Ben's notes
LAST UPDATE: NOVEMBER 2024
November 2024
"What Remains?", interview of Hannah Arendt with Günter Gaus (link here).
J'ai tué (collection), 1922-1926, Mikhaïl Boulgakov. Translated to French by Jean-Louis Chavarot and Françoise Flamant.
Self-Portrait as a Coffee-Pot (2024), William Kentridge.
October 2024
La maladie de la mort (1982), Marguerite Duras.
L'innommable (1953), Samuel Beckett.
Une vie, une œuvre: Samuel Beckett (2006); Moïse (2015).
The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), John Steinbeck. Painting by Edward Hopper.
Justine, ou les malheurs de la vertu (1791), Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade.
September 2024
The Nose (1836) and The Overcoat (1842), Nikolai Gogol. Transkated to French by Henri Mongault. Illustration by Yuri Nornstein and Francheska Yarbusova.
To the Left of the Father (2001), Luiz Fernando Carvalho.
La femme qui a tué les poissons et autres contes (1968), Clarice Lispector. Traductions de Jacques Thiériot, Teresa Thiériot, et Izabella Borges.
Appels téléphoniques (collection), 1997, Roberto Bolaño. Traduction de Robert Amutio.
Wings of Desire (1987), Wim Wenders. Rewatch.
Happy as Lazzaro (2018), Alice Rohrwacher.
Artifices (1944), Jorge Luis Borges. Traduction de Roger Caillois, Nestor Ibarra et Paul Verdevoye, revue par Jean Pierre Bernès.
August 2024
Amuleto (1999), Roberto Bolaño. Traduction de Robert Amutio.
Le jardin aux sentiers qui bifurquent (recueil, 1956), Jorge Luis Borges. Traduction de Roger Caillois, Nestor Ibarra et Paul Verdevoye, revue par Jean Pierre Bernès.
Kafka, un rapport douloureux à l'existence et la difficulté d'être soi à travers l'œuvre de Kafka. Entretients diffusés par France Culture pour la première fois en 1983.
21 July 2024
Près du coeur sauvage (1944), Clarice Lispector. Traduction de Claudia Poncioni et Didier Lamaison.
The night of counting the years (1969), Shadi Abdel Salam.
20 July 2024
Georges Bataille. La littérature et le mal (INA, 1958); Entretien (Qui êtes-vous ?) avec André Gillois (1951); Une Vie, une œuvre par Roland Auguet et Christiane Mallarmé sur France Culture (1985).
Repast (1951), Mikio Naruse.
6 July 2024
La Métamorphose, lu par Micha Lescot en décembre 2022 (link here). Dessin de Franz Kafka.
29 June 2024
The Cranes Are Flying (1957), Mikhail Kalatozov.
27 June 2024
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Carl Theodor Dreyer.
23 June 2024
Sambizanga (1972), Sarah Maldoror.
15 June 2024
La plus scrète mémoire des hommes (2021), Mohamed Mbougar Sarr.
20 May 2024
Histoires de Gabriel Medrano (1945), Julio Cortázar. Translated to French by Françoise Rosset.
19 May 2024
The Savage Detectives (1998), Roberto Bolaño. Translated to French by Robert Amutio.
18 May 2024
Anatomy of a fall (2023), Justine Triet.
11 May 2024
Jorge Luis Borges : Une Vie, une Œuvre, France Culture (1985). With Christian Bourgois, Pierre Bourgeade, François Marie Banier, Hector Bianciotti et Jacques Taroni. Link here.
9 May 2024
Damnation (1987), Béla Tarr.
5 May 2024
Umberto D. (1952), Vittorio De Sica.
27 April 2024
The Music Room (1968), Satyajit Ray.
22 April 2024
I Was Born, But... (1932), Yasujirō Ozu.
14 April 2024
Perfect Days (2023), Wim Wenders.
31 March 2024
The Garden of Forking Paths (1941), Jorge Luis Borges. Translated to French by Paul Verdevoye.
Extraits de La nausée (1938), Jean-Paul Sartre. Lecture par Daniel Mesguich. Link here.
