My Current Favorites – [November 2025]: The Lover, The Name of the Rose, and Banned Books
I’ve always loved watching DVDs instead of streaming movies and TV shows. Because only DVDs offer bonus features, including audio commentary with scene-by-scene analysis by the director or screenwriter. This allows you not to miss certain details, learn about behind-the-scenes filming, and above all understand the plot. There are shows like Mad Men where the historical context is so important that I don’t understand some of the characters’ decisions. I was thrilled to have access to the bonus features to better understand this series.
Laptops no longer have DVD drives at all, so I had to buy a portable DVD player to plug into my computer (Amazon link). JB set up a big screen for us in the bedroom, and it gave us a sort of “home cinema,” especially enjoyable in cold weather.
I borrowed several DVDs from the media library. Since these are movies and shows that came out a long time ago, the bonus features are much more comprehensive. I borrowed two films directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. I really like his work, as much as Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s. Both directors are meticulous, perfectionists, and really love having a film set worthy of the name. Peter Jackson too wants to have as few special effects as possible. All films using real objects age well and look authentic.
The Lover
The Lover was one of the first French films to be shot in Vietnam just after the war. Indochine , and and The Lover contributed to the development of tourism in Vietnam in the 90s. Jean-Jacques Annaud was accompanied by a Vietnamese historian, who advised on the ways of dressing and behaving in the 1920s, and he was very proud of the film, saying it could be used as a documentary to show Vietnam when the country was a French colony. There are beautiful engravings from that era, but archival videos are rare, so this film managed to recreate that atmosphere, the mold, the humidity, the stifling heat, and the poverty.
To better understand the two JJ Annaud films, I read his book A Life for Cinema (Amazon link, Fnac link) in which he provides additional information (because unfortunately and The Lover includes a bonus documentary, but the director doesn’t comment on the film scene by scene). The preparatory work with Marguerite Duras was disastrous. There are two interesting videos where Marguerite Duras commented on the novel with the film crew and suggested shots. She wanted to write the screenplay, but she went off in so many directions that the film was ultimately made without her.
Let me let you discover the videos of Marguerite Duras. She explains why she prostituted herself. She didn’t keep a single penny of that money; she gave it all to her family, and her brother stole money from her. It was to eat and buy winter clothes for the return to France. The poverty of this family was not explained at length in The Loverthe book, but well explained in and The Lover the film: the project of the dam against the Pacific; an injustice that Duras denounced. Poor settlers were allocated non-arable land. What’s really sad is that history seems to repeat itself: the actress who played Duras on screen accepted this role to escape her social background. The lunch between Annaud and the actress’s parents recalls the scene of the dinner with the Chinese man. Because of these torrid scenes (Annaud always films love scenes too well), she was heavily criticized and it depressed her. Her career never took off. Annaud says he saw her again and that she was fine and was still glad she did the film.
By chance, I am currently reading novels that ultimately tell the same story: Scarlett O’Hara fromGone with the Wind, Cao Xueqin, author of Dream of the Red Chamber, and now the child in and The Lover are teenagers who had to grow up too fast, so their personalities remained frozen in time; they can’t become true adults. Scarlett O’Hara and Duras, despite financial success, remain stuck in the scarcity, lack mentality. Annaud reproaches Duras for being only interested in money. I believe Coco Chanel also suffered from the same criticism. I imagine that when you’ve known hunger, as a woman, alone, it’s hard to tell yourself you’ve really made it and that hunger will never come knocking again.
For Jean-Pierre Jeunet, I’ll soon receive his book I Remember – 500 Filming Anecdotes (Amazon link). UPDATE: which I do not recommend not because it’s disjointed and doesn’t provide more information than the DVD commentaries he’s done.
The Name of the Rose
What I really like about The Name of the Roseis, of course, the scriptorium and the illuminated manuscripts. I even bought an illustrated version of this novel (that I showed in a video here). In the film, the manuscripts they zoomed in on were indeed made by monks in Italy, still using the ancestral technique (like what I’m currently doing on parchment) I watched the 2019 series, which also adapts the same novel, and everything is too clean, not gritty enough for the Middle Ages. In the film, everything looks weathered (the walls, the clothes, sandals…), which makes it much more authentic. It looks like a documentary about the Middle Ages; all the costumes and props were handmade to perfectly capture the medieval aesthetic. He says that making a crooked wall costs much more than a straight one, haha. What I really like is the multi-story representation of the library, whereas in the novel (there’s a plan), it seems flatter and on a single level. During the fire scene, the film crew had to flee in a hurry through this real maze of staircases, fortunately without any accidents.
Regarding Umberto Eco, I’ve already written a long article about a discussion between book lovers between him and JC Carrière here.
Forbidden books
Speaking of The Name of the Rose, where the theme of “forbidden books” is central to the plot, I recently learned a lesson about whether knowledge should be shared or not.
In Asian beliefs, it is forbidden to reveal “heavenly secrets”, hence the obscurity of Nostradamus’s prophecies, which we struggle to interpret after the fact. A striking literary example can be found in the novel The Dream of the Red Chamber that I introduced to you last month : the protagonist has a prophetic dream early in the novel (chapter V); he accesses poems revealing the fate of each family member, but their meaning escapes him, just as it does the reader, until the work reveals all its secrets. In secret societies, secrets are gradually shared with initiates according to their level of advancement.
