Scène 2: Le retour de Jacques/ Jack's return

Discussion

Il y a des diferences entre les reactions des
personnages dans les films francais et americains: dans
le film francais, les personnages d abord calmes
laissent eclater leur colere devant l attitude de
Jacques, tandis que dans le film americain, les
personnages d abord enerves se calment et deviennent (
trop! ) calmes lorsqu'ils laissent le bebe a Jack.
Toutefois, aucune des 2 scenes n'est reelement credible
car toutes sont largement exagerees.

It seems to me that the American Jack was shown to be
more willing to take care of the baby than the French
Jaques was. He actually took the baby in his arms in
this scene, and later we see him alone taking care of
Mary. In real life, I can see both situations arising
-- a father accepting and a father wanting to get rid of
his "bastard" child. The American movie chose the
former, while the French movie inclined more towards the
latter. I think this is another manifestation of the
American need for happy endings in movies, especially
movies intended for the general public, for the family.

 

In regards to Natalia's observations on the differences
in how Jacques/Jack accepted the baby, I think it's
important to point out the differences in the manners
in which the two fathers express paternal attachment to
their child. Jack does seem more emotionally attached
to the child from the get-go, as we see in the shower
scene for example. On the other hand, Jacques's
initial demonstrations of attachment are decidedly less
fatherly, and almost simply stereotypically male. I
can't remember the exact wording, but someone refers to
Marie in a slightly derogatory manner, like "who's that
brat?", and Jacques replies something like, very
aggressively, very macho, "Watch it, that's my kid."
It takes much longer to see the development of
Jacques's affections. I think this relates back to the
issue that the American version touches more on the
individual moral lesson Jack must learn than the
French, which speaks more the each of the men's
experiences and evolution resulting from their time
with Marie. However, does anyone see this difference
in attitude as contradictory to the way the 3 men in
the American version are so heavy-handedly
masculinized? Or might this tie back to Jack's being
portrayed as a vain, self-absorbed actor who is
obsessed with anything he does, including the child he
produces? (Did you notice the cardboard cut-out he had
of himself in his room?)

l'expression "politiquement correct" ne vient pas de
votre pays pour rien.On peut dire de manière générale
que la plupart des divergences constatées entre les deux
versions provient du fait que dans la version US le
parti-pris a été d'effacer systématiquement tout ce qui
pourrait poser un éventuel problême de morale aux yeux
du public...

Ici la différence entre les 2 versions ne fait aucun
doute : la mise en scene est differente , mais surtout
les personnages americains Peter et Mickael , n ont pas
quitte leur job alors que Pierre et Michel se sont
longuement absentés . Il semble que pour les américains
il soit inconcevable de delaisser son job , meme si il s
agit de s occuper d un enfant .

I think that Jacques is more engrossed in his bachelor
life than Jack was, as he seemed to be more devastated
by the news of his fatherhood. He was more reluctant to
take on his responsibilities and one of the first things
that came into his mind was to find his mother. Whereas
Jack played around with being a father before he went to
look for help.

However, one could also say that Jack doesn't realize
the heavy responsibilities associated with a child. He
sees it all as a bit of a joke for a while in the
beginning. He says something along the lines that he was
an actor and could play the part of a father. This shows
that reality has not yet hit him; in his mind, he is
comparing the ordeal with a movie or a play.

I don't personally see much cultural differences between
Jacques and Jack in this scene. I think the two
reactions can be fairly typical for people generally.
Each person react to bad news, or what they perceive as
bad news, differently. Some try and recompose themselves
in panic, while others deceive themselves of reality.

Je n'aurais pas interprété la version française de cette
façon. En effet, je pense que le film français veut
montrer, au début, le fait que Jacques est mal-habile et
qu'il ne sait comment s'y prendre avec le bébé. Ce qui
ne veut pas nécessairement dire qu'il ne veut pas s'en
occuper.

engage