30834: White (reply) 30827: Dailey: Re 30818 (Josephine) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Randall White <randallwhite@mac.com>


Mr. Dailey,

Yes, it was the 1934 french block-buster ZouZou. Thanks for the clarification.

That media stars are transmogrifying the message from steganography to 
semiotics is duly noted. It's a letter from The Landlord, delivered by freight.

ZouZou is a "must see" for all Josephine Baker fans. It certainly could be 
considered the most successful of her three films. It's available in an 
overpriced Kino Video 3-box set. My recommendation is that you check your 
library or rent it.

While there is almost no real content of interest in "ZouZou" to the Haiti 
hacks, the sublime to subliminal vision of Baker's performance  "Haiti" — and 
in conjunction with the line from the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem "I know why the 
caged bird sings, ah me…" — is.

The film is notable for the almost complete scrubbing believable of race 
dynamics (reminding me of the appropriately titled "The Pursuit of Happyness") 
that devolved from the popular idealism of the time. This pro-democracy 
optimism  eventually led to the "structural adjustment" from the more 
respectable pre-neocons to the north. Fortunately, Josephine opted to 
participate in the Rezistanz. A curiously familiar theme…

ZouZou is also notable for some other film dynamics that stood in stark 
contrast to offerings from the USA. Being fairly open about romance, and sexual 
flavors…

                 ZOUZOU: …all lovers are handsome!

Nevertheless, Zouzou didn't end up winning the heart of Jean (Jean Gabin), 
helping the plot from being too predictable.

The overly-complex plot has something for everyone, but will grow a bit 
tiresome as you wait for the predicable elements to develop. Unfortunately, 
Josephine doesn't do enough dancing in this film and the big budget 
extravaganza would have been better performed by the Busby Berkeley dancers. 
Even the magnificent set which — amazingly — appears on a local theater stage 
with only a 40 foot proscenium, fails to resurrect the unfortunate choice of 
dancers.

Other technical anomalies abound, to the amusement of theatrical pros. Like, 
how does that spotlight throw hit the upstage center when the the op is 
focusing from backstage left? Course, the spot-op (Jean) would have never made 
it as an electrician if it took him that long to focus, anyhow. All of which 
means this is a real movie gem.

Also of historical note was the lighting of the exterior night scenes the film 
— while, admittedly of little interest ot most Corbeteers — it caught my 
trained-eye immediately. I was none too surprised to find out that the 
photographer (and op) was, none other than, the Polish  B+W master, Boris 
Kaufman!  Boris started his career lensing a Fernand Leger art pic, and 
ironically ended up being the DP on the anti-Communist Kazan propaganda flick 
"The Ghosts of Cite Soleil," … I mean, "On the Waterfront" for which he snagged 
the Oscar in 1954.

In any case the Josephine Baker number also stands in stark contrast to the 
Fred Astaire musical routine that revels in the Bajeuxian contrived vision of 
Haiti. Wile the dancing is better, and the set and costumes look like a Haitian 
painting, it appears that the popular idealism of ZouZou never had a chance in 
Hollywood. Jean-Claude Bajeux can exclaim "I Don't Want to Know Why the Caged 
Bird Sings" which just happens to be the title of an upcoming Simpson's episode 
that — synchronistically enough — will air this coming September 30.

For MOrell information on Jean-Claude Bajeux and the "most objective and 
informative of the journalists reporting on Haiti" check out: 
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HNW/10_3_4.html


RAW

(jus sharpening my hatchet…)