The scene marks the beginning of the film “The Singer of Mexico”, released in 1956. During the festivities in the village of Lesaka, in Navarre, Vincent Etchebar, played by Luis Mariano dressed all in white and red, goes on stage and sings his love of the Basque Country: “There is a corner of France where happiness flourishes, where we know in advance the joys of paradise.”
All those and…
The scene marks the beginning of the film “The Singer of Mexico”, released in 1956. During the festivities in the village of Lesaka, in Navarre, Vincent Etchebar, played by Luis Mariano dressed all in white and red, goes on stage and sings his love of the Basque Country: “There is a corner of France where happiness flourishes, where we know in advance the joys of paradise.”
Anyone who has a mother or grandmother who is a fan of the operetta singer knows the rest by heart, after hearing it on repeat on crackling cassette players. This legendary song by Luis Mariano is above all a real tribute to the Basque Country where he was born and lived most of his life. A Basque Country where the legend is still very much alive and manifests itself in the buses that stop every day in front of the Arcangues cemetery to pour out their stream of fans who have come to lay flowers on the grave of the local boy.
Child of the country
The best known of them is called Marcelle Chartron. In 2020, “Le Figaro” tells : “Commissioned by a hundred fans, this retiree is driven twice a day by her husband Bernard to lay flowers on the tomb of the prince of bel canto.” The activity increases around July 14, the date of the singer’s death. “I make gradients according to the colors and sizes. It takes diplomacy, because several of these ladies want their flowers placed near the photo of Luis Mariano,” explains Marcelle Chartron.
Luis Mariano chose his tomb during his lifetime in this village of Arcangues where he had his house built, “Mariano ko etxea” (“Mariano’s house”), in 1960. Born in Irún in 1914, he fled Spain with his family during the war in 1936, taking refuge in Hendaye, Pau and Bordeaux, a period during which his career took off. Despite international tours, he returned to the Basque Country regularly. First to Sare, where he bought his first house, then to Arcangues, where he built a home in his own image. “Everything was very carefully considered. The back, in Basque style, was turned towards Spain, while the façade, inspired by Spanish haciendas, was placed on the French side”, explained Mariano Lacan, the singer’s adopted son, to “Sud Ouest” in 2013.
“Son Breath”
In the house of Arcangues, the smallest piece of furniture, the smallest painting was thought out and chosen by Luis Mariano.
archives Jean-Daniel Chopin / SO
This house was his work: every piece of furniture, every painting, everything was thought out and chosen by Luis Mariano. “For ten years, ‘Mariano ko etxea’ resonated with the gaiety of evenings and holidays as if stolen from destiny. Line Renaud, Johnny Stark, Henri Bourtayre or the ineffable Léo Guido are the ‘Loyal Gentlemen and Ladies’ of this unfinished story”, recounted a journalist from “Sud Ouest” in 2014. “Life left him ten years to enjoy it, and never, we believe, did he spend more than fifteen days there in a row. No matter, it is his Arnaga, his Villa Malaparte.”
