{"id":5213,"date":"2011-04-13T11:02:20","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T09:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=5213"},"modified":"2014-06-12T15:41:29","modified_gmt":"2014-06-12T13:41:29","slug":"quoi-you-didnt-know-that-daft-punk-is-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/quoi-you-didnt-know-that-daft-punk-is-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Who DIDN’T Know that Daft Punk is French?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost \u00e0 mi-chemin<\/strong><\/em> (halfway)between la\u00a0place Charles-de-Gaulle <\/strong><\/em>and\u00a0Place de Clichy<\/strong><\/em>, the Lyc\u00e9e Carnot<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (Carnot High school) saw many young and ambitious students graduate to become influential men and woman in the world: Some, as Jacques Chirac<\/a> <\/strong>and Dominique Strauss-Kahn <\/strong>(a contender in the upcoming French Pr\u00e9sidentielles<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/em>) became de fins politiciens <\/em><\/strong>(shrewd politicians); others, like\u00a0Louis Aragon <\/strong>were to become famous\u00a0\u00e9crivains <\/em><\/strong>(writers); des acteurs remarquables <\/strong><\/em>(remarkable actors), like\u00a0Jean Reno<\/strong>, also attended classes there\u00a0(remember him in\u00a0le Grand Bleu, les Visiteurs<\/a>, L\u00e9on, Ronin, Da Vinci Code<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong>, etc.<\/em><\/em>); and finally musicians, such as the duo who, until today, many “around the world” still express surprise to find out that they are actually French<\/strong>: Of course, we’re talking about none other than\u00a0Daft Punk!<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

When\u00a0Thomas Bangalter<\/strong>,\u00a0the son of a noted musician (his father collaborated with\u00a0la Compagnie Cr\u00e9ole<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/strong>, for example), met like-minded\u00a0Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo <\/strong>at the lyc\u00e9e Carnot, les deux sont devenus amis<\/em><\/strong> (the two became friends) and decided to start a band they called\u00a0Darlin’<\/strong>, which they named\u00a0after the 1967 song of The Beach Boys<\/a>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hat0dJ-XQ1E<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2002, Thomas Bangalter composed la bande originale <\/em>(the soundtrack)\u00a0of the movie “Irreversible<\/em><\/span>“, starring\u00a0Vincent Cassel<\/a> and his wife Monica Bellucci. A deliberately provocative, ultra-violent, and particularly disturbing movie (inciting quite an uproar in the Cannes Festival of the same year), it contains a horrific scene shot within a few blocks from the lyc\u00e9<\/em><\/strong>e Carnot<\/em>, where the Daft Punk duo attended their high school years—Needless to say, you’re definitely not advised to watch it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

In an amusing\u00a0ironie du sort <\/em><\/strong>(irony of fate), shortly after Darlin’ performed two gigs or so in the foggy\u00a0pays des Beatles <\/em><\/strong>(country of the Beatles), the now defunct\u00a0UK magazine “Melody Maker”<\/strong> issued a very unflattering review of their songs, dismissing their music as mere “daft punk<\/strong>“— That is, the very same sobriquet they would later adopt as their stage name, and under which they would become\u00a0mondialement connus <\/em><\/strong>(world famous.)<\/p>\n

How about that for bouncing back from un \u00e9chec <\/strong><\/em>(a failure)!<\/strong><\/p>\n