MONTMARTRE A Film Set
‘MONTMARTRE: A FILM SET’ 12 April 2017–14 January 2018 Société Kléber Rossillon Chair: Kléber Rossillon Société Saint-Jean et Saint-Vincent Director: Aude Viart The exhibition’s Historical and Scientific Advisor: Pierre Philippe Co-curator and Director of the ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’ association: Isabelle Ducatez Co-curator and Head of Conservation at the Museum of Montmartre: Saskia Ooms Scenographer: Jean-Paul Camargo, Saluces, and Xavier Bonillo, Saluces Audiovisual Producer: Jean-Pierre François, Clap 35 The exhibition has been supported by the collections of the Cinémathèque Française, the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation, the Musée Gaumont, the Pathé-Gaumont Archives, ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’ Society, the Moulin Rouge, and the contributions of private collectors and the film distribution companies. © Musée de Montmartre, Paris, 2017 © Fondation pour le Rayonnement du Musée de Montmartre, Paris © Under the aegis of the Fondation de France © ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie) of the 9th and 18th arrondissements of Paris © ADAGP (the French society for artists’ rights), Paris 2017, for René Ferracci, Roger Forster, Boris Grinsson, Léo Kouper, Jean-Denis Malclès, Jean-Adrien Mercier, and Alexandre Trauner © Bruno Calvo
‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie) of the 9th and 18th arrondissements of Paris Chair: Jean-Manuel Gabert Vice Chairs: Alain Larcher and Michèle Trante Treasurer: Éric Sureau Assistant Treasurer: Odette Borzic-Hatchadourian Secretary: Catherine Rousseau Honorary Chairs: Daniel Rolland and Jean-Marc Tarrit Board of Directors: Thierry Aimar, Laurent Bihl, Chantal Bodère, Odette BorzicHatchadourian, Catherine Charrière, Jean-Manuel Gabert, Jean-Claude Gouvernon, Alain Larcher, Yves Mathieu Marie-France Moniot-Boutry, Daniel Rolland, Catherine Rousseau, Éric Sureau, Jean-Marc Tarrit, Xavier Thoumieux and Michèle Trante Director: Isabelle Ducatez
© Émile Savitry, courtesy of Sophie Malexis © Dominique Le Rigoleur © Max Douy © Anne Seibel © DRAC Ile-de-France © Conseil régional d’Ile-de-France © Somogy éditions d’art, Paris, 2017 © Musée de Montmartre, Paris, 2017
Captions of the cover: Boulevard, Julien Duvivier, 1960, photograph, RR. © Orex Films, The Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation Graphic design of the 1st cover: Agence CIMAYA (work used for the exhibition’s poster, from 12 April 2017 to 14 January 2018 at the Musée de Montmartre). Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie), Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001, film screenshot by Bruno Calvo.
Book published under the direction of Somogy éditions d’art Publishing director: Nicolas Neumann Managing editor: Stéphanie Méséguer Editorial coordination and follow-up: Sarah Houssin-Dreyfuss Graphic design: Nelly Riedel Translation from French into English: David and Jonathan Michaelson Editorial contribution: Katharine Turvey and Adam Rickards Production: Béatrice Bourgerie and Mélanie Le Gros Co-publications and development: Véronique Balmelle ISBN 978-2-7572-1244-8 Legal deposit: April 2017 Printed in European Union
Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie des IXe et XVIIIe arrondissements de Paris
PRÉFET DE LA RÉGION
MONTMARTRE A Film Set
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS KLÉBER ROSSILLON would like to warmly thank: ANNE HIDALGO, Mayor of Paris BRUNO JULLIARD, First Deputy Mayor of Paris, Responsible for Culture ÉRIC LEJOINDRE, Mayor of the 18th arrondissement of Paris CARINE ROLLAND, First Deputy Mayor of the 18th arrondissement, responsible for General Affairs, Culture, and Heritage NICOLE DA COSTA, Director, DRAC-Ile-de-France SYLVIE MULLER, Head of the Museums Department, DRAC-Ile-de-France, Ministry of Culture and Communication PAULINE LUCET, museums advisor, DRAC-Ile-de-France LAURENCE ISNARD, museums advisor, DRAC-Ile-de-France VÉRONIQUE BOURBIAUX, Museums Department, DRAC-Ile-de-France VALÉRIE PÉCRESSE, President of the Conseil Régional d’Ile-de-France The contributors and authors of the catalogue: AUDE VIART, Director of the Museum of Montmartre PIERRE PHILIPPE, historical and scientific adviser ISABELLE DUCATEZ, co-curator of the exhibition and director of ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie) SASKIA OOMS, co-curator of the exhibition and Head of Conservation at the Museum of Montmartre JACQUES AYROLES, Head of the Cinémathèque Française’s Department of Posters, Drawings, and Publicity Material FRANÇOISE LÉMERIGE, responsible for the handling of the collections of drawings and art works of the Cinémathèque Française ANTOINE DE BAECQUE, historian and film critic, professor at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS-Ulm), Paris MARC DURAND, the great-great grandson of Antoine Lumière, historian of photography and the precursors of film JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET, film director JEAN-FRANÇOIS PIOUD-BERT, graduate of the École Louis-Lumière and researcher ALAIN ROULLEAU, owner and manager of Studio 28 The following lenders: FRÉDÉRIC BONNAUD, Director of the Cinémathèque Française ANNE LEBEAUPIN, responsible for public promotion of the Cinémathèque Française ISABELLE REGELSPERGER, responsible for the management of works, Cinémathèque Française JACQUES AYROLES, Head of the Department of Posters, Drawings, and Publicity Material of the Cinémathèque Française FRANÇOISE LÉMERIGE, responsible for the handling of the collections of drawings and art works of the Cinémathèque Française CHARLYNE CARRÈRE, responsible for the collections of costumes and objects of the Cinémathèque Française CÉCILE TOURET and VÉRONIQUE CHAUVET, responsible for images, image library of the Cinémathèque Française
