Ra
THE SEARCH FOR BELONGING IN THE FILMS OF CLAIRE DENIS
festival guide
table of contents
1 2 claire denis
Life Story
06
Filmography
12
Awards & Nominations
14
estranged states
The Festival
20
The Venue
22
3
Featured Films
Chocolat
30
Man No Run
38
I Can’t Sleep
44
Beau Travail
54
White Material
64
4
the city of light
Exploring Paris
74
Staying in Paris
80
Tasting Paris
86
1
c laire denis
04 / 05
cl a i r e de n i s
life story Name: Claire Denis
Claire Denis was born in Paris in April 1948, and raised in
pl ace of birth: Paris
colonial Africa, where her father was a French civil servant. She
date of birth: 04/1948
moved houses every two years because her father wanted her to
Profession: Direc tor
know about geography. She used to watch old damaged copies of
experience: 22 years
war American films when she was growing up in Africa. Denis
work: 7 shor t movies, 11
went to the IDHEC, a French film school. After graduation, she
featured movies, and 3
served as helper to Jacques Rivette, Costa-Gavras, Jim Jarmusch,
documentaries.
and Wim Wenders. Since 2002 Denis has been a Professor of Film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Her experience as a stranger, and an intruder, resonate throughout her body work. She raises major questions about the lines we draw between us, how we define ourselves and others, by talking about immigration, dislocation, violence, and the body. Denis made her film debut in 1988 with Chocolat, a luminous depiction of malaise of the post-colonial world.
“
In a way I was helped by the fact that I was sort of growing as a stranger in France.
”
— Cl aire Denis
l i f e s t ory
parisian filmmaker and one of the major artistic voices of contempor ary french cinema, cl aire denis.
f i l mogr a ph y
awa r ds & nom i n at ions
l i f e s t ory
“
f i l mogr a ph y
awa r ds & nom i n at ions
In a way I was helped by the fact that I was sort of growing as a stranger in France.
”
— Cl aire Denis
Claire Denis has developed a unique style, favoring visual and sound elements over dialogue, and her editing technique is famous for its rhythmic quality. She refuses the conformity to narrative and structures of classical cinema, as well as psychological realism and scenic continuity, sometimes blurring the border between dreams and reality. Her films are made on the basis of memories and intertextual references to literature and other films. Denis’ films show deep affection and solidarity with marginalized characters usually kept away from the mainstream cinema (immigrants, exiles, alienated individuals, and sexual transgressives), simultaneously questioning prejudices of the dominant white European culture and its myth of progress. One of the main characters in her films became the accompanying music. Claire Denis is also considered to be one of the representatives of the New French Extremity (transgressive films made by French directors at the turn of the 21st century). The majority of Denis’ oeuvre uses location work over studio work. She sometimes places her actors as if they were placed for still photography. She uses longer takes with a stationary camera and frames things in long shot, resulting in fewer close ups. However, Denis’ cinematic and topical focus always remains on the faces and bodies of her protagonists. The subject’s body in space, and how the particular terrain, weather, and color of the landscape influences and interacts with the human subjects of her films maintains cinematic dominance. parisian filmmaker and one of the major artistic voices of contempor ary french cinema, cl aire denis.
one of the unique features is the attention
paid to the periphery, to the seemingly insignificant
detail.
– judith Mayne, author of “contemporary film directors, claire denis”.
