Photo of the Week
Just a dusting of snow on Montmartre's cobblestones on Tuesday. Photo: Eric Tenin of Paris Daily Photo.
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 11:13
Paris Update Flash News
TRENDY TAPAS
The bar at Mojita et Bob on Rue Oberkampf.
The lower stretch of Rue Oberkampf might well get its mojo back from the Belleville end with the recent arrival of tapas bar/restaurant Mojita et Bob (3, rue Oberkampf, 75011 Paris; tel.: 01 58 30 88 59), run by a charming young husband and wife team, and animated by the buzz of a happy young crowd. "Bob," by the way, is not the husband's name – it refers to "bring your own bottle," but they have plenty on hand, along with an extensive cocktail list, including, of course, mojitos. The tapas come from the creative end of the spectrum, with most dishes served in glasses or ramekins on rectangles of slate. Expect blood sausage with spiced banana and speculoos, grilled polenta with Emmenthal and Espelette peppers, pea mousse with chorizo, sardine rillettes, all very tasty. Not a patatas bravas in sight. It's a long way from the simple origins of authentic Spanish tapas, but these are done so well that you can forgive the occasional forays into culinary gymnastics. Colin Eaton
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 11:13
Paris Update Flash News
GOURMET GROUPON
An illustration from GourmanDeal′s Web Site.
Two young (24 and 26) French businessmen, tired of working for big corporations, have had the excellent idea of launching GourmanDeal, an upscale, more exclusive Groupon-style site for restaurants only, great news for those of us who have had far-less-than-satisfactory experiences with Groupon restaurants (read all about it here). GourmanDeal (in French only for the moment) offers an opportunity to try more expensive eateries like the excellent Le Quinze de Lionel Fleury without breaking the bank. The site′s founders, Damien Nantermet and Bruno Bouzid, promise to keep their standards high and plan to expand to other French and European cities. Heidi Ellison
Paris Update This Week's Events
For full details about an event, click on its name to visit the official Web site (in English when available).
Festival Au Fil des Voix
World music artists from Tunisia, Morocco, Guinea, Italy, Greece and more. Alhambra, Paris, through Feb. 11.
Ice Skating Rinks
Hôtel de Ville, Paris, through March 4.
Leonardo Live
> Filmed tour of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the National Gallery in London, various cinemas, Paris, Feb. 16.
London Calling
> Festival of British films, Forum des Images, Paris, through Feb. 29.
Paris Fine Art
> Art and antique fair, Palais des Congrès, Paris, Feb. 10-20.
Robert Altman Film Festival
> Cinémathèque Française, Paris, through March 11.
Soldes
> Retail sales in Paris: through Feb. 14
Fonds Solidarité Sida Afrique
> Benefit concert with Yael Naim and many others, open to donors to this fund to fight AIDS in Africa, Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, Feb. 13
Steven Spielberg Film Festival
> The entire œuvre, Cinémathèque Française, Paris, through March 3.
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Un Secret
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Film
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/ Comedy
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Created on Tuesday, 06 November 2007 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by Nick Hammond
Don't Mention theWar
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| Cécile de France plays Tania, an elegant diver. |
| October 31, 2007 |
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French filmmakers seem to remain as obsessed as ever with the German occupation of France during World War II. As one French friend of mine remarked recently, from the number of films about the subject, you would think that the vast majority of the French were involved in the Resistance rather than the other way round.
Claude Miller’s adaptation of Philippe Grimbert’s novel Un Secret is refreshing in that it concerns a Jewish family’s denial of its past rather than the brave deeds of French Resistance fighters. It focuses on the character François (played as an adult by Mathieu Amalric), and we slowly discover the secrets of his family’s past as he does. The young François’s fantasy of having an older brother turns out to be less imaginary than it seemed at first, as he finds out more about the earlier lives of his parents Maxime and Tania (respectively played by Patrick Bruel and Cécile de France).
The first half of the film is particularly effective, as the suspense is maintained while François’s early and later life is negotiated in a series of flashbacks and fast-forwards. The pace of this beautifully shot film begins to flag, however, once we discover that each of François’s parents was previously involved in another relationship. The fact that we know that the two will get together neutralizes the tension leading up to their eventual relationship. Moreover, it is ludicrous to think that Maxime’s first wife (played by Ludivine Sagnier) might plausibly sacrifice herself and her child simply because she saw Maxime and Tania looking tenderly at each other.
The acting is uniformly good, as might be expected from such a starry line-up, but Miller would have maintained narrative interest far more effectively had he not spent so much time showing Cécile de France diving elegantly from high springboards into the water. The ending, with François appearing with his own child, is mawkishly predictable.
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Nick Hammond
© 2007 Paris Update
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