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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Le Dernier des Fous
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Film
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/ Drama
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Created on Tuesday, 09 January 2007 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by Heidi Ellison
(No) Fun on the Farm
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| Litte Martin (Julien Cochelin) in a foreshadowing scene. |
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Called the “first great film of the year 2007” by the magazine Les Inrockuptibles (whose critics are among the hardest-to-please in the French press), Laurent Achard’s Le Dernier des Fous tells its story from the point of view of Martin (Julien Cochelin), an affection-starved 11-year-old who lives on a farm in the picturesque French countryside.
His family’s handsome stone manor house (with a depressing interior that seems not to have been redecorated since the 1950s) contains much unhappiness, however. His mother (Dominique Reymond) is locked up in her bedroom and refuses to see anyone but the maid, Malika (Fettouma Bouamari), who brings the mother her meals and medication, cleans up after her and is the only one who can calm her when she explodes into terrifying screaming fits in the middle of the night. We never find out exactly what is supposed to be wrong with this madwoman (a favorite figure in French cinema).
The down-to-earth Malika is the only pure ray of light and point of stability in Martin’s lonely little life. His ineffectual father (Jean-Yves Chatelais) and tough paternal grandmother (Annie Cordy) – the former obsessed with his wife’s illness and the latter with the failing farm business – basically ignore him. His anger-filled, heavy-drinking older brother, Didier (Pascal Cervo, who gives the only truly powerful performance in the film), alternately gives and withholds his affection.
We follow the strange, rather creepy figure of little Martin as he trots around, stiff as a board, and slips into dark spaces to spy on the others, a habit that leads him to discover his brother’s secret life. Martin, whose face is always impassive, is constantly being confronted with death, both real and pretend (Is Didier just playing dead or is he really dead? Has Martin's playmate drowned when she stays underwater in a lake for an extremely long time or is she just good at holding her breath?). Everyone except Malika disappoints or abandons him. After a while, Martin just can’t take it any more.
In spite of all the foreshadowing, however, the film feels strangely loose and lacking in suspense and ambiance. We wait patiently, slightly bored as incident piles upon incident, for the denouement, which doesn’t surprise or shock when it comes because it is so thoroughly expected (except for an out-of-place surrealistic touch: the mother’s sudden revival, as unexplained as her illness).
This grim film, based on the 1967 novel The Last of the Crazy People by Canadian writer Timothy Findley, won the Prix Jean-Vigo and the prize for best direction at the Locarno Film Festival in 2006, which seems odd considering that the director’s pretentious style has managed to suck the impact out of what could have been a powerful tragedy.
Great film? I don’t think so.
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Heidi Ellison
© 2007 Paris Update
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