 rooms,
complete with fireplaces,
would be neither furnished
nor inhabited
except during brief Court visits.
Or that those
who would most enjoy the palace
would be three generations
of caretakers.
Meet the caretakers' branch
of the Chambord family.
They're back again,
showing off.
From their terraces, the Ladies
would watch their Lords
leave for the hunt with their dogs,
horses and falcons.
They sashayed in Court dress
through perfume stalls
and ribbon shops
and the balconies
of this fashionable place.
In Valen?ay, the architecture
is similar to Chambord,
built on a solid foundation.
Entertainment here
wasn't on the rooftops,
but was nevertheless lofty.
There were perching peacocks,
perching cats,
and perching ladies.
The dungeon tower still exists,
purely decorative.
Deprived of its raison d'?tre
it surrenders
and becomes a corner pavilion.
Like this early example
in Villandry
dating from the first half
of the 16th century.
But the medieval moats remain.
Villandry is a model garden,
French style.
Artichoke and lettuce
Asparagus and parsnip
And the melons of Touraine
Are to me more royal fare
Than all the royal meats
Heaped upon the plate
The vegetable gardens
are ordered
and decorated with extreme care.
Every detail has a meaning.
The alleys are lined with lime trees.
The maze is hornbeam.
I love to be free
And long to be captive
As for love,
tragic love
with its daggers and swords...
Flighty love,
fans, love letters, butterfly wings.
Tender love,
hearts and flames...
As for mad love,
that's another maze!
At Chanteloup Castle,
ghost of the marshes,
all that remains
is a pagoda.
The Duke of Choiseul,
to show appreciation
to friends who remained faithful
to him in exile,
built this temple
in their honor.
He had it engraved
with Chinese characters
signifying gratitude, kindness,
harmony and knowledge.
Because his father
was a ship owner in Nantes
and in his youth
adventure beckoned him,
Mr. Siffet, a General under
the Empire, romantic and rich,
bought some land
on the banks of the Loire
in order to build...
some ruins.
Those ruins ruined him.
He would stroll
the stairways leading nowhere
and the unfinished rooms
overlooking the water.
His whim became
the strangest Loire chateau of all,
known as Siffet's Folly
in memory of a General
who dreamt of the sea.