crying two times

"Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis" has quickly become the hottest film in France. There's even a new website, ChtiNN. The people of the warm and sunny South think it's funny because the main character is transplanted from paradise to what they consider the dreariest part of France. The people of the North love it because it's a caricature of their lives. In Picardy, most people understand a bit of ch'timi, so they laugh when Dany Boon and the other Ch'tis speak, and I've heard that in the South, laughter is delayed because they don't understand Boon; instead they laugh at the other man's reaction.

We have one movie theatre in Poix. It's run by volunteers, and there's only one movie a weekend, with showings at 9pm on Friday and Saturday, and one at 5pm on Sunday. Les Ch'tis has had such a success that the town planned one or two shows a day for a whole week. You'd think that in a town of 2300 people, this would be enough. Instead, they have added at least one additional show a day, and getting in could be likened to camping out for concert tickets.

Our plan had been made several days before. We needed eleven seats for the 9pm show on Tuesday - the official last séance in Poix. Alexandre and I met Rachel at the cinéma at 7:45, and the line - or should I say crowd - had already gathered. (The French aren't so good at forming lines; if you leave too much space in front of you, someone is bound to step in, so if Americans want to make it inside, we have to readjust our definition of personal body space). We got our tickets and while Rachel waited outside for the rest, Alexandre and I were assigned the task of finding 11 seats. Impossible. The theatre was already filling up. We found nine on the back row, and threw our coats, scarves and sweaters over the chairs. When Rachel came in, she grabbed two more seats in the front. Eventually, Alexandre took her place and she went back outside. That's when it got scary. Like I've been saying all year, people have been so nice to me. But I'd never tried to save seats in a crowded cinéma before. Members of the troisième âge (read senior citizens) actually yelled at me for trying to save seats. My timid explanation that we'd already bought the tickets and that the people were arriving was only met with more incomprehensible yelling (could she have been speaking ch'timi?) I quietly whined, Alexandre, reviens! to his dad's girlfriend who was sitting in front of me. I sent an SMS to Rachel and Patricia telling them to hurry up, and then Rachel came to my rescue. She was actually shoved by an old man who tried to push his way into our row. Turns out, the folks that run the cinema sold some tickets earlier in the day, and then forgot to include that number in the tickets sold just before the movie, so a whole bunch of people weren't allowed in. They were told to come back at 11pm for the extra show. When I went out to meet Patricia and the kids, I was scared I wouldn't be let back in. I was relieved when the movie finally started - at 8:30 rather than 9, since the room was already full. I've never seen anything like it.

And now for my impressions on the film itself. I'd had a few lessons in ch'timi, so I was able to understand a little, but there were so many things that flew above my head. When they talked about Maroilles cheese, a cheese they say smells stronger than it tastes, I laughed out loud. Alexandre tried to explain things as they came up, but it was hard to do that and follow the film at the same time. All in all, it's a good film, but parts are hard enough for the French to catch, much less a non-native speaker.

One thing I did understand is a proverbe ch'timi which pretty much sums up the film: Un étranger qui vient dans le Nord pleure deux fois : Quand il arrive, et quand il repart. A foreigner who comes to the North cries two times: when he arrives and when he leaves.