Restless Flights: The Literature of JMG Le Clézio

A documentary about the 2008 Nobel Laureate for Literature JMG Le Clézio produced for Nobel Media by October Films. Directed and produced by Jeremy Williams, edited by Paul Carlin with photography by Michael Timney. The film includes a rare in-depth interview with the author and sequences shot with him in Nice and Mauritius.

[@douglastappin8944]

Great to encounter Jean-Marie once again following our first meeting in 1959/60. We met on the ferry from Dinard/St. Malo to the Island of Jersey. He then was with his first wife. They were travelling to the cooler climate of Jersey, as they found the South of France too hot in the summer. He ages well.

[@natashacrawford6292]

I am watching this inspirational film during quarantine - when our sense of time seems to have drifted away somewhat from its moorings. I feel occasionally that I am mercifully released from 'Time’s leash' (to use a phrase by Ian McEwan). It is as though I have been given an extension and in M. Le Clezio's writing this expansion and fluidity of time is referenced often. In 'Desert' there is restlessness, stillness, profound and anxious observation and the paradox of finding balance in that which can not be balanced. I wish I could live many lifetimes in order to try to emulate something of what JMG Le Clezio has achieved. Bravo!

[@ainurabazekenova7336]

Thanks, it was very interesting. I read many of his books in french. Very talented writer with the gentle soul of a small boy and deep reflexions about life.

[@lhommebonhomme]

Thank you for this beautiful film. I am writing a PhD thesis (in French) on Le Clézio and I find this document very valuable. The interview bits are great, but really what I preferred was the narrated parts over evocative images. It never occurred to me how beautiful and powerful his writings sound in their English translations. It's a pity the resolution of the video is so low (but this is a just a small disappointment). Thanks a lot for your work.

[@Butterflare]

Thanks so much for publishing this video. I'm in the process of completing a research project for a French literature class at Campbell University where I am a French major. JMG Le Clézio's biography and works are a large part of my research. I've been very intrigued by his life and his experimentation with writing. Your video gave me the opportunity to get to know him a little better...thanks again.

[@jeremywilliams4740]

Hi Pam Thanks for that. Very happy to share it. He was a fascinating and wonderful man, very noble and modest and generous with his time. When he won the Nobel Prize nothing of his was actually still in print in English - though that quickly changed. I have heard that reading him in French is a great thrill. Cheers!

[@jeremywilliams4740]

Documentary about Nobel Laureate for Literature JMG Le Clezio