SOPHIE SEYDOUX, Chair, the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation STÉPHANIE SALMON, manager of the historical collections and exhibitions, the Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation NICOLAS SEYDOUX, Chair, Musée Gaumont CORINE FAUGERON, curator, Musée Gaumont MÉLANIE HERICK, conservation, Musée Gaumont SIDONIE DUMAS, Chair, Gaumont Pathé Archives AGNÈS BERTOLA, silent fiction films, Gaumont Pathé Archives TANIA LESAFFRE, Marcel Carné’s rights holder OLIVIER TRAGNAN, succession Jacques Prévert JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET, film director MARJORIE ORTH, Tapioca Films BRUNO CALVO, photographer JEAN-PIERRE DUCATEZ CHRISTOPHE GOEURY DOMINIQUE LE RIGOLEUR, photographer SOPHIE MALEXIS, manager of Savitry’s collection FRANCIS DUPONT, Emile Savitry’s rights holder MARINE MULTIER, Fémis (French national film school) JEAN-LUC PEHAU-RICAU, marketing and communications manager, the Moulin Rouge JEAN-FRANÇOIS PIOUD-BERT ANNE SEIBEL, film set designer ANNA-CLARA OSTASENKO BOGDANOFF, curator of the set of Le Lapin Agile And the film distribution companies And everyone who has contributed to the organisation of this exhibition, particularly: JEAN-PAUL CAMARGO, scenographer, Saluces XAVIER BONILLO, scenographer, Saluces JEAN-PIERRE FRANÇOIS, audiovisual producer, Clap 35 CATHERINE DANTAN, press officer THIERRY DEKNUYDT, restoration of the mounting RÉGIS FROMAGET, restoration of drawings MARIE MESSAGER, restoration of documents NATHALIE RUSSO, iconographer RACHEL LEQUESNE MERIEM GRISS All the staff at the museum: Alexia, Catherine, Claire, Karelle, Julia, Julien, Maxime, Mewen, Thierry, and William And the exhibition installation team And ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie)
PREFACE Famous for its Basilica of Sacré Cœur, the Moulin Rouge, its many cabarets, and its studios, which have housed many an artist, including Renoir, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon, and Pablo Picasso, Montmartre is probably the most emblematic district in Paris. Its charm and sites have always drawn French and foreign film directors alike. At the end of the 1890s, the films of the Lumière brothers, and then those of Méliès, were screened in the Dufayel Department Store, on the corner of Boulevard Barbès. Subsequently, during the first quarter of the twentieth century, projection rooms were established that would be milestones in the flourishing development of the cinematic art in the Parisian melting-pot. Above all, it has been the Butte’s atmosphere and romanticism, and all of its fanciful connotations that have attracted film-makers. Montmartre was personified in films that transformed its unique and instantly recognisable scenery into a cinema protagonist in its own right. Its various sites were exploited (such as the Moulin Rouge, the Butte, Sacré Cœur, the Place du Tertre, and Le Lapin Agile), as well as its atypical scenes (the stairways, lanes, small houses, and lamp posts) and its residents (the artistes, dancers, ordinary people, cops, thugs, and prostitutes). The Paris of parties and pleasure, as well as that of crime and perdition, often represented by the districts of La Chapelle, Pigalle, and La Goutte d’Or, has been integral to the celebration of art and poetry on the Butte of Montmartre. The Musée de Montmartre’s interest in cinema dates back to the 1920s. As chairman of ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie), from 1921 to 1934, Victor Perrot, a friend of the Lumière brothers, had a longstanding passion for analysing the beginnings of the history of cinema and wrote many books on the subject. Later, three cinematographic exhibitions on Montmartre were held in the museum established by ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’: ‘Marcel Carné’ (1994), ‘Autour du Studio 28 : le cinéma et Montmartre’ (‘Studio 28: Cinema and Montmartre’, 1994–1995), and ‘Jean Marais, l’éternel retour’ (‘Jean Marais: The Eternal Return’, 2008–2009). Hence, the exhibition ‘Montmartre, décor de cinéma’ (‘Montmartre: A Film Set’) was initiated as a natural extension of this history of cinema-based projects and will be held in this historical venue from 12 April 2017 to 14 January 2018. To evoke the atmosphere of these films, this exhibition will use original scenography to present many extracts, posters, drawings, and photographs of films directed in Montmartre or in which the district features, from the beginnings of cinema history to the present day (from Ernst Lubitsch to Jean-Pierre Jeunet). The exhibition is curated by Pierre Philippe, the exhibition’s historical and scientific advisor, Saskia Ooms, Head of Conservation at the Museum of Montmartre, and Isabelle Ducatez, Director of ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology. Kléber Rossillon, President of the Musée de Montmartre
Casino de Paris, André Hunebelle, 1957 Caterina Valente and Gilbert Bécaud Photograph, RR, The Jérôme SeydouxPathé Foundation, Société nouvelle Pathé Cinéma, PAC-Bavaria Filmkunst-Eichberg Film-Rizzoli Film, PHO-F-2655
CONTENTS
10
Victor Perrot: The Other ‘Mr Cinema’ Marc Durand The great-great grandson of Antoine Lumière, historian of photography and the precursors of film
18
The Emergence of Cinemas in Montmartre Isabelle Ducatez Co-curator of the exhibition and director of ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Society of History and Archaeology (Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie) of the 9th and 18th arrondissements of Paris
28
