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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Angel
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Film
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/ Drama
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Created on Tuesday, 20 March 2007 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by Heidi Ellison
Nice Slice of Life
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| Angel (Romola Garai), accompanied by her publisher (Sam Neill) gazes longingly at Paradise House. |
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It takes moxie to make an old-fashioned moralistic film about the consequences of hubris, but Francois Ozon has managed to pull it off with style and even make it enjoyable and (mostly) believable.
This is the kind of film our mothers used to say they didn’t make any more: a good rollicking story with pretty dresses and great scenery. Angel, which was filmed in English, is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth Taylor, with a screenplay by Ozon. It tells the story of the title character (Romola Garai), a young shopkeeper’s daughter in turn-of-the-century England who has delusions of grandeur and a vivid imagination. She just can’t stop writing, and soon finds a publisher and a wide readership for her overwrought romantic novels. Against all the odds, she becomes rich and famous.
As beautiful, spoiled and brash as Scarlett O’Hara (and this tale has many parallels with Gone with the Wind), the beautiful young Angel has total confidence in her abilities and gets what she wants without worrying much about how it affects others.
With the earnings from her novels she buys Paradise House (where else could an Angel live?), the mansion she had dreamed of living in as a child, and furnishes it with cheerfully extravagant vulgarity. Nora (Lucy Russell), her devoted number-one fan, moves in to become her secretary and nursemaid.
Angel also finds herself a man, Nora’s brother, the handsome, contrarian artist Esmé (Michael Fassbender), who refuses to paint pretty pictures in bright colors, much to Angel’s dismay. But he is just the romantic figure she needs to complete the fairytale life she has built for herself. She is soon married to him, in spite of Nora’s warnings about her brother’s deficient moral character.
The handsome twosome, deliriously in love, embark on a Grand Tour honeymoon and then return to set up house together in Paradise House.
All is not as perfect as it seems in Paradise, however, and World War I soon arrives, bringing with it the collapse of Angel’s romantic world, just as the Civil War destroyed Scarlett’s privileged life.
Ozon can’t help occasionally stepping back and mocking the style of this epic, which he mostly presents straightforwardly and without irony. It’s a bit jarring when he mocks his film’s romanticism by slipping in a touch of kitsch here and there: when the couple kisses for the first time, for example, a rainbow appears over their heads, and the swelling music is sometimes overdone, making it difficult for the viewer to suspend disbelief. The director seems to want us to take his film seriously while letting us know that he doesn’t take it seriously himself, but he can’t have it both ways.
All in all, however, he makes it work and even makes it. The actors and production values are faultless, and although the film runs for two hours and 14 minutes, it manages to keep our interest right to the end.
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Heidi Ellison
© 2007 Paris Update
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