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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Sheitan
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Film
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/ Drama
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Created on Tuesday, 07 February 2006 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by Tom Ridgway
The Devil You (Don't) Know
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| Would you want to spend the night here? Photo: Alex Lamarque |
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Sheitan is “un film de genre,” a disparaging term in France for any movie that isn’t exactly high art, which this most definitely isn’t.
Four friends leave a Paris club on Christmas Eve with a girl who invites them back to her house in the country. When they arrive the next morning they meet Joseph (Vincent Cassel), the caretaker of the house, who is, to say the least, a little strange. From the moment they arrive you know that things aren’t going to turn out well.
Sheitan (the title means “devil”) is also a genre film because it uses genre conventions to
witty and intelligent effect. It isn’t, thankfully, one of those now-tedious Scream-like “deconstructions” of a genre – it’s smarter than that. Its references and genre fun are used to establish character and send the story forward, not just to make us feel clever for spotting the references.
First up are the now well-established – almost to the point of cliché – conventions of films set in the French banlieue (suburb): young men with short fuses ready to explode into violence at any moment; women who, while accepting their men’s threats of violence, are their own people. (In what must have been a deliberate choice, the film never actually goes near a banlieue, however.)
Starting with that first scene, when the inevitable fight breaks out, the film plays around with our expectations, referencing film after film, genre after genre, including horror films, porn films (with a stupid yet funny gag involving goat’s milk) and an extended homage to John Boorman’s Deliverance.
Then there’s Vincent Cassel. He appeared, of course, in Mathieu Kassovitz’s seminal La Haine – the original “banlieue film.” Here he plays the archetypal cinematic banlieue character playing a lunatic country bumpkin. He’s obviously having a ball and provides the film with some great comic moments, but his presence is a constant reminder of the earlier film and so in passing offers up the notion that violence has nothing to do with location: people have the potential to be violent and cruel no matter where they’re from, which is a welcome antidote to the usual clichés about Paris’ satellite cities.
This is probably a point that the film’s director, Kim Chapiron, would deny trying to make. He is one of the founders of Kourtrajmé, a collective that has made its name with short films and music, and Sheitan is his feature debut. (Cassel has been a supporter of Kourtrajmé for years.)
Perhaps the best thing you can say about Sheitan is that it does something rare in today’s cinema: it creates images that lodge in your brain long after you’ve left the cinema. When I tried to go to sleep the night after seeing the film I was immediately met by Vincent Cassel, who wanted to poke my eyes out; I gently refused him the pleasure.
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Tom Ridgway
© 2006 Paris Update
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