Photo of the Week
Another view of the Centre Pompidou. Photo © Darren Palmer of Paris by Photo.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 00:00
Paris Update What's New in Paris
RESTAURANT/CLUB/CAFE
Wanderlust: Finally, part of Les Docks, Cité de la Mode et Design will open to the public on June 6. Brunch on the terrace, take a yoga class, take in a concert or dance all night. 34, quai d'Austerlitz, 75013 Paris.
SHOPS
Stella Cadente: The designer of very feminine clothing and accessories has a new Paris store that's like a gold-lined tunnel. 102 boulevard Beaumarchais, 75011 Paris.
Ecolo-Chic: Pop-up store in the Marais selling ethically resourced products, from toys and design to organic wine. 90, rue des Archives, 75003 Paris.
SMOKING
A new organization, L'Union pour les Droits des Fumeurs Adultes, has been formed to lobby for the rights of French smokers
JUSTIN ON THE ROOFTOPS
Keep your eyes peeled: Justin Bieber will be filming for the Web TV program live@home in an undisclosed location on the rooftops of Paris on the evening of May 31. Click here to win a pass to the taping.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 00:00
Paris Update Flash News
CAKE THE WAY WE LIKE IT
Goodies on display at Merce and the Muse.
Nowadays, American expatriates in Paris can easily satisfy almost all their nostalgic food cravings, from hamburgers to Reese’s peanut-butter cups or Oreo cookies. Until Merce and the Muse opened in the Upper Marais, however, it wasn’t easy to find good homemade, American-style cakes. The desserts at this homey, flea-market-furnished café are not just good, they are scrumptious and original, made from owner Merce Muse’s own recipes. The other day I shared a slice of chocolate layer cake with vanilla icing and another of pistachio cake with rose icing with a friend, but in truth I wanted to eat all of both of them. 1 bis, rue Dupuis, 75003 Paris. Tel.: 09 53 14 53 04. Open Tues.-Sun. for breakfast, lunch and coffee; brunch on Sunday. 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).
 Art Saint-Germain-des-Prés
>Left Bank gallery walk. Collective opening, May 31, 6pm. May 31-June 3.
Carré Rive Gauche
>Another Left Bank gallery walk, with 120 participating galleries. June 1-June 3.
Champs-Elysées Film Festival
>A new Franco-American film festival, presided over by Lambert Wilson and Michael Madsen. Various locations, Paris, June 6-12.
Chartre en Lumières
> The town of Chartres illuminates its monuments and the cathedral with colorful light installations. Through Sept. 15.
Designer's Days
>Design shops, galleries, schools and more participate in a city-wide design event. Various locations, Paris, May 31-June 4.
Festival de l'Imaginaire
> Performances by troupes from around the world, Maison des Cultures du Monde, Paris, through June 17.
Festival de Saint Denis
> Music festival featuring both stars like Sir Colin Davis and young talents; ends with a dawn performance by horse whisperer Bartabas and oud player Mehdi Haddab, Cathedral and Legion of Honor, Saint Denis, through June 30.
Festival Extensions
> Concerts, dance, films and more, various locations, Paris and Val de Marne, through May 31.
Festival International des Jardins de Chaumont-sur-Loire
>"Gardens of delights, gardens of delirium" is the theme of this year's garden festival, Chaumont-sur-Loire, through Oct. 21.
Festival Jazz à Saint-Germain-des-Prés
>Jazz acts ranging from amateur to big names like Ahmad Jamal and Yusef Lateef (together). Various locations, Paris, Through June 3.
Le Court en Dit Long
>Festival of short films. Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, June 4-9.
Nomades
>Cultural festival in the third arrondissement; art, poetry, concerts and more. Various locations, Paris, May 31-June 3.
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
>The features and short subjects entered in this category at the Cannes Film Festival shown in Paris, Forum des Images, Paris, May 31-June 10
Salon du Vin de La Revue du Vin de France
>Annual wine fair. Palais Brongniart, Paris, June 2-3
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Les Bureaux de Dieu
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Film
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/ Drama
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Created on Tuesday, 02 December 2008 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by James Gascoigne
Re-creating Reality
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| Nathalie Baye (left) plays a counselor in a family-planning clinic. |
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All French filmmakers seem to be climbing onto the documentary bandwagon at the moment. My recent Paris Update reviews have certainly been dominated by both real documentaries
(J'Irai Dormir à Hollywood and La Vie Moderne) and documentary-style movies
(Entre les Murs).
Claire Denis’s Les Bureaux de Dieu, which falls into the latter category, is inspired by the observation of daily dealings in real French family planning clinics over a period of seven years – about as long as this movie seemed to last (in spite of its many good points).
The film follows a succession of women and girls consulting family-planning advisers in a single set of offices located in a typical Parisian apartment block. The only external shots show workers or patients smoking a quick cigarette on a balcony.
Many of the women’s stories are engaging: girls having to hide the fact that they are taking the pill from their mothers; women who have decided to have an abortion but who reveal that they would really like to keep their babies; schoolgirls sniggering as they are told about various contraception methods; and even a Bulgarian prostitute who is pregnant after sleeping with a man she genuinely cares about and who realizes that her child (if she chose to have it) would be younger than her grandchildren.
Because the rapid turnover of patients is the very nature of such clinics, however, we never see any of the women again and are unable to build up sustained empathy with them. Also, although we are given occasional insights into the lives of the workers (one is soon to become a grandmother, another is rehearsing for a role in Racine’s Andromaque), they, too, remain undeveloped as characters.
Since this is a quasi-documentary, perhaps we should not view the people in the film as “characters” as such, but the director’s decision to give the roles of the workers to well-known actresses, including Nathalie Baye, Anne Alvaro, Isabelle Carré and Béatrice Dalle, immediately raises our expectations. In the excellent Entre les Murs (The Class), all the actors were unknown, which helped us to believe in them as real school pupils and teachers, but in Les Bureaux de Dieu the all-too-familiar faces of these actresses prevent us from accepting the film as a documentary.
Moreover, although one might admire the patience and sensitivity of the clinic counselors, we learn very little from the film, except that – if we are to believe the range of examples shown – women in today’s France don’t know much about contraception.
The one masterful touch in the film is the recurring sound of a solo trumpet being practiced in an adjoining apartment while the most intimate details of women’s lives are being discussed. It gives the movie a wistful and sometimes comic poignancy.
James Gascoigne
© 2008 Paris Update
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