Le Grand Meaulnes (The Lost Domain) is one of the greatest French novels of the 20th century, the only novel of Alain-Fournier, a brilliant young writer killed in action in 1914 at the age of twenty-seven.
The story is a masterly exploration of the twilight world between boyhood and manhood, with its mixture of idealism, realism, and sheer caprice. But that is not its only magic – there is a magic of setting, of narrative, of the abject beauty of the heroine, of the inexplicable elusiveness of the 'lost domain' itself.
One night, at a party in a strange domain lost in the woods, Augustin Meaulnes is dazzled by the beauty of Yvonne de Galais, with whom he falls eternally in love. But when the party ends, the young woman seems to have vanished along with the château and its people, as if it had all been a dream fantasy. Despite the passage of time, Augustin Meaulnes will never regain the beautiful apparition.
The original film adaption by Jean-Gabriel Albicocco, released in 1967 and starring Brigitte Fossey, Jean Blaise and Alain Libolt, is a masterpiece of French cinema. Visually intensive throughout, the camera captures especially well the surrealistic experience at the mysterious party in the château into which Augustin stumbles, as in a dream.
No comments:
Post a Comment