SIMONE SIGNORET, FRENCH MOVIES AND RENVILLE AGREEMENT

French Film Festival is in town. Unlike in its early festivals in late 1990’s, since the screening of film “Taxi” showing more comedy on French style, the festival seems to attract more viewers rather than those who are interested in the world cinema, artists or French-speaking Indonesian. The organizer has changed the type of movies shown to the Indonesian public. From aesthetical and festival-theme into commercial and accessible drama of live. That is why I personally divide the different era of French film festival in Indonesia into two eras, “After Taxi” and “Before Taxi”, based on the level of enthusiasm of the viewers. I don’t think John Badalu, the film critic and the “King of Film Festival”, I name him, has this category.

Every time the festival was held in Jakarta, I remember the small and often empty cinema room located on the backside of the French Cultural Centre building where I passed my free time after college on my way home. It was the only place we could watch French movies on a big screen. And French films were introduced. It was “Before Taxi” era.

I think I frequented that place once or twice a week. In the weekend, I came there even more. And as it was just 15 minutes from home by Bajaj, I visited the centre often, even more often than my visit to the library in my own University when I started to write my hard thesis on French linguistics. Besides, as a member of the centre, the cinema could be visited for free.

I have watched many French movies whose titles I can not remember anymore. Some of them could also be seen in the annual festival which was considered very aesthetical, full of drama which for ordinary cinema goers could mean: boring! This was true because I invited two friends of mine to a festival. I treated them there only to show them that there were other movies than those produced by Hollywood, other actors and actresses as famous and classy as Julia Roberts and Keanu Reeves. However, even it was during the “After Taxi” era and even there was the Indonesian subtitle produced by my ex-college friend, my friends left the cinema earlier by telling me that I was too “anti-Hollywood”.

Indeed each viewer has their own preference of movie. I won’t talk a lot about the movies, because I know nothing about film critics. However, one film that attracts me was Le Chat (the Cat) starred by the legendary Simone Signoret who paired in the film with Jean Gabin. I watched in on the small cinema in the French Cultural Centre in Salemba in early 1990’s.

I do not why I was absorbed by Le Chat which was produced in 1971. I think it was more to my good impression seeing Simone Signoret’s acting. The film talks on a married couple who despises their marriage. The husband, starred by Jean Gabin prefers to love his cat more until his wife, played by Signoret was so annoyed. I can not remember whether she killed the cat or not, but indeed, she did something terrible to the cat only to win the love back from her husband.

Many years after I watched the movie in late 1990’s, I was still curious about it. As a person who always forget the detail of stories of each movie I watch, I would like to remind the story by trying to find its DVD. Therefore, when I had a chance to visit Paris recently, I did a research on that old movie, including another favorite movie of mine, Le Marie de la Coiffeuse (The Husband of A Hairdresser). Unfortunately, either I was not a good researcher nor DVD hunter, though I was browsing around Paris, until kneeling on the low shelf of a tiny DVD and Video shop near the Centre du Georges Pompidou in Paris verifying each title of the DVDs, still I could not find the film. Since I could find the DVD of Le Marie de la Coiffeuse, the failure of finding that of Le Chat was ignored.

However, recently, the name of Simone Signoret came to my mind again. It relates with the work I am doing and the forthcoming of French Film Festival in town. It was the name of Kaminker mentioned by Mr. Yusuf Ronodipuro, a former journalist and diplomat who is now 87 years old which triggered me to do an in-dept research on the name. According to Yusuf Ronodipuro, a man named Kaminker worked as interpreter during the agreement on board of the USS Renville embarking in Tanjung Priok Port in 1948. Kaminker worked together with Nuradi, Indonesian interpreter employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs then. He is now around 80 years old.

Luckily, an email asking to the UN Office in Geneva on Kaminker’s where about was answered by the grandson, Roger Kaminker who now works there as an interpreter there as well. From him, the name of Georges Kaminker working on board of the USS Renville was found and that from further email conversation with Robert Kaminker, Roger’s father and Georges Kaminker’s son, the name of Simone Signoret was also mentioned.

My research on the history of interpreting in Indonesia found an interesting relation between the actress whose acting impressed me in early 1990’s with the interpreters working on the Renville Dialogue between the Dutch and Indonesian Governments. According to Robert Kaminker, Georges Kaminker had a brother named André Kaminker. They both worked as interpreters in Europe. André Kaminker was known also as one of the founder of the l’Association Internationale de l’Interprete du Conference (AIIC) or the International Association of Conference Interpreters which still exists until now. Coincidently, Andre Kaminker was the father of Simone Signoret.

Simone Signoret was born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker in Wiesbaden, Germany to Andre and Georgette (Signoret) Kaminker in 1921. In 1940, his father who was a French-born Jewish army officer then fled to Great Britain to join General de Gaulle. Simone changed her name into her mother’s last name to hide her Jewish root.

When I read the email from Robert Kaminker mentioning that his cousin was the famous Simone Signoret, the scenes on Le Chat burst into my mind. The unique voice of Simone Signoret begging her husband to love her again appeared on ears. Yet, my insanity on watching French movies in the past has given me something interesting in relation to the Indonesian history.

Alors, on va au cinéma ce soir?