Between 1946 and 1993, these buildings were cinemas Isabelle Ducatez Co-commissaire de l’exposition et directrice de la Société d’histoire et d’archéologie des 9e et 18e arrondissements de Paris « Le Vieux Montmartre »
30
FRENCH CANCAN JEAN RENOIR
Studio 28 ‘The theatre of masterpieces, 48 the masterpiece of theatres’ Alain Roulleau Owner and manager of Studio 28
52
Does the Real Montmartre Feature in Films? Pierre Philippe The exhibition’s historical and scientific adviser
Montmartre’s Scenery as a Character 60 and Actor in its own Right: From Muse to Star Jean-François Pioud-Bert Graduate of the École Louis-Lumière and researcher
86
MARCEL CARNÉ
Around Montmartre: Atmospheric Drawings Executed for the Cinema. The Collection of Drawings in the 98 Cinémathèque Française Françoise Lémerige Responsible for the handling of the collections of drawings and art works of the Cinémathèque Française
The Scenery and Atmosphere of Montmartre 104 From Marcel Carné to François Truffaut Antoine de Baecque Historian and film critic, professor at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS-Ulm), Paris
116
FR ANÇOIS TRUFFAUT
122
A Selection of Film Posters Jacques Ayroles Head of the Department of Posters, Drawings, and Publicity Material of the Cinémathèque Française
Allen, Luhrmann, Klapisch, Gondry, and Jeunet: 126 Montmartre at the Heart of Contemporary Cinema Saskia Ooms Co-curator of the exhibition and Head of Conservation at the Museum of Montmartre
138
Carné, Prévert, and Trauner: A Fabulous Story Jean-Pierre Jeunet Film director
140
AMÉLIE POULAIN JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET
ANNEXES 154 158
List of films according to shooting location Visitor’s map of the old village of Montmartre
VICTOR PERROT: THE OTHER ‘MR CINEMA’ Marc Durand Kœhler-Lumière
12
‘I don’t want anyone to go to any trouble, and I don’t want flowers or wreaths. I want to be buried in my family tomb, in Noé, in the Yonne département, where there is a hill called Montmartre near the village.’1 [preceding pages] Victor Perrot and Louis Lumière at the Château des Brouillards Gelatin silver print, 9 × 13 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
1 Yaki (Paul), Funeral oration given on 6 March 1963, on the forecourt of the church of St Peter. Archives of the Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, Victor Perrot dossier. 2 The electoral programme by Jules Depaquit for the election of the first mayor of the Free Commune of Montmartre (1920).
The patronymic ‘Perrot’ (‘Perrault’) means very little to members of the general public; for many, it is associated with one of the most famous fabulists of the Grand Siècle, or, among the more learned, with the creator of the Louvre’s colonnade, even with a contemporary architect, but certainly not with another ‘Mr Cinema’. However, Victor Perrot was a historian who specialised in the early years of cinema, an active campaigner for the preservation of Old Montmartre, a member of the Commission Départementale des Sites de la Seine, and a member of the Commission du Vieux Paris. He was also a member—and subsequently chairman—of the Vieux Montmartre Society and the Société de l’Histoire de Paris et de l’Île-de-France (as of 1927), until at least 1960. His presence in an exhibition devoted to the link between Montmartre and the cinema, held in the Hôtel Demarne and jointly presented by the Musée de Montmartre, the Jardins Renoir, and the Montmartre Society of History and Archaeology was therefore quite natural, even essential. Perrot spent his entire life campaigning for the conservation of the Butte and remained leading figure in the life of Montmartre during the first half of the twentieth century. Rue Girardon was the first area in Montmartre to benefit from the ‘generosity’ of Perrot, who was fervently against the construction of skyscrapers. 2 In 1924, he saved the Château des Brouillards from the questionable intentions of the developers and actively campaigned to prevent the construction of a rubber factory, and, later, a metal factory, thereby securing the creation of the Suzanne Buisson square. Buoyed by these early successes, he turned his attention to Rue Cortot and saved the Manoir de Rosimond and the Hôtel Demarne from demolition, and succeeded in saving buildings threatened by road realignment. In 1925, thanks to his role in the Société du Vieux Papier and the Commission du Vieux Paris, he put forward the idea of a project to restore the Manoir de Rosimond. He campaigned with Claude Charpentier to have Montmartre classified as a historical site. At the corner of Rue des Saules and Rue Saint-Vincent, once again, property developers already had their sights fixed high. He collaborated with Pierre Labric (mayor of the Free Commune of Montmartre) to organise a petition that garnered 2,300 signatures, and, on 9 June 1929, he created over the course of two nights the Square de la Liberté, which was immediately adopted by the Victor Perrot Sitting next to a Tapestry petits poulbots, or children of the neighbourhood. Louis Morin The famous vines of Montmartre, which continue to Gelatin silverby print, 30 × 20 cm. flourish, were planted there in 1933. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
THE EMERGENCE OF CINEMAS IN MONTMARTRE Isabelle Ducatez
20
‘Since
the beginning of cinema, Montmartre has played a key role in and adapted to this new form of entertainment.’ [preceding pages] The Palais Rochechouart Cinema Gelatin silver print, 21 × 30.5 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
1 Victor Perrot was chairman of ‘Le Vieux Montmartre’, the Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie, from 1914 to 1934 and a member of the Commission du Vieux Paris. 2 The journal L’Illustration, issue no. 2779, 30 May 1896.
