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Hello all! Today I am going to talk a bit about each of the following:

I - Édouard Detaille (1848 - 1912, Military Artist)
- Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848 - 1888, Naturalist)

II - Wazoo (1999-Present, Folk Rock)
- Manau (1998-Present, Celtic Rap)
- MC Solaar (b. 1969, Senegalese & French Rap)

III - La Haine (1995 by Matthieu Kasovitz)

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Les grenadiers à cheval à la bataille d'Eylau - 1893

Edouard Detaille was a French soldier, artist and later war artist and designer. Born into a military family, Edouard was encouraged from his youth to follow his art. Just like Jules Bastien-Lepage and so many others, Detaille was drawn into the Franco-Prussian war in 1870. Where Bastien-Lepage sought respite and solace from the harsh realities of war in his pastorals, Detaille found his niche in the bloody snow.

Before the war Detaille studied under the famous military painter Meissonier, himself renowned for his Napoleonic pieces. I find, however, that Detaille outdid his master completely. Detaille's attention to ... detail... was so absolute, so complete, that in the early 20th century he was called upon by the French War Department to design the French Army's uniforms. This piece, which actually is a sketch with two variations (see: Carabiniers à Cheval en Russie) is my favorite. I actually bought a print of it last year and have it on my wall. I could look at it all day. The colors are perfect, the uniforms beautiful, the gore realistic and the whole scene cold yet majestic.

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This song and video are from Wazoo's debut album, from 1999. We see in the thumbnail the iconic Citroen 2CV, or Deux-Cheveaux. The music they play is based on folk music from the Auvergne region, hence the 63 on the license plate. They pay homage to Vercingetorix in the video and talk about all the fun parts of being from Auvergne!

Fun fact: La Manivelle is the crank piece of the instrument we see in the video! So when he sings "Tourner la manivelle" he's saying, effectively, "Crank it up!" in Auvergne-speak. This piece and band are important to me because my mother is from this region and I am quite proud to claim the Auvergne heritage!

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La Manivelle - WAZOO - Festif - Tube pour faire le fête - Musique festive - Clip 1999

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Les Bles - 1880

Jules Bastien-Lepage was born in 1858 in Meuse in a beautiful agricultural setting. He received his art training first from his grandfather and then properly from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Like so many European artists of his era, he was drawn into military service during a war, his being the Franco-Prussian in 1870. Wounded in the war, Bastien-Lepage returned home to convalesce and in 1874 drew his first prize-winning piece, Portrait of my Grandfather. From here, he became synonymous with naturalism and realism. He would die young, at age 36, due to complications from his wounds suffered in the war.

This piece, Les Bles, or The Wheat, may not be one of his most acclaimed pieces, but it is one of my favorite. I have always been a fan of pastorals and Bastien-Lepage is my favorite French pastoral artist. To me, this piece allows me to actually set foot behind the farmer and be with him. I look at this and can hear the wind, smell the wheat and see the storm moving across the hills. Suspenders down and back bent, but with acres to go, the viewer is reminded of the value of toil and labor. But, more than anything, it makes me feel happy.

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La tribu de Dana - Manau, 1998.

Manau is a French rap group from Normandy that includes Celtic tones in their music and lyrics. This song, from their debut album, launched them to fame and even got them an international tour (they played Madison Square Garden!).

I was introduced to Manau around the turn of the century and fell in love. I loved how cool they looked and appreciated their ethnic stylings. One might think that as a rap group they would have less meaningful lyrics than, say, Wazoo, but one would be wrong. Manau touched upon many pertinent issues of the time, including the mandatory military service in place and the occlusion of blacks from French society. Truly a great group whom I absolutely recommend you check out.

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Manau - La tribu de Dana (Clip Officiel remasterisé)

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MC Solaar - Bouge de là, 1991.

Oh, the '90s. Love 'em or hate 'em, they filled us with lots of memories and, thankfully, only temporary fashion trends! MC Solaar was one of the most successful French recording artists of that decade and his song Bouge de là in 1991 started it off right!

Born in Sénégal to parents from Chad, Claude M'Barali moved to France at a young age. He grew up in the Paris suburbs and quickly took to the black and Arab immigrant lifestyle, which is to say oppressed and hard-pressed. What set MC Solaar apart, however, was his positivity and relatively wholesome attitude, which he would later attribute to his mother.

He helped pave the way for French hip hop which, objectively, truly is an outstanding genre of the 1990's and early '00's. Like his contemporaries, he included samples of famous white French recording artists, much in the way that DJ Cut Killer will do in our next focus area. He won fans over from Dunkirk to Marseilles, from Algiers to Dakar.

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BLUF: One of the best and most important films of all time.

What do an Arab, a Jew and an African have in common? In 1990's France, everything: they're ostracized, marginalized and, in the Parisian suburbs, relegated to a life more like prison than freedom.

I cannot stress enough how incredible of a film this is. Mathieu Kassovitz does an incredible job of directing and even makes a memorable cameo. Vinz (Vincent Cassel) , Hubert and Said live in the same neighborhood and the film finds the friends confronting the violence of ghetto riots, which still rage today in France. The film is entirely in black and white and uses many real people and amateur actors.

While French cinema has never been shy about using profanity, this film uses a more 'banlieu' way of speaking that would make your Navy vet uncle blush. Ever wondered what the average down-trodden, unemployed, son-of-an-immigrant youngster does throughout the day? Watch this film. Even if you never wondered that, watch this film. Twice.