All language subtitles for Intro to 102 Boulevard Haussmann

1 02 Boulevard Haussmann in Paris

was the address
of Marcel Proust's apartment

and where he wrote most of his massive
novel, A la Recherche du Temps Perdu.

Writers' lives aren't easy to dramatise.

The business of writing, as distinct
from the business of cooking, say,

is not intrinsically
interesting to watch.

On film, it generally resolves itself
into a few well-worn cliches.

The paper ripped from the typewriter,

screwed up and thrown into
the wastepaper basket.

The growing number of
cigarette ends in the ashtray.

And, of course, the drink.

In Proust's case,
the cliches don't apply.

He wrote by hand, for a start,

didn't smoke, he was asthmatic,
and scarcely drank.

But in the second part
of his life, certainly,

the writing of his novel
dictated every aspect

of what was an extraordinary life.

He wrote through the night,
slept during the day,

his room lined with cork
to insulate it against noise.

Though this was during the First War
and the Germans not far away,

he would use the Ritz in Paris
as a takeaway,

and was rich enough
to indulge his every whim.

For much of his life,

he was devotedly looked after
by a housekeeper, Celeste Albaret,

who in her way
was as eccentric as he was,

and herself figures in the novel.

Alan Bates, who plays Proust,
was one of my closest friends.

A delightful man, and though
in the end honours came his way,

a much underrated actor.

I worked with him on this film
and An Englishman Abroad,

and both are in memory borne along
on gales of laughter.