The first film screenings: 1895–1907 The inaugural public screening of a ‘cinematographic’ film (using a ‘cinématographe’, an early moving image projector) on 28 December 1895 in the Salon Indien at the Grand Café, 14 Boulevard des Capucines, immediately sparked off a revolution in the entertainment industry. The event organised by the Lumière brothers, and attended by the brothers Charles and Émile Pathé and Georges Méliès, was a historic moment in the emerging film industry. Victor Perrot,1 a Parisian iconographer, attended one of the first screenings at the Grand Café, and, referring to the thirty-three paying customers at one of the first evening events, stated: ‘These thirty-three apostles are going to spread the word in the city, wherefrom their disciples will depart to teach and convert the Nations.’ Auguste and Louis Lumière were not the only inventors of the new technology—it was a collective invention—but they took advantage of their monopoly in the photographic industry to exploit the technology, throughout the world over the course of a few months. The Cinématographe Lumière was presented in Paris, and also in the French provinces and many cities abroad. ‘Never has a new form of entertainment become so popular so quickly. Films have been screened everywhere: in the basements of large cafés and boulevards, and in music hall outbuildings; in theatres where they are integrated in revues; and in living rooms where householders offer their guests a chance to enjoy the popular form of entertainment in private.’2 As of 1896, there were screenings in the fairs and fairground stalls that were set up in places with large numbers of people, such as on the Boulevard de Rochechouart, in Montmartre, where one could watch films by Georges Méliès, made from 1896 onward. Charles Pathé established himself in the film industry by forming the Pathé Frères film company, which embarked on the industrialisation of sound recording, and then the ‘Nouvelle Société Pathé Frères’, which dealt with the production, distribution, and screening of films. Cinema Studios In the various temporary film theatres, the pro- The Pathé 6 Rue Francœur, G. Lebon, gram never lasted more than thirty minutes. People exterior view, gelatin silver print, 21 × 16 cm. initially went to these theatres out of curiosity to © Orex Films, The Jérôme see what this new form of entertainment was like. Seydoux-Pathé Foundation
STUDIO 28 ‘THE THEATRE OF MASTERPIECES, THE MASTERPIECE OF THEATRES’ Alain Roulleau
50
‘As an avid cinephile, if I had to choose one particular cinema in Paris, it would be Studio 28. For me, no other Parisian cinema evokes as many memories associated with the history of film.’ Jean-Charles Tacchella, screenwriter and film director [preceding pages] Jean Mitry Standing in front of Studio 28 Photograph, RR, 18 × 24 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
1 The commune of Montmartre.
Studio 28 Logo, 24 × 16.5 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
The promotional photographs used on film posters have enchanted many cinemagoers as they waited in line. Located at 10 Rue Tholozé, at the foot of the Butte Montmartre, Studio 28 is a unique, historic, and emblematic cinema, a place that has a special standing in the world of art cinemas. In 1928, Jean-Placide Mauclaire inaugurated the first avant-garde cinema located right in the heart of Montmartre. Studio 28 rapidly became an independent cinema, as well as a meeting point, where the likes of Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, Abel Gance, and Jean Cocteau would come together. The cinema had a policy of screening films in their original languages and embracing new technologies, until the day it decided to screen Luis Buñuel’s L’Âge d’or (The Golden Age). This caused a scandal among right-wing extremists, and the film was banned—a fatal blow for Studio 28. In 1932, the cinema was acquired by Édouard Gross. In 1948 the Roulleau family took over the cinema and has been running it ever since. There are still a few families who manage the cultural heritage of our commune,1 some for three or four generations. These shared experiences nourish our relations with our faithful clientele. In 1959, Studio 28 was the first cinema in France to introduce a loyalty card. It screened a different film every day and, every Tuesday, held advance screenings attended by the directors and actors. Studio 28 will soon be celebrating its ninetieth anniversary. It has always attracted a diverse audience and has managed to adapt to modern techno logies in order to cater to its audiences and offer them a cinematic experience of the highest quality. It is not a question of being nostalgic, but rather of being proud about our history. The cinema is constantly developing new ways to satisfy and increase audiences and ensure that the village of Montmartre continues to have a local cinema. As a shrine to the moving image, the cinema is more than ever looking to the future. Equipped with the very latest technology, Studio 28 offers spectators a convivial space and a broad programme of films that has managed to appeal to the assiduous residents of Montmartre and beyond. It has lost nothing of what Jean Cocteau (it must be remembered that he designed the lights in the main cinema room) said about it: it has remained ‘The theatre of masterpieces, the masterpiece of theatres’. Studio 28 The year 2028 is not far off, so we should be around Drawing, 24 × 32 cm. to celebrate Studio 28’s 100th anniversary! Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
