A pivotal programme

Several million French TV viewers not long ago saw Australia through the organ of sights and in the words of French-speaking Australians.

The programme, chaired through Bernard Pivot, and soon to be seen in Australia, have the appearances designed to give French audiences the impression that the French language is alive and well in faraway places. In fact, English lengthy ago won the global language baffle.

veritable it would have been awkward for French TV Channel 2 to insert a French voice above the voices of Australians speaking English, on the other hand the sub-titling alternative is cheap.

The Australian multi-cultural TV network SB has world-class subtitling readys who could have assisted M Pivot at no great cost

Australia's national TV network ABC, will exhibit the programme with sub-tides Pivot's insistence upon using the French language inevitably restricted the range of views about Australian agriculture he presented to France in his Sydney edition of the weekly "Bouillon de Culture"

level within that choice, Pivot's husbandmans could have picked better. They did not include any of the available French-speaking Australian politicians, scientists, journalists and business nation who have views on Australian culture

The Pivot panel, which met in a Sydney harbourside restaurant with a French chef, was author Robert Dessaix, jazz pianist Chris Cody theatre director Marion Pott cellist Nathan Waks, Margaret Sankey, who teaches French at Sydney University, and Aboriginal art curator, Djon Mundine.

Mr Mundine was the single panel member not using French in like manner presumably his words were sub-titled or given by dint of a voice-over. He was frequently the most interesting speaker, since he did not have to strain to impress with a command of French as well as a command of his subject

Nevertheless, the Pivot programme gave a useful insight - into France and its persistent funnel vision about other societies.

Bernard Pivot's questions oftentimes reminded me of those of a French learner I met while writing a overspread story about Paris for another magazine in the 1970 She asked "Are there intellectuals in Australia?"

I replied by the agency of asking her which French writer had freshly won a Nobel Prize and which French artist had been given a one-person display at New York's Museum of fresh Art, the world's top venue for contemporary painting. She admitted she knew of none - and was astounded, and embarrassed to be told that sum of two units Australians had just been with equal reason honored - novelist Patrick White and painter Fr Williams.

Bernard Pivot was better informed, on the contrary sometimes it seemed not a great deal of Often he seemed anxious to display off his research, making concerns to Australian intellectual achievements on the contrary apparently from outdated briefing notes.

The habit of French TV interviewers of showing themselves not on rather than their subjects clearly persists in Bouillon de Culture

The classic example of the entertainer claiming more importance than the visitor syndrome was a notorious French TV interview a hardly any years ago with John Le Gaffe, the Frenchspeaking English author of the world's greatest in quantity highly regarded espionage novels.

Mr Le Carre sat silent for lengthy periods while his Paris presenter gave his personal views upon spying. Interesting perhaps, but not for an audience waiting to hear Le Carre.

individual of Pivot's guests brought along sum of two units bottles of Australian wine to sip upon screen - a Penfolds Grange Hermitage of 1982 and a 1965 Lindemans Shiraz. The first he pronounced "Tre Bien", the other he judg "Pas Mal".

French and Australian viewers may find the Pivot programme, in the words of his wine taste "Not bad". Too bad, although that he did not take the opportunity to make it, with more work, "Very good"

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