Belle Époque

The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (French pronunciation: ​[bɛlepɔk]; French for "Beautiful Era") was a period of Western European history. It is conventionally dated from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in around 1914. Occurring during the era of the French Third Republic (beginning 1870), it was a period characterized by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In the climate of the period, especially in Paris, the arts flourished. Many masterpieces of literature, music, theater, and visual art gained recognition. The Belle Époque was named, in retrospect, when it began to be considered a "golden age" in contrast to the horrors of World War I.

In the newly-rich United States, emerging from the Panic of 1873, the comparable epoch was dubbed the Gilded Age. In Great Britain, the Belle Époque overlapped with the late Victorian era and the Edwardian era. In Germany, the Belle Époque coincided with the reigns of Kaiser Wilhelm I and II, in Russia with the reigns of Alexander III and Nicholas II and in Mexico with the period known as the Porfiriato.

Belle Époque (film)

Belle Époque is a 1992 Spanish comedy-drama film directed by Fernando Trueba. The title does not derive from the period in French history known as the Belle Époque ("The Beautiful Era") but from the days before the Spanish Civil War. Belle Époque received the Goya Award for Best Film along with eight other Goya Awards and was named Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards.

Plot

The year is 1931. Spain is politically divided between Republicans and Traditionalists and on the verge of the Spanish Second Republic. Fernando, a young soldier, deserts. He befriends Manolo (Fernando Fernán Gómez), an old man with a large house in the country. Fernando meets and is enchanted by Manolo's four daughters. As he meets each of the first three one by one, he falls in love and has sex with each of them, determining to marry but with each one a complication arises: Clara (Miriam Díaz-Aroca), a widow who only recently lost her husband and who seeks solace with Fernando; Violeta (Ariadna Gil), a lesbian who is only attracted to Fernando when he is dressed as a woman for a costume ball and Rocío (Maribel Verdú), a social climber who is about to marry into a royalist family for the security it would provide and who only momentarily succumbs to Fernando's charms. Heartbroken each time, the father of the girls encourages him to have patience. Each of the daughters is beautiful and represents a different aspect of feminine sexuality. The youngest of the family, Luz (Penélope Cruz), represents naïveté. While Fernando is pursuing her sisters, Luz gets progressively angry and jealous but eventually Fernando realizes that she is the best one of the four to marry.

Belle Époque (disambiguation)

Belle Époque or La Belle Époque refers to a period in European history that began during the late 19th century and lasted until World War I

Belle Époque may also refer to:

Film

Transport

Music

Belle Epoque (band)

Belle Epoque (also referenced in some sources as La Belle Epoque) was the name of a female vocal trio, based in Paris, France. The group first rose to popularity during the mid to late 1970s with a disco remake of the song, "Black Is Black", originally a hit in 1966 for the Spanish group Los Bravos.

History

Belle Epoque consisted of lead singer Evelyne Lenton, a French singer who began recording and performing in the early 1960s under the name Evy, as well as two back-up singers. Originally, the back-up singers were Jusy Fortes (also known as Judy Lisboa), originating from Cape Verde, and Marcia Briscoe (also known as Marcia Briscue), hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. However, over time, as Lenton notes, "The girls kept changing with the circumstances."

The trio scored a major European hit in 1977 with their discofied remake of "Black Is Black", sometimes also known as "Disco Sound/Black Is Black". The Belle Epoque version was a top ten hit in many European countries, including number 2 in the UK Singles Chart (the same chart position that Los Bravos' original had reached there eleven years earlier). The song also became a number 1 hit in Australia in 1978.