30 March 2024
More Borges. Today, I read The Circular Ruins (1940) and The Library of Babel (1944).
29 March 2024
L'immortel et L'Aleph (1944-1952), Jorge Luis Borges. Relecture.
13 March 2024
Hedgehog in the Fog (1975), Yuri Nornstein and Francheska Yarbusova. Rewatch. Link here.
10 March 2024
Límites (1961), Jorge Luis Borges.
Il est un vers de Verlaine dont je ne me souviendrai plus,
Il est une rue toute proche déjà interdite à mes pas.
Il est un miroir qui m'a reflété pour la dernière fois.
Il est une porte que j'ai refermée jusqu'à la fin du monde.
Parmi les livres de ma bibliothèque, que je vois en ce moment,
Il en est que je n'ouvrirai plus jamais.
Cet été, j'aurai cinquante ans;
La mort me dégrade, incessamment.
Hay una línea de Verlaine que no volveré a recordar.
Hay una calle próxima que está vedada a mis pasos,
hay un espejo que me ha visto por última vez,
hay una puerta que he cerrado hasta el fin del mundo.
Entre los libros de mi biblioteca (estoy viéndolos)
hay alguno que ya nunca abriré.
Este verano cumpliré cincuenta años;
La muerte me desgasta, incesante.
03 March 2024
Floating Clouds (1955), Mikio Naruse.
25 February 2024
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960), Mikio Naruse.
More Borges: Radioscopie de France Inter (1981). Link here.
18 February 2024
Letter Never Sent (1959), Mikhail Kalatozov.
12 February 2024
Jorge Luis Borges : Une vie, une œuvre (2007), Lydia Ben Ytzhak. Link here.
11 February 2024
Jorge Luis Borges, Entretiens France Culture (1965). Link here.
Drifting Clouds (1996), Aki Kaurismäki.
9 February 2024
Orlando (1928), Virginia Woolf.
Early February 2024
Beau travail (1999), Claire Denis. Rewatch.
23 January 2024
The Book of Sand (collection), 1978, Jorge Luis Borges. Translation to French by Françoise Rosset and Jean-Pierre Bernès.
21 January 2024
Museo Nacional de Antropología, México.
10 January 2024
Paris, Texas (1984), Wim Wenders. Rewatch.
7 January 2024
La haine (1995), Mathieu Kassowitz. Rewatch.
31 December 2023
The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), Víctor Erice.
16 December 2023
Pirosmani (1969), Giorgi Shengelaia.
9 December 2023
First Graders (1984), Abbas Kiarostami.
3 December 2023
A Man Escaped (1956), Robert Bresson.
26 November 2023
Daughters of two worlds (1991), Serap Berrakkarasu.
19 November 2023
Taipei Story (1985), Edward Yang.
4 November 2023
Vive l'amour (1994), Ming-liang Tsai.
24 October 2023
The invisible life of Eurídice Gusmão (2019), Karim Aïnouz.
15 October 2023
Jakob Von Gunten (1909), Robert Walser. Translated to French by Marthe Robert.
Clothelines (1981), Roberta Cantow.
4 October 2023
Poupées des ténèbres (2016), Allen S. Weiss. La projection du film au Cinéma CityClub Pully a été suivie d'un tour de table avec Michel Nedjar.
2 October 2023
Tokyo Twilight (1957), Yasujirō Ozu.
30 September 2023
Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector (2009), Benjamin Moser.
23 September 2023
Les glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000), Agnès Varda.
10 September 2023
Fragment of a letter, sent from Clarice Lispector to Olga Borelli, September 29, 1975. Translated to French by Didier Lamaison.
On ne peut faire correctement que ce qu’on aime vraiment. Mes livres ne parlent pas beaucoup de faits proprement dits, parce que, pour moi, l’important ce ne sont pas les faits en eux-mêmes, mais leurs répercussions sur l’individu. C’est cela qui compte réellement. C’est ce que je fais. Et je crois que, de ce point de vue, moi aussi je fais des livres engagés sur l’homme et la réalité, parce que la réalité n’est pas un phénomène simplement extérieur.
