Parisian fans of the seventh art must be in seventh heaven this month, with the reopening of the Cinémathèque Française a week ago and today’s opening of a new MK2 movie house on the Quai de Loire side of the Bassin de la Villette, directly opposite the existing one on the Quai de Seine, its architectural echo. Both of these former warehouses with metallic structures dating from 1878 have glass facades that offer views of the canal.

Cinema-goers are shuttled back and forth by a cute little electric boat, named “Zéro de Conduite” (Zero for Conduct) after Jean Vigo’s 1933 film (his brilliant L’Atalante was shot on the canal a year later).

A café in the new cinema and a café and restaurant on the other side (let’s hope the service has improved) give film-goers a chance to linger and enjoy this picturesque spot before and after a movie.

The new multiplex adds six screens to the six on the Quai de Seine side, with total seating for over 2,000 spectators. Some of the rooms are equipped with “love seats,” double chairs with liftable armrests designed by Martin Szekely to allow lovers to cuddle.

The seats in the others seem to have been designed exclusively for thin people, but at least they have wide armrests. The new building is fully wheelchair accessible.

A bookstore, decorated by design duo Tsé & Tsé, sells DVDs, videos and CDs of film soundtracks.

The MK2 Quai de Seine opened in 1996 and has helped to transform a neighborhood once better known as a haven for drug dealers. A bicycle path along the Bassin de la Villette that continues along the Canal de l’Ourcq all the way into the countryside now attracts many Sunday pedalers, and tour boats leave from beside the cinema.

The MK2 chain is appreciated by French film lovers because it shows a mix of new films (not always the most commercial) and arthouse movies.

MK2 Quai de Loire: 7, quai de la Loire, 75019 Paris. MK2 Quai de Seine: 14, quai de la Seine, 75019 Paris. Tel.: 08 92 69 84 84. Métro: Juarès or Stalingrad. www.mk2.com

© 2005 Paris Update