12 / 13
cl a i r e de n i s
filmography Dir ector (21 titles) 2011 To the Devil (shor t)
1979 Zoo zéro (first assistant direc tor)
2009 White Material
1979 Retour à la bien-aimée (assistant direc tor)
2008 35 rhums
1979 Mais où et donc Ornicar (assistant direc tor)
2005 Vers Mathilde (documentar y)
1976 Sérail (first assistant direc tor)
2004 L'intrus
1975 O Velho Fuzil (assistant direc tor)
2002 Ten Minutes Older: The Cello
1975 La messe dorée (second assistant direc tor)
2002 Vendredi soir
1974 Le secret (second assistant direc tor)
2001 Trouble Ever y Day
1974 Sweet Movie (second assistant direc tor)
1999 Beau travail 1996 Nénet te et Boni 1995 À propos de Nice, la suite 1994 US Go Home ( TV series) 1994 Noites Sem Dormir 1994 Boom-Boom 1993 Monologues – La robe à cerceau ( TV series) 1991 Contre l'oubli 1991 Keep It for Yourself (shor t) 1990 S'en fout la mor t 1990 Jacques Rivet te – Le veilleur (documentar y) 1989 Man No Run (documentar y) 1988 Chocolat
Second Unit Dir ector or A ssista n t Dir ector (18 titles)
W r iter (16 titles) 2011 To the Devil (shor t) 2009 White Material (scenario) 2008 35 rhums (scenario) 2004 L’intrus 2002 Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (segment) 2002 Vendredi soir 2001 Trouble Ever y Day 1999 Beau travail (writer) 1999 El Medina (writer) 1996 Nénet te et Boni 1994 US Go Home (1994) (writer) 1994 I Can’t Sleep (screenplay) 1993 La robe à cerceau (writer) 1991 Keep It for Yourself (shor t)
1987 Wings of Desire (first assistant direc tor)
1990 S’en fout la mor t
1986 Daunbailó (assistant direc tor)
1988 Chocolat (writer)
1984 Paris, Texas (assistant direc tor) 1984 To Catch a King (first assistant direc tor) 1983 Hanna K. (first assistant direc tor) 1983 Le bâtard (first assistant direc tor) 1982 La passante du Sans-Souci (first assistant direc tor) 1981 On n’est pas des anges... elles non plus (assistant direc tor) 1980 Pile ou face (assistant direc tor) 1980 L’empreinte des géants (assistant direc tor)
Actr ess (4 titles) 1999 Vénus beauté, the asthmatic customer 1998 Le jour de Noël (shor t) 1995 En avoir, Alice’s Mother 1979 Mais où et donc Ornicar, confined young person
l i f e st ory
Ca sting Dir ector (2 titles) 1986 Of fret 1983 Le bâtard
Self (6 titles) 2011 The Stor y of Film: An Odyssey ( TV series documentar y) 2011 Días de cine ( TV series) – Episode dated 1 July 2011 2009 Durch die Nacht mit ( TV documentar y), Claire Denis und Jef f Mills 2003 Avec Vincent Lindon ( TV documentar y), Inter viewee 2002 Une pure coïncidence (documentar y), Cameo appearance 1990 Cinéma, de notre temps ( TV documentar y), Jacques Rivet te – Le veilleur
f i l mogr a ph y
awa r ds & nom i n at ions
1 4 / 15
cl a i r e de n i s
awards & nominations
chocol at (1988)
Be au tr ava il (1999)
Cannes Film Festival
berlin international film festival
Year: 1988
Year: 2000
Result: Nominated
Result: Won
Award: Palme d’Or
Award: Reader Jur y of the “Berliner Zeitung”—
Recipient: Claire Denis
Special Mention
César Awards, Fr ance
Recipient: Claire Denis
Year: 1989
British Independent Film awards
Result: Nominated
Year: 2001
Award: César
Result: Nominated
Categor y: Best First Work
Award: British Independent Film Award Categor y:
Recipient: Claire Denis
Best Foreign Film
I Ca n’t Sleep (1994)
Year: 2001
Camerimage
Result: Nominated
Year: 1994
Award: CFCA Award
Result: Nominated
Categor y: Best Foreign Language Film
Award: Golden Frog
Recipient: Claire Denis
Recipient: Agnès Godard
Chlotrudis Awards
César Awards, Fr ance
Year: 2001
Year: 1995
Result: Won
Result: Nominated
Award: Chlotrudis Award
Award: César
Categor y: Best Cinematography
Categor y: Best Suppor ting Ac tress
Recipient: Agnès Godard
Recipient: Line Renaud
Chlotrudis Awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Year: 2001 Result: Nominated Award: Chlotrudis Award
l i f e st ory
f i l mogr a ph y
awa r d s & nom i n at ions
Categor y: Best Ac tor, Best Direc tor, Best Movie,
Rot terdam International Film Festival
Best Screenplay
Year: 2001
Recipient: Denis Lavant, Claire Denis, Jean-Pol
Result: Won
Fargeau
Award: KNF Award —Special Mention
César Awards, Fr ance
Recipient: Claire Denis
Year: 2001 Result: Won
W hite m ater i a l (2010)
Award: César