A gente só pode fazer bem as coisas que ama realmente. Os meus livros não se preocupam muito com os fatos em si porque, para mim, o importante não são os fatos em si, mas as repercussões dos fatos nos indivíduos. Isso é que realmente importa. É o que eu faço. E penso que, sob este aspecto, eu também faço livros comprometidos com o homem e a sua realidade, porque a realidade não é um fenômeno puramente externo.
9 September 2023
The Hour of the Star (1977), Clarice Lispector. Translated to French by Marguerite Wünscher.
8 September 2023
Mandabi (1968), Ousamane Sembène.
7 September 2023
Tortilla Flat (1935), John Steinbeck. Painting: Schumann House (1931), Edward Hopper.
2 September 2023
Stalker (1979), Andrei Tarkovsky. Rewatch.
21 August 2023
My Way Home (1978), Bill Douglas.
20 August 2023
The Burrow (1931) and The Village Schoolmaster (1931), Franz Kafka. Translated to French by Alexandre Vialatte. Painting by Michel Nedjar.
12 August 2023
I'm Going to Santiago (1964), Sara Gómez.
10 August 2023
One Way or Another (1977), Sara Gómez. Extract here.
A Hunger Artist (collection), 1922, Franz Kafka. Translated to French by Alexandre Vialatte.
6 August 2023
The Scent of Green Papaya (1993), Tran Anh Hung.
5 August 2023
Michel Nedjar exposé à la Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne.
26 July 2023
L'étranger (1942), Albert Camus. Relecture.
23 July 2023
Flowers of Shanghai (1998), Hou Hsiao-hsien.
19 July 2023
Summer in Germany. Time to rewatch Alice in the Cities (1974), Wim Wenders.
16 July 2023
L'exil et le royaume (1957), Albert Camus. Painting: Morning Sun (1952), Edward Hopper.
14 July 2023
Gena Rowlands and Peter Falk discuss A Woman Under the Influence (2004). Link here.
8 July 2023
The Red Pony (1933), John Steinbeck. Photograph by Dorothea Lange, 1953.
6 July 2023
Scenes from A Marriage (1973), Ingmar Bergman.
2 July 2023
Shosha (1978), Isaac Bashevis Singer. Translated from English (I know) to French by Marie-Pierre Castelnau-Bay and Jacqueline Chnéour. Photograph: Krochmalna street in 1934.
24 June 2023
In the Penal Colony (1919), Franz Kafka. Translated to French by Alexandre Vialatte. Photograph: Franz Kafka (right) with Otto Brod, 1909.
16 June 2023
Summer with Monika (1953), Ingmar Bergman.
4 June 2023
The Heart of a Dog (1925), Mikhail Bulgakov. Translated to English by Michael Glenny. Photograph by Josef Koudelka (1987).
3 June 2023
The Passion According to G.H. (1964), Clarice Lispector. Translated to French by Paulina Roitman et Didier Lamaison.
2 June 2023
Early Summer (1951), Yasujirō Ozu.
1 June 2023
And Life Goes On... (1992), Abbas Kiarostami.
25 May 2023
Shame (1968), Ingmar Bergman.
5 May 2023
My Childhood (1972), Bill Douglas.
1 May 2023
My Ain Folk (1973), Bill Douglas.
Saute ma ville (1968), Chantal Akerman.
30 April 2023
Un homme qui dort (1967), Georges Perec.
29 April 2023
Interview with Clarice Lispector (1977), São Paulo. Link here.
23 April 2023
Água Viva (1973), Clarice Lispector. Translated to French by Claudia Poncioni and Didier Lamaison.
Woman in the Dunes (1964), Hiroshi Teshigahara.
22 April 2023
The Master and Margarita (1966), Mikhail Bulgakov. Translated to French by Françoise Flamant.
Wild Strawberries (1957), Ingmar Bergman.
8 April 2023
This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection (2019), Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese.
7 April 2023
The Face of Another (1966), Hiroshi Teshigahara.
6 April 2023
A Man Who Sleeps (1974), Bernard Queysanne.
2 April 2023
This morning, I rewatched La jetée (1962), Chris Marker.
25 March 2023
Jože Plečnik's house, Ljubjana, Slovenia.
