Fanny:  “What were [the isles beneath the winds] like?” 

Marius:  “Have you ever seen photographs of the craters of the moon?  That’s what they were like — volcanic ash.”

I’ve written and spoken about two poignant scenes from the 1961 film Fanny many times over the years, because the message they convey relates to so many areas of life.  The main storyline is that Fanny, played by Leslie Caron, has been desperately in love with Marius (played by the late Horst Buchholz) since they were children.  Fanny wants to marry Marius, but Marius, even though he is in love with Fanny, is, in his words, “so divided — so torn.”

Marius then relates to Fanny a story an old seaman told him when he was just a boy.  He said the mariner, in talking about how exciting the life of a sailor was, vividly described “the isles beneath the winds where black trees grow,” saying that “when you cut them, they are gold inside and smell of camphor and pepper.”

“That’s when it happened,” Marius continues, his eyes glimmering with excitement, “this deep, painful wish I have.  And when I see a boat steaming out of the harbor, it makes me dizzy, as though I were falling forward always … toward the sea.”

So Marius, despite his deep love for Fanny, goes off to sea in search of the wonders the old mariner had described.  More than a year later, he returns home for a brief time and pays a surprise visit to Fanny, who has by then married a wealthy, elderly gentleman by the name of Panisse (played by Maurice Chevalier).

In a memorably heavy scene, Fanny asks Marius if he had seen “the isles beneath the winds,” and Marius, in a somber tone, replies affirmatively.

“What were they like?”  Fanny further inquires.

With a sad and wistful look in his eyes, Marius responds, “Have you ever seen photographs of the craters of the moon?  That’s what they were like — volcanic ash. … I left with such high hopes.”

I’ve used the term volcanic ash over the years more times than I can count, whenever I want to make the point that one has to be careful when it comes to believing that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  In both your business and personal dealings, you do, indeed, often find that those isles beneath the winds turn out to be nothing more than volcanic ash.

It’s an age-old lesson of life, one that cannot be repeated too often.  And such lessons are especially impactful when they are woven into a compelling story like Fanny.

Here’s a clip from this film classic that includes Marius’ first telling Fanny about the isles beneath the winds:

And here’s a second clip, wherein Marius, during his brief visit back home, tells Fanny that those isles beneath the winds turned out to be nothing more than volcanic ash.  One slight problem, however:  If you don’t speak German, you’re unlikely to understand most of what they’re saying.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the English version of this scene.  Let me know if you have better luck than me.