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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Aux Abois
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Film
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/ Drama
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Published on Wednesday, 25 February 2009 23:29
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Written by Stéphane Piatzszek
The Everyday Life of a Killer
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| The lady (Ludmila Mikael) and the murderer (Elie Semoun). |
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The great French humorist Tristan Bernard (1866-1947) knew what he was talking about when he said, “Never count on anyone except yourself, and even then not much.” Director Philippe Collin's latest film, Aux Abois, is an insipid version of Bernard’s novel of the same name, written some 70 years ago.
It tells the story of Paul Duméry (Elie Semoun), a former insurance agent desperate for money to pay the alimony he owes his ex-wife. To help him get back on his feet, he kills an elderly moneylender with a few well-aimed hammer blows. Once the dirty deed is done, Duméry takes off for the provinces, his pockets full of cash, feeling slightly guilty about letting a childhood friend take the rap for him.
During his wanderings, he meets up with a not-very-bright policeman, who happens to be an old Army buddy, and falls into the arms of an attractive upper-class woman of a certain age (Ludmila Mikael, in an appealing performance). After enjoying a romantic idyll with her, Duméry grows tired of being on the lam. He returns to Paris and gets himself arrested, tried and condemned to death.
With this film, Collin has once again taken on an extremely ambitious project. Ten years after he made Les Derniers jours d’Emmanuel Kant (The Last Days of Emmanuel Kant), he now looks at the last days of an ordinary murderer, but with much less success. The novel Aux Abois was droll and disturbing, but Collin’s film never manages to accomplish what he seems to
have set out to do: depict the “strange strangeness” of a killer’s daily life.
One problem is the casting of Elie Semoun as the main character. Did the producer insist on hiring Semoun because of his popularity as a comedian? He weighs down every image with his dullness. His lightweight acting is fit for a first-year drama student.
The first risk Collin took was to adapt this novel, which he sets in the 1950s (some nice period details in the film include the arm of a turntable floating over a record, and a blown fuse being replaced by a piece of aluminum foil). Bernard may have been a talented writer, but his novel is dated. The boulevardier humor of the plays by Feydeau, Jules Renard or Bernard, which was so pleasing to middle-class Parisians in the late 19th-century, has lost its appeal today. Aristotle believed that laughter was peculiar to Man; perhaps he should have added “a man of a certain time and a certain place.”
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Stéphane Piatzszek
© 2005 Paris Update
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