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From the horse's mouth
26 September 2025 04:52 amChristopher Lee himself on sword-fighting in film (with demonstrations!), and the advantages of working with stuntmen as opposed to actors :-)
New acquisitions
1 June 2025 02:46 am( Oliver Reed's careless fencing )
On my second expedition I successfully managed to purchase a new slide buckle of the right size to fit my secondary clothes line, thanks to a very helpful Indian lady whose haberdashery stall turned out to be well-stocked with all sorts of components as well as the glittering sari fabrics and accessories. I tested it out this afternoon on a batch of washing, and it seems to function exactly as effectively as its predecessor (which is to say that it is no longer bar-taut after a few hours when you take the washing down again, but doesn't sag enough to cause a discernable problem while the weight is on it).
( New cycle computer )
( Documentaries in Russian )
What I *haven't* done, having been submerged in documentaries, or at least having had them playing in the background while engaged in other things, is actually finish watching "Twenty Years After", which I have already encountered 'spoilers' for in places ranging from TV Tropes (yes, the Soviet Musketeers have their own TV Tropes page...) to random Aramis fanvids and AU fan-fiction. Although I did, on my first (pedestrian) expedition to try to buy buckles, manage to start that third "Twenty Years After" Porthos-fic of my own...
Apart from anything else I got caught up in rereading the earlier parts of the book in the French version to see what else was missing in terms of detail, which turns out to include little scenes like the one in which d'Artagnan gives Raoul a fencing-lesson during his visit and praises Athos on the boy's swordsmanship (C’est déjà votre main, mon cher Athos, et si c’est votre sang-froid, je n’aurai que des compliments à lui faire) -- this entire conversation being omitted from the English edition, which cuts straight to Mazarin's recall message!
On my second expedition I successfully managed to purchase a new slide buckle of the right size to fit my secondary clothes line, thanks to a very helpful Indian lady whose haberdashery stall turned out to be well-stocked with all sorts of components as well as the glittering sari fabrics and accessories. I tested it out this afternoon on a batch of washing, and it seems to function exactly as effectively as its predecessor (which is to say that it is no longer bar-taut after a few hours when you take the washing down again, but doesn't sag enough to cause a discernable problem while the weight is on it).
( New cycle computer )
( Documentaries in Russian )
What I *haven't* done, having been submerged in documentaries, or at least having had them playing in the background while engaged in other things, is actually finish watching "Twenty Years After", which I have already encountered 'spoilers' for in places ranging from TV Tropes (yes, the Soviet Musketeers have their own TV Tropes page...) to random Aramis fanvids and AU fan-fiction. Although I did, on my first (pedestrian) expedition to try to buy buckles, manage to start that third "Twenty Years After" Porthos-fic of my own...
Apart from anything else I got caught up in rereading the earlier parts of the book in the French version to see what else was missing in terms of detail, which turns out to include little scenes like the one in which d'Artagnan gives Raoul a fencing-lesson during his visit and praises Athos on the boy's swordsmanship (C’est déjà votre main, mon cher Athos, et si c’est votre sang-froid, je n’aurai que des compliments à lui faire) -- this entire conversation being omitted from the English edition, which cuts straight to Mazarin's recall message!
Rival versions
19 April 2025 08:36 pmI happened to notice another odd inconsistency between the final pages of the English and French versions of "The Three Musketeers". The French version states that à la suite d'un voyage qu'il fit en Touraine, [Athos] quitta aussi la service sous prétexte qu'il venait de recueillir un petit héritage en Rousillon, but my English translation renders this as "after a journey to Rousillon, [Athos] also left the service, under pretext of having succeeded to a small patrimony in the Blaisois". Which is basically the opposite -- and Rousillon is situated nowhere near the Touraine region, so where was Athos going at the time?
( Contradictory texts )
I had always assumed the 'pretext' was the claim of an inheritance and that he was actually returning to take up his true identity in his ancestral estates, but from what is said in "Twenty Years After" (je lui ai substitué la terre de Bragelonne, que je tiens d’héritage, laquelle lui donne le titre de vicomte et dix mille livres de rente), Athos genuinely did inherit this land -- presumably at this date -- and the title belonging to it. Even though he still uses his former title of La Fère, he apparently never returned there.
But while looking (in vain) for clarification on this point I happened to stumble across somebody else's fanfiction page. This turned out to be about a convoluted and ambitious -- although it failed to enthuse me -- epic that I had already seen on AO3, but I was tickled to discover that the authors shared my views on Oliver Reed (although not on Van Heflin, whom I remember finding a conscious disappointment). And not only that, but had actually *heard* of (and loved) the Russian version :-)
( Read more... )
( Contradictory texts )
I had always assumed the 'pretext' was the claim of an inheritance and that he was actually returning to take up his true identity in his ancestral estates, but from what is said in "Twenty Years After" (je lui ai substitué la terre de Bragelonne, que je tiens d’héritage, laquelle lui donne le titre de vicomte et dix mille livres de rente), Athos genuinely did inherit this land -- presumably at this date -- and the title belonging to it. Even though he still uses his former title of La Fère, he apparently never returned there.
