1997 Cannes Film Festival Diaries
Cannes-Scan #2

by Jerry (the usher)

Episode 2:

I met this crazy young french director, Jean-Pierre, and his slinky girlfriend Odile, who never says much of anything (probably mainly because Jean-Pierre is talking all the time). He says "Just call me 'Jai-Pi', you know, J. P. Morgan. I'm going to make millions like him." No self-confidence problem here...

He has the strangest encyclopaedia of material in his brain: prejudice, fact, apocrypha, philosophy, and wild speculation all blended into his own private reality. Most entertaining, at least in short stretches.

This was his gem of a history lesson from yesterday: "You know, you Americans think you invented all this technology. But let me tell you something. The transistor was invented by a Frenchman at the beginning of World War II. The British knew about it, and they were worried the Germans would get ahold of both the invention and the inventor. So, when France fell, they sent a commando team in to get him out, but he didn't want to leave, so they killed him and destroyed all his papers."

Now, how can you disprove that? Or even argue?