CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

Going up to a Parisian rooftop is the perfect opportunity to talk about Tennessee Williams, as a wink to his famous “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

(Well, a small wink really because I don’t have any of Elisabeth Taylor – who plays in the cinematographic adaption – voluptuous beauty and the roof was not that hot because the weather wasn’t anything special to be perfectly candid. Also, can you feel how incredibly comfortable I feel perched on this rooftop?).

Tennessee William’s plays were adapted into movies during the 50’s and 60’s and my favorites are “A Streetcar Named Desire”, “Suddenly, Last Summer”, and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”.

I enjoy Tennessee Williams’s character’s hopeless universe. They are often alone, rejected, marginal and frustrated. They are often full of ingratitude and yet extremely moving because page by page, one begins to perceive the traces of deep emotional traumas: faced with lack of love, cruelty, society, they become monstrous children.

Undoubtedly monstrous, indeed, but children at heart.

His plays are often much more explicit than the movies on themes such as sexuality and homosexuality in particular – no thanks to the Hayes Codes, which enforced strict censorship at the time. However, reading or watching Tennessee William’s is always a moment of pure pleasure.

It’s full of latency, violence, passion and it’s truly fascinating.

May 10, 2018