18 March 2023
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), Béla Tarr.
11 March 2023
Hour of the Wolf (1968), Ingmar Bergman. Link here.
6 March 2023
Claude Burgelin and Denis Cosnard on Georges Perec. Link here.
Être juif, pour Perec ? « Ce serait plutôt une absence, une question, une mise en question, un flottement, une inquiétude. »
4 March 2023
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985), Hou Hsiao-hsien. Link here.
19 February 2023
Faces (1968), John Cassavetes. Link here.
12 February 2023
Floating Weeds (1959), Yasujirō Ozu.
5 February 2023
Black Girl (1966), Ousmane Sembène.
La Strada (1954), Federico Fellini.
4 February 2023
Serre moi fort (2021), Mathieu Amalric.
30 January 2023
Il n'y a pas de Ajar (2022), Delphine Horvilleur.
29 January 2023
Muriel ou le temps d'un retour (1963), Alain Resnais.
28 January 2023
Marthe Robert - À propos du “Procès” de Franz Kafka (1955). Link here.
21 January 2023
Close-Up (1990), Abbas Kiarostami. Link here.
20 January 2023
The Castle (1926), Franz Kafka. Translated to French by Bernard Lortholary.
18 January 2023
L'enfance nue (1968), Maurice Pialat.
15 January 2023
Mouchette (1967), Robert Bresson.
14 January 2023
Today was a Delphine Horvilleur day. I listened to her discussing Identity and Literature, Grief, and "Pudeur" and Feminity in Judaism. Painting by Paul Klee: Mountain and Synthetic air (1930).
Wanda (1970), Barbara Loden.
6 January 2023
Mass IIII (2011), Amenra. Link here.
3 January 2023
The House Is Black (1963), Forugh Farrokhzad. Link here.
2 January 2023
Fanny and Alexander (1982), Ingmar Bergman. Link here.
30 December 2022
Yi Yi (2000), Edward Yang. Link here.
18 December 2022
Le bonheur (1965), Agnès Varda.
11 December 2022
The Seventh Seal (1957), Ingmar Bergman.
10 December 2022
Viridiana (1961), Luis Buñuel. Link here.
A Virgin Spring (1960), Ingmar Bergman.
4 December 2022
A Brighter Summer Day (1991), Edward Yang.
Short documentary on Yuri Nornstein (2004). Link here.
2 December 2022
Beau travail (1999), Claire Denis.
28 November 2022
Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), Ermanno Olmi.
20 November 2022
Bartleby, the Scrivener (1853), Herman Melville. Painting by Pablo Picasso: Breakfast of a Blind Man (1903).
Europe '51 (1952), Roberto Rossellini.
19 November 2022
Apur Sansar (1959), Satyajit Ray. Link here.
13 November 2022
Aparajito (1956), Satyajit Ray. Link here.
11 November 2022
Pather Panchali (1955), Satyajit Ray. Link here.
6 November 2022
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975), Chantal Akerman.
5 November 2022
Far From Vietnam (1967), Joris Ivens, William Klein, Claude Lelouch, Agnès Varda, Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker and Alain Resnais.
Josef Koudelka exibition at Photo Elysée museum, Lausanne (2022).
23 Octobre 2022
Ulysse (1983), Agnès Varda.
22 Octobre 2022
Youtube proposed me to rewatch Dominique Mercy's solo in Vollomond, by Pina Bausch. Link here.
It reminded me of Olivier de Sagazan, and I could not but watch a couple of his interviews and performances – for the tenth time, propably.
In turn, I naturally went back to the work of Michel Nedjar (I always go back to the work of Michel Nedjar).
Les statues meurent aussi (1953), Chris Marker.
Les hommes de la baleine (1956), Mario Ruspoli.
20 Octobre 2022
L'Eclisse (1962), Michelangelo Antonioni.
16 Octobre 2022
Description d'un combat (1960), Chris Marker.
Rosa Rosae. A Spanish Civil War Elegy (2021), Carlos Saura.
14 Octobre 2022
Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951), Robert Bresson.
8 Octobre 2022
Le feu follet (1963), Louis Malle.
