Framed by
Tonino Benaquista
pbk out July 06
(Bitter Lemon Press)
at £9.99
By day Antoine is a picture-hanger in a major Parisian gallery; by night he
heads north to the friendly camaraderie of L'Académie de l'Etoile, where the
stars are those of the billiard circuit. By day a disdainful observer of the world
of contemporary art, by night he revels in the "pure universe" of his game
where "everything becomes possible...and simple." But art exacts a terrible
revenge when Antoine is seriously injured one lazy afternoon as he tries to
prevent the theft of a unique painting from the gallery. Now disabled, curious
about the missing painting and dissatisfied with the police investigation,
Antoine stifles his disdain and follows up a led or two...
It's intriguing to speculate what lead Benacquista to revisit his 1990 prize-
winner Trois carrés rouges sur fond noir and produce this revised version.
The result was published in France in 2004, nicely timed to form the second
part of what could be regarded as a loose trilogy, one formed by Someone
Else (2002 in France, published here in 2005 also by Bitter Lemon) and his
script for Jacques Audiard's hit movie The Beat That My Heart Skipped
(2005). All three can be seen as playing on questions of identity. In Someone
Else, its two key protagonists volunteer to change their lives for the better; in
Beat, a small-time hoodlum tries and fails. In Framed, Antoine is forced to
reinvent himself.
Whilst this is a less immediately attractive premise than that of Someone
Else, the reader is soon caught up in Antoine's mental struggles, marked by
much dark humour, in adapting to his new condition. Then an intriguing
mystery is developed, taking Antoine deeper into a world where he must learn
to distinguish between "the sublime and the ridiculous", between what is
essential and what is merely decorative, between truth and lies. Throughout
Benacquista displays not only a knowing and sardonic eye for the
technicalities, absurdities and hypocrisies of the art market, but also a keen
appreciation (shades of The Hustler, the fine pool-hall novel by Walter Tevis)
for the artistry of the billiard table. Meanwhile translator Adriana Hunter copes
admirably with both Benacquista's idiosyncratic prose as well as the
philosophical and increasingly jaunty Antoine.
Plenty then to engage, not only the intellect but, not always a given with
Benacquista's work in English, also the heart. Recommended, particularly for
those with an inclination for the offbeat.
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Framed by
Tonino Benaquista