But while looking (in vain) for clarification on this point I happened to stumble across somebody else's fanfiction page. This turned out to be about a convoluted and ambitious -- although it failed to enthuse me -- epic that I had already seen on AO3, but I was tickled to discover that the authors shared my views on Oliver Reed (although not on Van Heflin, whom I remember finding a conscious disappointment). And not only that, but had actually *heard* of (and loved) the Russian version :-)
( Read more... )
Soviet Musketeers
22 February 2025 03:17 amOne unexpected result of coming across that online review of different screen versions of "The 3 Musketeers" was that he mentioned the existence of a wildly popular Soviet Russian musical adaptation, available on YouTube with English subtitles... so I went looking for it, and absolutely loved it, to the extent that I found myself watching Russian fanvids :-D
( Read more... ) ( Lyrics )
My Russian was just about adequate to back-translate most of the short dialogue exchanges where people didn't go too fast, and to follow bits of the unsubtitled versions of the songs after having seen the subtitled version. It is of course grossly inadequate for following the plot of an entire film on its own, although I did have the satisfaction of spotting a couple of short untranslated phrases. But I managed to acquire several new and somewhat specialised bits of vocabulary by virtue of repetition: 'sword', 'blood', 'honour', 'Gascon', 'Eminence' :-D ( Read more... ) I can absolutely understand why it has apparently become a cult classic, why people treasure memories of watching repeats on TV, why schoolgirls fell for Aramis en masse, and why it seems to have subsequently acquired a vigorous online fandom. I now have an entire playlist of related videos and excerpts!
Also, I did, inevitably, end up launching back into the novel in the original French, if only to work out how many of those dialogue lines genuinely are taken directly from the original ;-)
( Read more... ) ( Lyrics )
My Russian was just about adequate to back-translate most of the short dialogue exchanges where people didn't go too fast, and to follow bits of the unsubtitled versions of the songs after having seen the subtitled version. It is of course grossly inadequate for following the plot of an entire film on its own, although I did have the satisfaction of spotting a couple of short untranslated phrases. But I managed to acquire several new and somewhat specialised bits of vocabulary by virtue of repetition: 'sword', 'blood', 'honour', 'Gascon', 'Eminence' :-D ( Read more... ) I can absolutely understand why it has apparently become a cult classic, why people treasure memories of watching repeats on TV, why schoolgirls fell for Aramis en masse, and why it seems to have subsequently acquired a vigorous online fandom. I now have an entire playlist of related videos and excerpts!
Also, I did, inevitably, end up launching back into the novel in the original French, if only to work out how many of those dialogue lines genuinely are taken directly from the original ;-)
The Three Musketeers
17 February 2025 03:39 amYouTube decided to show me (presumably due to my having watched the entirety of the first one) a whole series of fan-vids on the BBC "Musketeers" -- which apparently I never actually wrote about here, despite having watched it diligently throughout its run[s], and in fact named one of my Raouls in tribute to a character whose arc I particularly enjoyed!
I had forgotten just how *intelligent* that show was( Read more... )
Of course the fan-vids didn't go into any of that beyond the action sequences and the one-liners :-p
But YouTube proceeded in consequence to recommend me a 'review' of the various different screen versions of "The Three Musketeers" by someone who started off his upload with a scathing plot summary of the original story, saying how much he disliked the characters, accusing them of murder (for duelling) and rape and elitist behaviour, and generally demanding that a 19th-century novelist writing about the seventeenth century should adhere to the tenets of his 21st-century Internet-advocated ideology.( Read more... )
My immediate reaction was a strong desire to reread the novel in the original French, of which I own a copy! But I ended up by remembering that I had once been halfway through the animated series which was recommended to me by![[fanfiction.net profile]](/img/userheads/ff-icon-192.png)
Violonaire as a childhood favourite, Sous Le Signe des Mousquetaires, a.k.a 'the one where Milady has green hair and Aramis is a girl' ;-)
( Read more... )
I had forgotten just how *intelligent* that show was( Read more... )
Of course the fan-vids didn't go into any of that beyond the action sequences and the one-liners :-p
But YouTube proceeded in consequence to recommend me a 'review' of the various different screen versions of "The Three Musketeers" by someone who started off his upload with a scathing plot summary of the original story, saying how much he disliked the characters, accusing them of murder (for duelling) and rape and elitist behaviour, and generally demanding that a 19th-century novelist writing about the seventeenth century should adhere to the tenets of his 21st-century Internet-advocated ideology.( Read more... )
My immediate reaction was a strong desire to reread the novel in the original French, of which I own a copy! But I ended up by remembering that I had once been halfway through the animated series which was recommended to me by
Violonaire as a childhood favourite, Sous Le Signe des Mousquetaires, a.k.a 'the one where Milady has green hair and Aramis is a girl' ;-)( Read more... )
Rewatching "Back to the Future III", which is much more impressive than any second sequel can be expected to be. ( Read more... )I'd forgotten how good this was.
I also saw the new "Downton Abbey" film, which I thought worked pretty well (apparently a sequel to this is now in the offing).( Read more... ) it's an enjoyable revisiting of old haunts.
And I finally caught up with "Rogue One" in the new Star Wars series, though I have yet to see "The Last Jedi". ( Read more... )
I also saw the new "Downton Abbey" film, which I thought worked pretty well (apparently a sequel to this is now in the offing).( Read more... ) it's an enjoyable revisiting of old haunts.
And I finally caught up with "Rogue One" in the new Star Wars series, though I have yet to see "The Last Jedi". ( Read more... )
