March Film Events

One of our favorite words in French cinema is séance: for all its straightforwardness to the French filmgoer, it cannot help but evoke Ouija boards, candles, spirit possession, crazy old ladies, and other haunting fun for the Anglophone.  Genius Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin bridges the gap with his SPIRITSMES at the Centre Pompidou as part of Un Nouveau Festival 2012.  Channeling the ghosts of long forgotten scripts and abandoned projects from some of the worlds greatest directors (lovingly tweaked by the great American poet John Ashbery), Maddin invites the public on set as he creates one film per day by putting his actors in a trance and allowing them to be “possessed” by the wandering spirit of forgotten art.  With Udo Kier, Mathieu Almaric, Maria de Medeiros and more.  It’s only the coolest thing ever.  Now through 12 March.

Spiritismes, un proposition de Guy Maddin
Centre Georges Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou, 75004 Paris
Métro: Rambuteau

I love Paris in the Springtime!  Now that the bitter cold has gone and we are in that balmy, slushy limbo between winter and printemps, it’s hard not to make like a Parisian starling and sing, sing, sing, non?  Forum des Images brings us the city in song with its new cycle Paris en chansons, covering everything from documentaries about the early days of Paris radio stars to the beloved musicals that have scored every cinematic version of the city from organ grinders on the banks of the Seine to rap in the banlieue.  Begins 2 March.

Forum des Images
Porte St Eustache, 75001
Métro: Chatelet-Les Halles

Tim Burton – L’exposition!  Influenced by the German Expressionist mise en scene, filmmaker Tim Burton’s feature work is further informed by his own drawings, sketches, animated short films and other ephemera.  Following the highly successful exhibit of these lesser-known and often never before seen works at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 2010, Burton has chosen La Cinémathèque Française to introduce these works to European audiences.  Presented in conjunction with MoMA, the exhibition features screenings of Burton’s feature films, as well as a live-streaming Master Class through Arte TV, broadcast 5 March at 3pm.  Exhibit opens 7 March.

La Cinémathèque Française
51, rue de Bercy 75012
Métro: Bercy

Combining the best of literature and film, the 23rd Festival Théatres au Cinéma de Bobigny this year celebrates the films of Barbet Schroeder, one of the most famous auteurs of the French New Wave and beloved for his adaptations of Fernando Vallejo (La Virgen de Los Sicarios, 2000) and Charles Bukowski (Barfly, 1987), among his vast body of work (also: Mad Men, and a delightful cameo in Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks!).  Discussion, debate, screenings and Carte Blanche in the lovely theatres of Bobigny.  Begins 7 March.

Magic Cinéma
Centre commercial Bobigny 2
Rue du Chemin Vert 93000 Bobigny
Métro: Bobigny, Pablo Picasso

Be a part of film history!  The Goethe Institute is gearing up for its 50th anniversary in Paris with Jubilee celebrations all summer long, and and invites anyone with memories to share about all the cool stuff they’ve done at the Institute to send in a short film clip and be included in their Jubilee Documentary, screening at the Jubilee celebrations in May.  Personally, we fondly recall the Goethe Institute as an oasis of free Ritter bars and Gummi bears on one very long Nuit Blanche.  Deadline is 15 March.  

For more information email hesse@paris.goethe.org or visit www.goethe.de.

Goethe Institut
17 avenue d'Iéna, 75116 Paris
Métro: Iéna

VINGT Paris Monthly Film Series!  The VINGT Paris Film Series showcases independent feature-length film and documentaries from France and beyond. This month, enjoy the cinematic stylings and house beats of writer-director Mikis Fernandez’s feature debut, Living In Extasy.  The story of four childhood friends seeking sex, salvation and a good techno beat on the night of the summer’s biggest House Party, Living In Extasy combines a throbbing soundtrack and inventive animation on a rollercoaster ride from rave to redemption and back again over the course of one very long, hot night.  25 March @ 7:30pm.  Tickets €10.

