Extract from Césarée, a film by Marguerite Duras from 1978

In the heavens, suddenly an outburst of ashes. On cities named Pompeii, Herculaneum. Dead. Destroys everything. Dies of it. The place is named Césarée, Cesarea. There’s nothing to see any more but everything.

It’s a bad summer in Paris. Cold. Foggy.

Césarée is a short film. The entire piece can be seen here.

Extract from Le navire Night, a film by Marguerite Duras from 1979.

— She says they will never meet. That they will never see each other.
— She says she loves him like mad. That she is mad with love for him. That she is ready to leave everything. For him.
— Out of love for you, I would leave my family, this house in Neuilly, tout. Yet it is not necessary. That we see each other. I could leave everything for you. Yet without joining you. Leave because of you. For you. And precisely not join anything. Invent this loyalty to our love.

Again with the voice of the author.

Extract from Agatha et les lectures illimitées, a film by Marguerite Duras from 1981

— I believed to know everything, everything.
— Yes.
— To have foreseen everything. Everything. Everything that could happen between you and me.
— Yes.
— I believed to have considered everything, everything.
— Pain? No. That is never possible.
— Right. Never. We think we know it, like ourselves. And then, no. Each time it returns. Each time, miraculous.
— Each time we don’t know anything any more. Each time.

This film was recorded in Trouville-sur-Mer, in the lobby of the building where Duras lived. She reads the female part of the text and her much younger lover, Yann Andréa, reads the male part.

The dry way of saying the words that express such passionate feelings has inspired much of the tone of Bientôt l’été. Not to mention the views of the sea, and the atmosphere of an abandoned resort town.

I want to show you some films made by Marguerite Duras, the author who inspired Bientôt l’été. Next to many novels and plays, she also wrote, directed and even performed in several films.

A few films were made based on her writing by other directors. These tend to be more famous than her own (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Moderato Cantabile, The Lover, The Sea Wall). But I want to focus on the films she directed herself.

Duras’ films have inspired and influenced the design of Bientôt l’été to some extent. But more importantly, seeing a short extract from some of her films will quickly introduce you to the atmosphere, style and themes of her work. Hopefully this will help you to appreciate ours, and explore hers further.

We will start with some of Duras’ last films, because they are the purest and the simplest, and the most influential on Bientôt l’été. And we will work our way back in time, and see her films become more conventional but no less mysterious and fascinating, as they explore the main themes and characters of her literary work.

Elle est toujours au bord de ne pas écrire, elle est toujours sur le point de tout quitter, et les mots et la vie.
—Yann Andréa, Cet amour-là

Je crois que c’est terminé, qu’après ce livre je ne peux plus rien écrire, c’est fini. C’est terrible et en même temps je serai débarrassée de cette corvée.
—Yann Andréa, Cet amour-là

il n’y a rien à comprendre, cessez avec ça, ne faites pas tout le temps l’enfant.
—Yann Andréa, Cet amour-là

J’ai peur pour elle, de la voir là debout face à cette salle pleine. Peur qu’on n’aime pas ce film, India Song, comme si c’était possible, comme si ça pouvait exister, qu’on lui fasse du mal. Et je vois qu’elle souffre, que pour elle, ce film c’est plus qu’un film, qu’elle aime ce film comme si ce n’était pas elle qui l’avait fait. Elle est folle d’amour pour ce film, (…)

—Yann Andréa, Cet amour-là

Ne dites pas tout à la fois, faites durer les choses.

Il faut se perdre. Je ne sais pas. Tu apprendras.