3 Octobre 2022
Au revoir les enfants (1987), Louis Malle.
2 Octobre 2022
Daguerréotypes (1975), Agnès Varda.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926), Lotte Reiniger. Link here.
Un chien Andalou (1929), Luis Buñuel.
1 October 2022
Bergman Island (2021), Mia Hansen-Løve.
The Amorous Indies (2018), Clément Cogitore.
26 September 2022
L'Histoire de l'oeil (1928), Georges Bataille.
24 September 2022
2666 (2004), Roberto Bolaño. Translated to French by Robert Amutio. Painting by Carlos Mérida: Fiesta de pájaros (1959).
15 September 2022
Man With a Movie Camera (1929), Dziga Vertov.
9 September 2022
The Exterminating Angel (1962), Luis Buñuel.
30 August 2022
Oslo, August 31st (2011), Joachim Trier.
29 August 2022
Reprise (2006), Joachim Trier.
28 August 2022
My Dinner With André (1981), Louis Malle.
21 August 2022
News from Home (1977), Chantal Akerman. Link here.
I rewatched two of Yuri Nornstein's animated films: Tale of Tales (1979). Link here.
And Hedgehog in the Fog (1975). Link here.
Discussion between Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Pierre Ducrozet et Jakuta Alikavazovic around Los detectives salvajes (1998) from Roberto Bolaño, on France Culture.
20 August 2022
Cycling the Frame (1988), Cynthia Beatt and Tilda Swinton.
19 August 2022
Visages d'enfants (1925), Jacques Feyder.
16 August 2022
Cries and Whispers (1972), Ingmar Bergman.
15 August 2022
2666, from Roberto Bolaño (2004):
"Il choisissait La Métamorphose plutôt que Le Procès, il choisissait Bartleby plutôt que Moby Dick, Un cœur simple plutôt que Bouvard et Pécuchet et Un conte de Noël plutôt que Conte de deux villes ou Les papiers posthumes du Pickwick Club. Même les pharmaciens cultivés ne se risquent plus aux grandes œuvres, imparfaites, torrentielles, celles qui ouvrent des chemins dans l'inconnu. Ils choisissent les exercices parfaits des grands maîtres. Ou ce qui revient au même : ils veulent voir les grands maîtres dans des séances d'escrime d'entraînement, mais ne veulent rien savoir des vrais combats, où les grands maîtres luttent contre ça, ce ça qui nous terrifie tous, ce ça qui effraie et charge cornes baissées, et il y a du sang et des blessures mortelles et de la puanteur."
"He chose The Metamorphosis over The Trial, he chose Bartleby over Moby-Dick, he chose A Simple Heart over Bouvard and Pecuchet, and A Christmas Carol over A Tale of Two Cities or The Pickwick Papers. What a sad paradox, thought Amalfitano. Now even bookish pharmacists are afraid to take on the great, imperfect, torrential works, books that blaze paths into the unknown. They choose the perfect exercises of the great masters. Or what amounts to the same thing: they want to watch the great masters spar, but they have no interest in real combat, when the great masters struggle against that something, that something that terrifies us all, that something that cows us and spurs us on, amid blood and mortal wounds and stench."
"Escogía La metamorfosis en lugar de El proceso, escogía Bartleby en lugar de Moby Dick, escogía Un corazón simple en lugar de Bouvard y Pécuchet, y Un cuento de navidad en lugar de Historia de dos ciudades o de El Club Pickwick. Qué triste paradoja, pensó Amalfitano. Ya ni los farmacéuticos ilustrados se atreven con las grandes obras, imperfectas, torrenciales, las que abren camino en lo desconocido. Escogen los ejercicios perfectos de los grandes maestros. O lo que es lo mismo: quieren ver a los grandes maestros en sesiones de esgrima de entrenamiento, pero no quieren saber nada de los combates de verdad, en donde los grandes maestros luchan contra aquello, ese aquello que nos atemoriza a todos, ese aquello que acoquina y encacha, y hay sangre y heridas mortales y fetidez."
14 August 2022
The Color of Pomegranates (1969), Sergei Parajanov.
