Elif Rongen Kaynakçi: The Fantastic Universe of Pierre Loti (2023 Pordenone introduction)

Jacques de Baroncelli: Pêcheur d'Islande (FR 1924). Charles Vanel (Yann) and Sandra Milowanoff (Gaud). Poster by Henri-Edmond Rudaux. La Cinémathèque française, Paris.

Teatro Verdi, Pordenone, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM) 2023.
Elif Rongen Kaynakçi (GCM 2023): 

" Pierre Loti (born Julien Viaud, 1850-1923) was a French writer, naval officer, traveller, acrobat, and diplomat, among other things. During his lifetime he visited 29 countries and participated in 31 naval military actions. He also published 61 books and was admitted to the Académie Française in 1891. It is hard to comprehend how one person could fit so many different careers, ambitious achievements, hobbies, and romances (with men and women) into one life. "

" Loti completed his military education in 1875 at the École de gymnastique de Joinville. The same year he met the celebrated French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who would remain a dear friend until her death, just a few months before Loti. Stationed at the naval academy in Brest, Loti studied Breton culture, which would later inspire him to write Pêcheur d’Islande (1886). (Jacques de Baroncelli’s powerful 1924 film version is being screened at this year’s Giornate.) "

" He transformed the family home in La Rochelle into an eclectic temple inspired by his many travels over the course of decades, where he gave themed costume parties. In 1903 Loti bought a house at Hendaye, in the French Basque region. His military career with the navy ended in 1910. Returning to Constantinople, where he stayed until 1913 as a diplomat, he was welcomed as a successful Orientalist author, but was also suspected of being a spy. In 1921 he suffered a stroke, from which he never seemed to recover. He died in Hendaye in 1923. "

" Despite many of his novels having been adapted to the cinema even during his lifetime, and his eagerness to have himself photographed, often in exotic costume, no film footage of Loti is known to exist. This programme is meant to evoke the universe of Loti, touching upon the many places to which he travelled, and echoing his formative times at military school and with close friends. It also contains some short fiction films with settings and stories similar to Loti’s own fictional writings. "

" Since the scope of Loti’s life is so rich and broad, such a loosely associative programme risked getting larger and larger (or as sprawlingly eclectic as his house in Rochefort, now converted into a museum). To avoid this, we decided to limit the compilation to films selected from the collections of the Eye  Filmmuseum. "

" All the Pierre Loti quotations in the film notes are from Lesley Blanch’s biography, Pierre Loti: Travels with the Legendary Romantic (2004 edition). " – Elif Rongen Kaynakçi

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WIKIPEDIA: PIERRE LOTI'S BOOKS IN FINNISH TRANSLATION

Islannin kalastajat (Pêcheur d’Islande), suom. O. Relander. Otava, 1890.

Jerusalem, suom. nimim. Pohjalainen. Pohjalainen, 1897.

Merimies, suom. Aini Collin. Kotkan suomalainen sanomalehti-osakeyhtiö, 1903.

Loti’n avioliitto (Le mariage de Loti, ensipainos Rarahu), suom. Eino Palola. Kirja, 1917.

Veljeni (Mon frère Yves), suom.Eino Palola. Helsinki : 1917.

Aasian tytär (Aziyadé), suom. Eino Palola. Kirja, 1919.

Havahtuneita: kuvaus nykyaikaisesta haaremielämästä (Les Désenchantées), suomentanut Jalmari Hahl. Gummerus, 1919.

Ratsumiehen tarina (Le Roman d’un Spahi), suom. Jalmari Hahl. Gummerus, 1922.