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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Zim and Co.
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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 Heidi Ellison
Suburban Trials of Fire
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| Adrien Jolivet as Zim, in trouble with the law again. |
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In France, the banlieue (suburbs) – less a haven for middle-class families than the equivalent of the American ghetto – seems to have become the subject of a new film genre. The Left Bank intellectuals who used to populate Rohmer-style films set in and around the Luxembourg Garden or in lovely vacation homes in Provence have finally talked each other to death; nowadays we are more likely to be treated to a gritty portrait of those who have been excluded from the refined confines of Saint-German des Prés.
It all started in 1995 with Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (Hate), a film that created a sensation with its portrait of three juvenile delinquents speaking the nearly incomprehensible (even to most French people) slang of suburban youth (one of the funniest scenes in that film showed their encounter with some of those sophisticated Left Bank women, who are intrigued by their roughness). Last year’s L’Esquive was the surprise winner of the César for best picture, and the recent Voisins, Voisines (see Film section) focused on a small, cross-cultural community in a lower-middle-class suburb.
Now we have the charming Zim and Co., directed by Pierre Jolivet, which, like La Haine, follows the adventures of three young men from the banlieue with the obligatory tri-color scheme: white (of Polish descent, with an unpronounceable name that is shortened to “Zim”), black and North African. Zim and Co. has a cheerier vision of life than La Haine, however, and these lovable, ordinary, not-always-very-wise 20-year-olds manage to keep their heads above water and remain
optimistic in spite of the racism they regularly encounter, trouble with the police for one minor infraction after another, screwed-up parents and difficulty finding work. Life, in other words, in their register, treated as a social comedy. For the most part, the film manages to avoid clichés, while keeping us in suspense as Zim goes through one trial of fire after another while desperately trying to find a job to avoid going to jail.
The portrayal of the casual racism that is so common in France seems especially true – no one I know has ever seen the police stop a white person and ask for their papers, but it happens all the time to anyone whose skin is a shade darker than a Saint-Tropez tan. The characters react not with hatred, however, but with a philosophical resignation that still seems more common here than the violence of La Haine.
Note: the main character is played by Adrien Jolivet, son of the director, but this nepotism does nothing to detract from the film, since Jolivet the younger is perfect in the role.
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Heidi Ellison
© 2005 Paris Update
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