We miss her, Françoise Sagan, and it is undoubtedly her humility and her detachment that are lacking in our time.
Hello sadness
was a phenomenon, we know it, but the way in which the novelist receives this success commands admiration.
The beautiful documentary written and directed by Priscilla Pizzato illustrates this perfectly.
One million copies sold
Let us recall a few facts.
In the France of René Coty, on March 15, 1954, a novel was released which had the effect of an explosion:
Bonjour triste
.
The content, style and age of the author - 18 years at the time of publication.
One million copies sold.
Translations all over the world.
Everything explodes!
In the first ten minutes of the film, the word “scandal” is used again and again.
At no time, however, Sagan loses his detachment, his lightness which is not the opposite of depth.
For her, the success of her book is not deserved!
How did she start?
"I failed an exam at the Sorbonne, I had nothing to do, there was a typewriter, so I wrote
," she explains.
A great reader
In January 1953, Julliard smelled the vein, she signed a contract.
The book is girded with a banner:
“The devil in the heart”
.
The publisher has a sense of marketing.
When she tells the good news to her parents, they retort:
“Give your hair a comb and wash your hands before eating…”
Her father:
“Under no circumstances will you keep my name for your nonsense…
Françoise Quoirez finds the pseudonym of Sagan in Proust, as she had borrowed the title from Éluard
.
She may not have shone academically, she is a great reader.
"Charming Monster"
The Hello Sadness
rocket
is put into orbit by the Critics' Prize, at the time a safe bet.
While her publisher asks her to be ready in case she wins the prestigious literary award, Françoise Sagan thinks of only one thing: going to Senlis to a surprise party.
“
I prayed to heaven not to have this award and to be able to go to this party.
I was unconscious”
, she will tell later.
After the prize, it is the criticism of François Mauriac, on the front page of
Le Figaro
, which will play a decisive role - it is the documentary that says so.
The columnist speaks of a
“charming 18-year-old monster”
.
And writes:
“The literary merit bursts there from the first page and is not debatable”.
There will be much discussion about the incredible force of this text, and Otto Preminger's film will add its scent of scandal to it.
In this 52 minutes, Catherine Deneuve reads excerpts from it.
This increases the charm tenfold, which has never ceased to operate.