DOES THE REAL MONTMARTRE FEATURE IN FILMS? Pierre Philippe
54
[preceding pages] French Cancan, Jean Renoir, 1955 Producted by Gaumont (France)/ Jolly Film (Italy). Street Scene, photograph by Serge Beauvarlet, 27.5 × 37 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
Does Montmartre feature in films? Let us not cry out in indignation. It does feature a little, a tiny bit, but much less than one might expect and, for the most part, in shots that are unflattering, for both the film industry and the site itself. Yes, there is one major exception—that of the world of Antoine Doinel, a hero in François Truffaut’s films played by Jean-Pierre Léaud between 1959 and 1979. But that world is not really that of the Butte—it is the world of the Place de Clichy, the surrounding area, and the young Léaud was only really a child of Montmartre in Boulevard, Julien Duvivier’s flagrant mockery of his critic Truffaut, who in Cahiers du cinéma challenged the ageing renown of the French film industry. There is a paradox: the eighteenth arrondissement was the district in which the new phenomenon of the cinématographe led to the opening of the first cine mas: the cinema in the Dufayel Department Store on Rue de Clignancourt, only four years after the inaugural screening in the Salon Indien on Boulevard des Capucines and, in 1911, the transformation of the Hippodrome at Place de Clichy into the Gaumont-Palace, the bold move of Léon Gaumont who wished to screen the films produced in his Buttes-Chaumont studios in a cinema, which, with its 3,400 seats, was enormous at the time. The first programme of films included La Tare (‘The Defect’), a film from the series ‘La vie telle qu’elle est’ (‘Life as it really is’), which deplored the plight of the women in the brasseries who proliferated in the streets of lower Montmartre, and who—as victims of bourgeois prejudice—could not ‘redeem themselves’. It was a paradox because the film-makers of the time did not think of highlighting the flora and fauna of Montmartre, whose landscape was still wooded at the time—an entire area that voluntarily insulated itself from a capital city that was suspicious of the strange colony towering above it, with its poor and brilliant artists, its artisans who belonged to another era, and its thugs and loose women. However, some of them did sometimes dare to set up their Lumière camera with its tripod and crank handle in Montmartre to take shots that still move us, over one hundred years later: steep narrow streets in which Utrillesque silhouettes can be seen walking; the authentic Moulin de la Galette and the terrace of the Lapin Agile; the famous donkey Lolo and the cabaret’s manager, Frédé, chewing on his pipe; Francisque Poulbot sketching children play-fighting; and, on a snowy day, erected in front of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, the statue of the Chevalier de La Barre, which was inaugurated in 1905 by thousands of free thinkers shouting ‘À bas la calotte!’ (‘Down with the priests!’). Apart from these wonderful documentary images, the first fiction film known to us, which was shot Boulevard, at the foot of the oasis, is entitled L’Attrait de Paris Julien Duvivier, 1960 (‘The attraction of Paris’) and was made by Gérard Jean-Pierre Léaud and Monique Brienne. Photograph, Bourgeois for Charles Pathé in 1912. The film fea- RR. © Orex Films, The Jérôme tures the Place Blanche and its eternal Moulin Seydoux Pathé Foundation
MONTMARTRE’S SCENERY AS A CHAR ACTER AND ACTOR IN ITS OWN RIGHT: FROM MUSE TO STAR Jean-François Pioud-Bert
62
‘Montmartre is a world between heaven and hell.’ Voice of the narrator in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler)
[preceding pages] Boulevard, Julien Duvivier, 1960 Photograph, RR. © Orex Films, The Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation
1 Montmartre is the subject of more than two hundred films, featuring in the script and/or as a ‘film set actor’. It is impossible to include all of these films in this essay. 2 Now incomplete. 3 Another example: a film with a promotional title, Nuits de Pigalle (Georges Jaffé, 1958), resulted in an inept film.
‘No! Not in Montmartre!’ retorts Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) in À bout de souffle (Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard, 1960), as though to protect himself from the irresistible attraction of the Butte, because it is seen as tantalising and seductive; and artists and film-makers have always been attracted to the special atmosphere of this place where so many contrasts coexist: the underworld and the rich and famous, absinth and wine, lace and dirty laundry, and paintbrushes and knives. Montmartre’s honeymoon with the cinema goes back to its origins. A Cinématographe Lumière had been installed in the Dufayel Department Store as early as 1896, several months after the first public screening (with an admission fee) by the Lumière brothers. Subsequently, projection rooms were established on the Boulevards amongst the other places of entertainment. But as narrative cinema required stories, it was the atmosphere on the Butte, with all its fanciful, unreal, and extravagant connotations that appealed to cinema professionals. Each of them interpreted these places according to his or her own vision, creativity, and even fantasy: the Americans did not see Montmartre in the same way as Truffaut. Even better, Montmartre’s atmosphere could be conveyed without