On this blog, sometimes I reveal advanced spiritual knowledge, and I often ask myself: who can benefit from this? Did I explain it well, or could it be misinterpreted? What if it falls into the wrong hands? And at the slightest doubt, I prefer not to talk about it. My favorite author Nguyen Duy Can often says he’s afraid of saying too much; when you say too much, you risk saying nonsense, revealing heavenly secrets (lộ thiên cơ) to the wrong people; it’s better to say too little. Knowledge is only useful to those who are ready to receive it; otherwise, it creates frustration and confusion. If it’s misunderstood, that’s even worse. A few years ago, a Vietnamese guru popularized numerology on YouTube, but some of her lessons were misunderstood, leading to a wave of pregnant women scheduling C-sections (!!!) just to get a good birth date for their children’s numerology. Stupidity!
When knowledge is forbidden or hard to obtain, people desire it, sometimes even committing serious acts, like in “The Name of the Rose”. We desire it simply because it’s not accessible. But if no one knows it exists, or if it’s freely available everywhere, no one will really care. I’ve already offered books rich and accessible , and full of “forbidden knowledge”, but since they can be easily bought in bookstores, no one wants them.
In the end, to ensure no one discovers valuable knowledge, nothing is more effective than placing it… on the shelves of a bookstore.
The story of Guǐgǔzǐ
“In elite circles, there’s a saying: “the master seeks his disciple, not the disciple the master”; or, “when you’ve accumulated enough aspiration, the master will appear”. This means that great masters seek their disciples themselves, with very strict tests. Without complete, solid faith and high moral and intellectual qualities, they do not transmit their deep truths. Many ancient secrets are not passed down because these masters prefer to take their knowledge to the grave rather than give it to those who lack the required dignity. Indeed, narrow-minded people use their intelligence for their own gain, and as soon as they seek glory and personal interest, they inevitably harm others.
Among the billions of souls who have walked the Earth over the last millennia, many are fascinating, especially 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ), who lived in seclusion in the mountains. Yet his fame attracted many students. He welcomed everyone, but taught differently according to each one’s potential. To those with talent, virtue, and a far-sighted vision, he taught for a long time so they could change the world upon leaving the mountain. To the less gifted, greedy for glory and money, he taught just enough to survive, then quickly parted ways with them.
He chose four disciples: 蘇秦 (Sū Qín), 張儀 (Zhāng Yí), 龐涓 (Páng Juān), and 孫臏 (Sūn Bìn). They studied day and night, alternating practical exercises outside the mountain and theoretical discussions, thus forging their experience. 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) is the sole holder of a secret of immortality, yet he roams the world. His goal was to transmit this secret to elite souls so that after their turbulent lives, they could attain a higher state. However, his wish was never fulfilled because his four disciples chose the path of fame. Legend even says that 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) still wanders the world.
龐涓 (Páng Juān) was the first to disappoint. Upon his arrival, 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) guessed his character but hoped to change him, accepting him as a challenge. After three years of training, he saw that his disciple was ordinary, selfish, hungry for glory, and unable to sacrifice his own interests for others.
One day, 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) saw 龐涓 (Páng Juān) hesitate to come in. Understanding his mind, he encouraged him to leave and seek wealth and fame. Before his departure, he asked him to find a flower to predict his destiny. In the scorching heat, with nature dead, 龐涓 (Páng Juān) found a poisonous flower he picked, but not wanting to risk a bad omen, he threw it away and continued his search without success. Finally, he went back to get the withered flower, hid it in his sleeve, then returned and told his master he had found nothing.
鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) asked him to show the flower hidden in his sleeve and if he could tell what flower it was. 龐涓 (Páng Juān) denied it, and he explained: “Each time it blooms, it produces 12 buds, symbolizing the 12 years of career of the person who discovers it. However, the flower has a withered tint because you didn’t bring it right away to water it, but you threw it into the bushes while looking for a better flower. That is why the omen of your future indicates that, because of your greedy nature, you will never know peace. You also lied to your master, which is a great sin against heaven and earth. And your deceit will lead to you being deceived by others. After 3 years here, under your master’s teaching and the trust of your brothers in arms, your nature has still not improved, and even I don’t know what your destiny will be after these 12 years of career.”
The master then asked his three other disciples, during a night when they had to take turns chasing rats, to stay fully alert. Only 孫臏 (Sūn Bìn) worked tirelessly with diligence. It was then that 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) handed him a sacred book: “These are 13 chapters of military strategy from your grandfather, Sun Tsu, once offered to King He Lu of the Wu kingdom. King He Lu used it to defeat the Chu army. Then, King He Lu kept this book preciously and didn’t want to spread it. He locked it in an iron chest, hidden in the crack of a pillar of the Cotu Tai. Since the Yue army burned the tower, no one has known of this book. I have long been friends with your grandfather, I have seen this book and I have annotated its secrets myself. Everything about military strategy is in it; I have never entrusted it to anyone. Today, seeing your loyalty, I give it to you.” 鬼谷子 (Guǐgǔzǐ) decided to pass it on only to 孫臏 (Sūn Bìn), because this treasure could be a blessing or a curse depending on who held it, reserving this knowledge for one who had responsibility, intelligence, virtue, and potential.
Inspired by: Kingdoms in Peril: Chronicles of Ancient China (History of the Eastern Zhou” (Dong Zhou lieguozhi), Feng Menglong, chapter 87)
When he learned that the master had passed to Sūn Bìn The Art of War, Páng Juān did everything to get it, using tricks and stratagems, but without success. Today, The Art of War is freely sold in bookstores (Amazon link), with advice for applying it to the business world (Amazon link), there are only 13 chapters, yet few people take the trouble to read it.