Le Beverly Cinema
14, rue de la Ville Neuve 75002 Paris
Métro: Bonne Nouvelle

One of the most important festivals in the world, Festival International de Films des Femmes, kicks off in Créteil and remains concerned about the artistic, political and social engagement of women in the world via the medium of film. Held primarily at Maison des Arts in Créteil, séances can be found at other two venues at Les Cinéma du Palais and La Lucarne.  Begins 30 March.

Festival International de Films des Femmes
Maison Des Arts, Place Salvador-allende, Créteil 94000
Metro: Créteil-Université

March 2012, Vingt Paris Magazine

Valentine's Day Films for Every Parisien(ne)

…for the romantic

Amélie (2001)

No film about Paris is more romantic than Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain. Dripping in golden light and saturated in color, the camera camera every corner of Paris, from cobblestone and filagree, in a love story as quirky, charming and poignant as the city itself.  It’s everyone’s fantasy of Paris brought to life by the gamine and game Audrey Tatou.

Cousin / Cousine (1975)

A delightful and hopeful film that beautifully combines classic farce and post-New Wave to illustrate the growing friendship and eventual affair between two free spirits married into a family to whom they will never truly belong.  Defying all odds and social conventions, they let their hearts lead them where they will, regardless of consequences.

In theatres:

La Vie d’une autre (2012)

La Binoche wakes up one morning completely forgetting the last 15 years of her life.  Instead of 40, she thinks she’s 25; instead of on the verge of divorce, she thinks she’s just fallen in love.  Granted the rare chance to start over, she has only 4 days to win back the love of her life.

…for the bad boys / bad girls (and those who fall for them)

Breathless (1960)

Godard’s masterpiece of La Nouvelle Vague captures cool, ‘60s Paris with its special blend of cynicism, fatality and misguided romance.  Jean Seberg is the carefree, independent American expat who falls hard for tragically cool Jean-Paul Belmondo.  

The Piano Teacher (2001)

Not for the faint of heart!  A repressed, bitter and ultimately failed musical prodigy begins an affair with a handsome young lover, only to terrify him with her warped sexual tastes.  Isabel Huppert is utterly fascinating in this tale of twisted love, and Benoit Magimel superb as the young pupil who can’t stay away.  Makes you look at Pigalle in a new light.

In theatres:

Intouchables (2011)

Petty criminal and banlieue tough Omar Sy makes a career of applying for jobs he knows he won’t get hired for so he can keep living on the dole.  But when wealthy tetraplegic Francois Cluzet actually hires him as a live-in nurse, the two form an unlikely friendship that transcends class and economic differences and grows into a bond based on love and respect.  The French audience I saw this with actually applauded when this film ended, the sweet sentimental fools!

….for the realist

Two Days In Paris (2007)

Julie Delpy’s playful debut perfectly captures the make-or-break moment when every couple has simply spent too much time together, while celebrating everything that is weird and wonderful about Parisiens (and their American lovers).  Look for VINGT Paris contributor Christophe Dumay in the tense restaurant scene.

A Married Woman  (1964)

Godard’s other classic, Une femme mariée, depicts a young married woman’s emotional indecision between her devotion to her husband and her lover.  A thoughtful and intelligent film unafraid to examine the moral and emotional crossroads at which its heroine finds herself, Godard follows the beautiful Charlotte around town as she tries to sort it all out.

In theatres:

The Artist (2011)

It’s Valentine’s Day – you need romance, you realist!

…for the cold-hearted

The Bride Wore Black (1968)

Not actually set in Paris but one of the best revenge films ever made.  Jeanne Moreau is the enchanting young widow who uses her beauty to avenge her husband’s murder in the most creative and cruel ways.

Kings and Queen (2004)

Emanuelle Devos is the beautiful Nora, the queen around whom the men in her life revolve.  Intense but distant, she never doubts her beauty, femininity or rightful place in the world… until it all comes crashing down around her when she discovers her ex-lover, her son and even her revered father have been lying to her all along.  

In theatres:

Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2012)

The ultimate tale of love turned bitter, vengeful and cold.  Not playing at cinemas, but as a live theatrical production directed by Vicomte de Valmont himself, John Malkovich.  

Théâtre de L’Atelier

1, place Charles Dullin, 75018 Paris

Métro: Anvers