having to film on site! Conversely, filming in the district’s streets did not imply ‘altering’ the scenery: the settings remained anonymous. We will take a look at the films1 that used the Butte as their muse and captured its reality, the films that managed to integrate it and thereby give it a dramatic dimension, and a true role, no matter how insignificant. But sometimes the name alone of Montmartre (and Pigalle) suffices to stimulate the imaginations of future viewers, associated as it is with sentiments and emotions, dramatic and funny situations, and even the creepiest fantasies. The name virtually guarantees an origin, quality, and ‘brand’. Two examples: in 1922, Ernst Lubitsch made Die Flamme (The Flame), a silent film inspired by Maupassant which was eventually called Montmartre;2 and Zig-Zig (László Szabó, 1975) means nothing to an Italian, unless it is translated as Due Prostitute a Pigalle.3 But the name Montmartre can be misleading for spectators when it implies that the action and characters are set in Montmartre. The very fine film La Maternelle (literally ‘Nursery school’, by Jean Benoit-Levy and Marie Epstein, 1932) was La Fête à Henriette (Holiday for Henrietta), translated as Children of Montmartre for its internaJulien Duvivier, 1952 tional distribution. Nothing suggests, in the images Photograph, RR, 23.7 × 18.1 cm. and dialogues, that the nursery school is located in Christophe Goeury Collection
THE SCENERY AND ATMOSPHERE OF MONTMARTRE FROM MARCEL CARNÉ TO FR ANÇOIS TRUFFAUT Antoine de Baecque
106
[preceding pages] L’Air de Paris (The Air of Paris), Marcel Carné, 1954 Photograph of Jean Gabin and Roland Lesaffre, RR, 23.5 × 30 cm. Le Vieux Montmartre Archives
For Juliette ou la Clef des songes (Juliette, or The Key to Dreams, 1950), Marcel Carné and his film crew spent several days in Montmartre, on the steps adjacent to the restaurant Chez Manière, at 65 Rue Caulaincourt, in order to shoot a major scene in Paris, which was probably—although he did not realise this—the last one in his ambitious and extensive career. The technicians, who were working with Carné, his assistants Patrice Dally and Michel Romanoff, his chief cameraman, Henri Alekan, and his set designer, Alexandre Trauner, came together to work in the billiards room at the back of the restaurant, while Gérard Philipe took up residence a little higher up the hill, in a small hotel on the Butte, and came down the steps every day to act his part in the scene there. On the screen, the rendition was perfect: for once and for one scene, Carné decided not to recreate the setting in the studio, but he achieved what he set out to do, by transforming the street into a studio set, which was the final development in a process of set creation that had begun twenty years earlier. In November 1933, in Cinémagazine, he issued a clarion call to his generation: ‘When will cinema go down into the street?’ He recreated the street in a set in the studio, where he confined his cinema work in the immense sets designed by Alexandre Trauner for Hôtel du Nord, Le jour se lève (Daybreak), Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise), and Les Portes de la nuit (Gates of the Night), and he then went into the street, via the large Caulaincourt stairway, when his knowledge of sets enabled him to create the desired picturesque images that captured the real Montmartre. It was not the first time that Carné created a contrived representation of Montmartre in this way: scenes in Enfants du paradis were shot in Rue Francœur, in the old Pathé Cinéma studios (now occupied by the Fémis, the French national film school), and the immense Barbès set in Portes de la nuit was constructed in Joinville. And it was not really the last time: in L’Air de Paris (The Air of Paris, 1954), the boxing gym run by Jean Gabin and Roland Lesaffre was recreated in the studio, as it was not possible to gain exclusive use of the real gym in Montmartre run by Roger Michelot during the three-week filming period; and in Les Tricheurs (Young Sinners), Roland Lesaffre plays a Montmartre garage owner in his establishment in Rue Caulaincourt. Marcel Carné was himself a Montmartrois by adoption, and so it was not through indifference, or even cynicism, that he represented the Butte in this way. Rather, it was a tribute through sublimation. Born in the Batignolles district, the film-maker lived for twenty years at 55 Rue Caulaincourt, in the rear building, opposite Jacques Viot, one of his screenwriters, and not far from Pierre Mac Orlan, the author of Quai des Brumes, and Jean Cocteau and Edith Piaf. Les Enfants du paradis Juliette ou la Clef des songes was, however, not (Children of Paradise), warmly received by the critics, probably because Marcel Carné, 1945 Photograph, RR, The they were tired of seeing Montmartre represented Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation, in this conventional way, highlighted to the point Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma
ALLEN, LUHRMANN, KLAPISCH, GONDRY, AND JEUNET: MONTMARTRE AT THE HEART OF CONTEMPOR ARY CINEMA Saskia Ooms
128
‘Nothing is more beautiful than Paris, except the memory of Paris.’ Chris Marker
[preceding pages] Paris, Cédric Klapisch, 2008 Romain Duris, photograph. © 2008, Ce qui me meut/David Koskas
1 Jean-Yves de Lépinay, ‘Paris au cinéma ou Everyone says I love you’, Urbanisme, Jan–Feb 2003, pp. 66–67. 2 Laurent Dandrieu, Woody Allen, Portrait d’un antimoderne, 2010, CNRS Éditions, Paris, pp. 427–428.
