Original song from the book:
View: https://youtu.be/aW3e2knvaE0?si=szLaBx3XGeCrS9MC
Song they used in the movie:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STugQ0X1NoI
Dance club conversation from book:
After the second rock number, the disc jockey put on a slow song. It was Nino Ferrer's Le Sud; a magnificent record, it has to be said. The half-caste touched the pseudo-Véronique's shoulder lightly; they got up of common accord. At this instant, Tisserand turned to face him. He spread his hands, opened his mouth, but I don't think he can have had the time to speak. The half-caste eased him aside calmly, with gentleness, and in a few seconds, they were on the dance floor.
They made a magnificent couple. The pseudo-Véronique was quite tall, maybe five foot seven, but he was a good head taller. She confidently pressed her body against the guy's. Tisserand sat down again at my side; he was trembling in every limb. He watched the couple, hypnotized. I waited a minute or more; this slow dance, I recalled, went on forever. Then I shook him gently by the shoulder, repeating, "Raphaël," over and again.
"What can I do?" he asked.
"Go and have a wank."
"You reckon it's hopeless?"
"Sure. It's been hopeless for a long time, from the very beginning. You will never represent, Raphaël, a young girl's erotic dream. You have to resign yourself to the inevitable; such things are not for you. It's already too late, in any case. The sexual failure you've known since your adolescence, Raphaël, the frustration that has followed you since the age of thirteen, will leave their indelible mark. Even supposing that you might have women in the future—which in all frankness I doubt—this will not be enough; nothing will ever be enough. You will always be an orphan to those adolescent loves you never knew. In you, the wound is already deep; it will get deeper and deeper. An atrocious, unremitting bitterness will end up gripping your heart. For you, there will be neither redemption nor deliverance. That's how it is.
Yet that doesn't mean, however, that all possibility of revenge is closed to you. These women you desire so much, you too can possess them. You can even possess what is most precious about them. What is it, Raphaël, that is most precious about them?"
"Their beauty?" he suggested.
"It's not their beauty, I can tell you that much; it isn't their vagina either, nor even their love; because all these disappear with life itself. And from now on, you can possess their life. Launch yourself on a career of murder this very evening; believe me, my friend, it's the only way still open to you. When you feel these women trembling at the end of your knife and begging for their young lives, then will you truly be the master; then will you possess them body and soul. Perhaps you will even manage, prior to their sacrifice, to obtain various succulent favours from them; a knife, Raphaël, is a powerful ally."
From movie:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zYL-XylC74
Personally I am quite torn between the two. While I am biased towards "I'm Not in Love" as it was my first exposure to this scene I still can't help but fall for the deeply nostalgic "Le Sud". Despite my first time listening to it being just a few months ago, it feels like I have listened to it before. Listening to it truly makes me feel like I was right there hearing Tisserand and the main character talk. It emphasizes feelings of longing for another life and another time, a life of romance free from the clutches of crippling loneliness.
However, "I'm Not in Love" has a different, more hopeless feeling to it. The songs denial of love mirrors Tisserands initial denial of the hopelessness of his situation. Rather than "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THIS" being emphasized as in the last song it's the feeling of "IT'S OVER".
I think I have created a compelling case for both. Curious to hear your thoughts
View: https://youtu.be/aW3e2knvaE0?si=szLaBx3XGeCrS9MC
Song they used in the movie:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STugQ0X1NoI
Dance club conversation from book:
After the second rock number, the disc jockey put on a slow song. It was Nino Ferrer's Le Sud; a magnificent record, it has to be said. The half-caste touched the pseudo-Véronique's shoulder lightly; they got up of common accord. At this instant, Tisserand turned to face him. He spread his hands, opened his mouth, but I don't think he can have had the time to speak. The half-caste eased him aside calmly, with gentleness, and in a few seconds, they were on the dance floor.
They made a magnificent couple. The pseudo-Véronique was quite tall, maybe five foot seven, but he was a good head taller. She confidently pressed her body against the guy's. Tisserand sat down again at my side; he was trembling in every limb. He watched the couple, hypnotized. I waited a minute or more; this slow dance, I recalled, went on forever. Then I shook him gently by the shoulder, repeating, "Raphaël," over and again.
"What can I do?" he asked.
"Go and have a wank."
"You reckon it's hopeless?"
"Sure. It's been hopeless for a long time, from the very beginning. You will never represent, Raphaël, a young girl's erotic dream. You have to resign yourself to the inevitable; such things are not for you. It's already too late, in any case. The sexual failure you've known since your adolescence, Raphaël, the frustration that has followed you since the age of thirteen, will leave their indelible mark. Even supposing that you might have women in the future—which in all frankness I doubt—this will not be enough; nothing will ever be enough. You will always be an orphan to those adolescent loves you never knew. In you, the wound is already deep; it will get deeper and deeper. An atrocious, unremitting bitterness will end up gripping your heart. For you, there will be neither redemption nor deliverance. That's how it is.
Yet that doesn't mean, however, that all possibility of revenge is closed to you. These women you desire so much, you too can possess them. You can even possess what is most precious about them. What is it, Raphaël, that is most precious about them?"
"Their beauty?" he suggested.
"It's not their beauty, I can tell you that much; it isn't their vagina either, nor even their love; because all these disappear with life itself. And from now on, you can possess their life. Launch yourself on a career of murder this very evening; believe me, my friend, it's the only way still open to you. When you feel these women trembling at the end of your knife and begging for their young lives, then will you truly be the master; then will you possess them body and soul. Perhaps you will even manage, prior to their sacrifice, to obtain various succulent favours from them; a knife, Raphaël, is a powerful ally."
From movie:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zYL-XylC74
Personally I am quite torn between the two. While I am biased towards "I'm Not in Love" as it was my first exposure to this scene I still can't help but fall for the deeply nostalgic "Le Sud". Despite my first time listening to it being just a few months ago, it feels like I have listened to it before. Listening to it truly makes me feel like I was right there hearing Tisserand and the main character talk. It emphasizes feelings of longing for another life and another time, a life of romance free from the clutches of crippling loneliness.
However, "I'm Not in Love" has a different, more hopeless feeling to it. The songs denial of love mirrors Tisserands initial denial of the hopelessness of his situation. Rather than "YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THIS" being emphasized as in the last song it's the feeling of "IT'S OVER".
I think I have created a compelling case for both. Curious to hear your thoughts
