a cult movie in France

I will be glued to the TV tonight. 'Les Brozes Font du Ski' is showing tonight on TV1. I’m excited because this movie is showing, but I am more excited that it will be on TV1 because that is one of the channels that works. Before I got here, I was pretty impressed that Paul had managed to purchase a TV, hook it up, get cable... and have it all working when I got here a month later - even though it takes 2 different remote controls to operate. He bought just basic cable... no frills or movie channels. It didn’t really matter since we didn’t watch TV very much.

After the kids were here during the summer, we suddenly discovered that we had some movie channels. We don’t know if the kids somehow ordered them, or whether there was some hidden clause in the contract that said we would get them later... they just appeared.

We are equally baffled by the disappearance of the “free” channels. We can no longer see the channels that one would not have to pay for if they didn’t have cable. We don’t know why and we don’t know what to do. We tried calling the cable company... but imagine trying to call a French cable company to complain and getting the litany of “press this button if...” only it’s all in French. So after that didn’t work, we decided to send them an email about the problem. We still haven’t gotten a response so we just live without the free channels.

So back to the movie...

I guess every country has its cult movies. We have “Blazing Saddles” and “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Lots of my students (and I) liked “Office Space”. There is a cult movie here about some people who go skiing. I first learned about this movie after we went skiing and found ourselves stuck in a non-moving ski lift at closing time high above the alps. I had visions of spending the night on the lift. Later that night, someone told me about the movie which had a scene in it that matched our own predicament. And so a big part of the dinner discussion centered around this funny movie.

The next Monday at my French school, the teacher announced that we would be working on listening skills and we would watch clips from a movie... “Les Bronzes Font du Ski”. I couldn’t believe my luck! We didn’t get to watch the whole movie, just a few funny clips but I learned more about the movie… it’s the second of a series of 3… the third just came out this January… and Paul said everyone at work has been talking about it.

So... supposedly... we will get to watch the movie in it’s entirety tonight...maybe. And then ... only maybe... will I understand it.