Paris is one of the most filmed cities in the world, and it has been filmed in every possible way. It has been recreated, imagined, transformed, and mythologised by fiction film-makers around the world. It is undoubtedly because of the desire the city inspires that Paris is the most widely represented city in cinema; the mere mention of the city’s name is enough to evoke a whole world of fantasy, spontaneity, and happiness.1 A timeless city, Paris offers an exceptional setting that is perfectly suited to the cinematic art, which is inextricably linked to the City of Light—it has held a fascination for the cinema that has never waned. Contemporary film-makers, who have subsequently been inspired by its roofs, bourgeois buildings, and history-laden lanes, take every opportunity to train their cameras on Montmartre, which is undoubtedly the city’s most emblematic district. Foreign and French film directors have all filmed the Butte in their own way, enchanted by the district’s charm exuded by the whiteness of the SacréCœur, the granite of the steps, the Moulin Rouge, and the Place du Tertre, once the haunt of painters. This part of the book analyses how Montmartre has been filmed by film-makers with very different visions, including Allen, Luhrmann, Klapisch, Gondry, and Jeunet. The American director Woody Allen’s passion for Paris and Montmartre is widely known. At the beginning of his career, he filmed Paris for his 1975 film Love and Death. Twenty years later, in 1995, he had the idea of shooting a musical comedy, a large part of which was to take place in Paris, as a tribute to Vincente Minnelli’s film An American in Paris, and also because he had begun to consider Paris as his city. He had regularly visited Paris for many years and filming in the city was simply an extension of that; the idea had been in the back of his mind while he was shooting Annie Hall. In addition to Minnelli’s work, he was influenced by Jacques Demy’s films, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (The Young Girls of Rochefort). 2 He therefore expected the actors to sing, but did not tell them this during the casting sessions in order to give the film a natural feel. Most of the musiLe Fabuleux Destin cal performances were shot with one take and d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie), left unedited, so as to ensure that they were not Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001 Poster, 160 × 120 cm. cut during the editing process, which could Jean-Pierre Jeunet Collection have destroyed the movement sequences and
ANNEXES
Boulevard, Julien Duvivier, 1960 Jean-Pierre Léaud and Monique Brienne, photograph, RR. © Orex Films, The Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation
154
LIST OF FILMS ACCORDING TO SHOOTING LOCATION THE MOULIN ROUGE An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli, 1951 (produced by Arthur Freed), Warner Brothers Moulin Rouge, John Huston, 1952 (produced by Romulus Films), ITV French Cancan, Jean Renoir, 1955 (produced by Gaumont (France) and Jolly Film (Italy)) Can-Can, Walter Lang, 1960 (produced by Jack Cummings and Saul Chaplin) Moulin Rouge!, Baz Luhrmann, 2001 (produced by Baz Luhrmann, Martin Brown, and Fred Baron), 20th Century Fox Paris, Cédric Klapisch, 2006 (produced by Bruno Levy), Ce qui me meut BARBÈS Les Portes de la nuit (original title)/Gates of the Night, Marcel Carné, 1946 (produced by Pathé Cinéma) Dupont Barbès, Henri Lepage, 1951 (produced by Gaumont) Les Ripoux (original title)/My New Partner, Claude Zidi, 1984 (produced by Les Films 7) PIGALLE Minuit, place Pigalle (original title)/Midnight, Place Pigalle, Roger Richebé, 1934 (produced by the Société Parisienne du Film Parlant) Pigalle St-Germain-des-Prés, André Berthomieu, 1950 (produced by Hoche Productions (Paris) and Ray Ventura) M’sieur la Caille (original title)/No Morals, André Pergament, 1955 (produced by the Société Parisienne de l’Industrie Cinématographique, Paris-Nice Productions, the Société Parisienne d’Études Cinématographiques, and Jacques Santu), Eurociné Miss Pigalle, Maurice Cam, 1957 (produced by Gimeno-Phillips Films) Le Signe du lion (original title)/The Sign of Leo, Éric Rohmer, 1959 (produced by Ajym Films and Claude Chabrol) Boulevard, Julien Duvivier, 1960 (produced by Orex Films and Lucien Viard), Pathé Zig Zig, László Szabó, 1975 (produced by Renn Productions (Paris), FRAL Cinematografica (Rome), Les Films de la Citrouille, and Claude Berri) Pigalle, Karim Dridi, 1994 (produced by Première-Heure (Saint-Cloud), UGC, Delfilm, and FCC (Paris))
155
THE SACRÉ-CŒUR L’Attrait de Paris, Gérard Bourgeois, 1912 (produced by Pathé Frères), Gaumont Pathé-Archives La Chienne (original title)/The Bitch, Jean Renoir, 1931 (produced by Pierre Braunberger and Les Établissements Braunberger-Richebé) Antoine et Antoinette (original title)/Antoine and Antoinette, Jacques Becker, 1947 (produced by Gaumont) La Fête à Henriette (original title)/Holiday for Henrietta, Julien Duvivier, 1952 (produced by Arys Nissotti, Pierre O’Connell, Regina Films (Paris), and Filmsonor) Marguerite de la nuit (original title)/Marguerite of the Night, Claude Autant-Lara, 1955 (produced by Gaumont (France) and Cino del Duca Spa (Italy)) Casino de Paris, André Hunebelle, 1957 (produced by André Hunebelle, the Production Artistique et Cinématographique (PAC), Critérion Films (Paris), Pathé Cinéma, Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma, Bavaria Film GmbH (Munchen Geiselgasteig), Eichberg-Film GmbH (Berlin), Elan Film (Paris), and Rizzoli Film (Rome)) The Young Lions (original title)/Le Bal des maudits, Edward Dmytryk, 1958 (produced by Al Lichtman) Les Quatre Cents Coups (original title)/The 400 Blows, François Truffaut, 1958 (produced by Les Films du Carrosse (Paris), the Société d’Exploitation et de Distribution de Films (Paris), and François Truffaut), MK2 Everyone Says I Love You, Woody Allen, 1996 (produced by Robert Greenhut, Sweetland Films, and Jean Doumanian Productions) La Rafle (original title)/The Round-Up, Rose Bosch, 2010 (produced by Gaumont, Mitzé Films, Alva Films, TF1 Films Production, France 3 Cinéma (France), EOS Entertainment (Germany), and Eurofilm Bis (Hungary)) THE STAIRWAYS Montmartre sur Seine, Georges Lacombe, 1941 (produced by the SUF, the Société Universelle de Films) Juliette ou la Clef des songes (original title)/Juliette, or The Key to Dreams, Marcel Carné, 1950 (produced by Les Films Sacha Gordine and Sacha Gordine), Impex Films L’Impossible M. Pipelet (original title)/The Impossible Mr. Pipelet, André Hunebelle, 1955 (produced by PAC, Production Artistique et Cinématographique, Pathé Cinéma, Société Nouvelle Pathé Cinéma, and André Hunebelle) C’était un rendez-vous, Claude Lelouch, 1976 (produced by Claude Lelouch, France), Les Films 13 L’Animal, Claude Zidi, 1977 (produced by Les Films Christian Fechner)
AVENUE JUNOT MONTMARTRE CEMETERY
L’Amour en fuite/Love on the Run, François Truffaut, 1978 Les Souvenirs/Memories, Jean-Paul Rouve, 2014
L’assassin habite au 21/ The Murderer Lives at Number 21, Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1942 Baisers volés/Stolen Kisses, François Truffaut, 1968
LE LAPIN AGILE
Allo Berlin ? Ici Paris !/ Her Julien Duvivier, 1932
RUE SAINT-VINCENT
L’Homme à l’imperméable/The Man in the Raincoat, Julien Duvivier, 1956
RUE LEPIC
Le Rembrandt de la rue Lepic, Jean Durand, 1910 Peau de pêche, Jean Benoit-Levy and Marie Epstein, 1928 La Traversée de Paris, Claude Autant-Lara, 1957
THE MONTMARTRE MUSEUM Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen, 2010
THE PLACE DU TERTRE AND THE SURROUNDING AREA (WORKSHOP)
LE MOULIN ROUGE
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli, 1951 Moulin Rouge, John Huston, 1952 French Cancan, Jean Renoir, 1955 Can-Can, Walter Lang, 1960 Moulin Rouge!, Baz Luhrmann, 2001 Paris, Cédric Klapisch, 2006
Si Paris nous était conté/If Paris Were Told to Us, Sacha Guitry, 1955
PIGALLE
Minuit, place Pigalle/Midnight, Place Pigalle, Roger Richebé, 1934 Pigalle St-Germain-des-Prés, André Berthomieu, 1950 M’sieur la Caille/No Morals, André Pergament, 1955 Miss Pigalle, Maurice Cam, 1957 Le Signe du lion/The Sign of Leo, Éric Rohmer, 1959 Boulevard, Julien Duvivier, 1960 Zig Zig, László Szabó, 1975 Pigalle, Karim Dridi, 1994
Visitor’s map of the old village of Montmartre
RUE FRANCŒUR
Les Enfants du paradis/Children of
re’s Berlin,
Paradise, Marcel Carné, 1945
THE SACRÉ-CŒUR
L’Attrait de Paris, Gérard Bourgeois, 1912 La Chienne/The Bitch, Jean Renoir, 1931 Antoine et Antoinette/Antoine and Antoinette, Jacques Becker, 1947 La Fête à Henriette/Holiday for Henrietta, Julien Duvivier, 1952 Marguerite de la nuit/Marguerite of the Night, Claude Autant-Lara, 1955 Casino de Paris, André Hunebelle, 1957 The Young Lions /Le Bal des maudits, Edward Dmytryk, 1958 Les Quatre Cents Coups/The 400 Blows, François Truffaut, 1958 Everyone Says I Love You, Woody Allen, 1996 La Rafle/The Round-Up, Rose Bosch, 2010 Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain/Amélie, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001
RUE LABAT
La Science des rêves/The Science of Sleep, Michel Gondry, 2006
BARBÈS
Les Portes de la nuit/Gates of the Night, Marcel Carné, 1946 Dupont Barbès, Henri Lepage, 1951 Les Ripoux/My New Partner, Claude Zidi, 1984
THE STAIRWAYS
Montmartre sur Seine, Georges Lacombe, 1941 Juliette ou la Clef des songes/Juliette, or The Key to Dreams, Marcel Carné, 1950 L’Impossible M. Pipelet/The Impossible Mr. Pipelet, André Hunebelle, 1955 C’était un rendez-vous, Claude Lelouch, 1976 L’Animal, Claude Zidi, 197
PHOTOGR APHIC CREDITS © Le Vieux Montmartre Archives: p. 10, p. 11, p. 13, p. 14, p. 15, p. 17, p. 18, p. 19, p. 23, p. 24, p. 25, p. 26, Maurice Chabas p. 27, p. 29, p. 36, p. 37, p. 48, p. 49, p. 50, p. 51, p. 79, p. 86-87, p. 88-89, p. 100, p. 104-105, p. 158-159. Serge Beauvarlet: p. 30-31, p. 32, p. 33, p. 34, p. 35, p. 38, p. 39, p. 40, p. 41, p. 42, p. 43, p. 44, p. 45, p. 46, p. 47, p. 52-53, p. 78-79. © Anne Seibel: p. 132-133. © Bruno Calvo: p. 146-147, p. 150-151, 4th cover. Collection La Cinémathèque française: p. 71, p. 72, p. 73, p. 75, p. 77, p. 80, p. 81, p. 82-83, p. 85, p. 93, p. 99, p. 101, p. 102, p. 103, Roger Forester p. 111, p. 112-113, p. 115, p. 116-117, p. 118-119, Dominique Le Rigoleur p. 120-121, p. 123, p. 125, p. 134, p. 135. © Jean-Pierre Ducatez Collection: p. 108, p. 109. © Jean-Pierre Jeunet Collection: p. 129, p. 136-137, p. 139, p. 140-141, p. 142-143, p. 144-145, p. 146, p. 148-149. © Ce qui me meut/David Koskas: p. 126-127. © The Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé Foundation: p. 7, G. Lebon p. 21, p. 55, p. 60, p. 61, p. 66, p. 68, p. 90-91, Raymond Voinquel p. 92-93, p. 96-97, p. 107, p. 152-153. © Christophe Goeury: p. 58, p. 59, p. 63, p. 64, p. 67. © Musée Gaumont: p. 57. © Émile Savitry, courtesy Sophie Malexis, Francis Dupont: p. 94-95. © Studiocanal: p. 76.
Photoengraving by Quat’Coul, Toulouse. This book was printed by Leporello (European Union) in March 2017.