National societ y of film critics awards,
Categor y: Best Cinematography
Year: 2011
Recipient: Agnès Godard
Result: 3 rd place
European Film Awards
Award: NSFC Award
Year: 2000
Categor y: Best Foreign Language Film
Result: Nominted
Recipient: Claire Denis
Award: European Film Award
satellite Awards
Categor y: Best Cinematographer
Year: 2010
Recipient: Agnès Godard
Result: Nominated
London Critics Circle Film Awards
Award: Satellite Award
Year: 2001
Categor y: Best Motion Pic ture, Foreign Film
Result: Nominated
venice film festival
Award: ALFS Award
Year: 2009
Categor y: Foreign Language Film of the Year
Result: Nominated
National Societ y of Film Awards, USA
Award: Golden Lion
Year: 2001
Recipient: Claire Denis
Result: Won
Washington DC Area Film critics awards
Award: NSFC Award
Year: 2010
Categor y: Best Cinematography
Result: Nominated
Recipient: Agnès Godard
Award: WAFCA Award Categor y: Best Foreign Language Film
claire denis’ films are about watching, bearing witness, and making
contact.
– judith Mayne, author of “contemporary film directors, claire denis”.
2
e stranged states
t h e f e s t i va l
the v enue
the festival dates: March 12–16 2012
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside
featured films: Chocolat,
Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th
Man No Run, I Can’t Sleep, Beau Travail, and White Material
century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was one of the largest in the world. During the year of 2012, French and Africans will be celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the decolonization process, and due to Denis’ themes the festival will be part of it. The festival will be held in Paris, at the Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, on March 2012. This great museum traces back more than 200 years of immigration history, through a large collection of archive documents, photographs, drawings and works of art, as well as temporary exhibitions, artistic events and a media library. The setting is perfect for Claire Denis’ movies screenings and discussions.
parisian filmmaker and one of the major artistic voices of contempor ary french cinema, cl aire denis.
22 / 23
e st r a nge d stat e s
the venue address: 293 Avenue Dau mesnil 75012 Paris, France telephone: 01 53 59 58 60 web site: w w w.histoire-immigration.fr/
Cité Nationale de l'Histoire de l'Immigration is a Parisian museum of immigration history located in the XIIe arrondissement at 293, avenue Daumesnil. The nearest métro station is Porte Dorée. It is open daily except Monday; an admission fee is charged. The museum was conceived in 1989 by Algerian immigrant Zaïr Kedadouche, supported initially by historians including Pierre Milza and Gérard Noiriel, and established by President Jacques Chirac with a mission to "contribute to the recognition of the integration of immigrants into French society and advance the views and attitudes on immigration in France". It was opened without public ceremony in late 2007 under his successor, President Nicolas Sarkozy, amid political controversy in which eight of the twelve academics involved in the project resigned. The museum occupies the Palais de la Porte Dorée, formerly the home of the Musée National des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, on the edge of the Bois de Vincennes. It contains over 1100 m² of exhibition space devoted primarily to the history and culture of immigration in France from the early nineteenth century to the present. A permanent installation, Benchmarks, has interactive exhibits presenting immigrant stories in multimedia form. The museum's collections are organized by three main themes: images including photography by Eugène Atget, Gérald Bloncourt, Robert Capa, Yves Jackson, Jean Jacques Pottier, etc., as well as prints, posters, drawings press, cartoons, comic books, audiovisual materials; objects of daily life; and works of art concerning immigration, territory, borders, and roots.
t h e f e st i va l
the v enue
The façade shows scenes of daily life, people
fauna and flora, from different parts of
the world.
Saphinaz-Amal Naguib— Professor of Culture Studies and Oriental Languages.
26 / 27
e st r a nge d stat e s
The exhibition will occur at the ImmigrĂŠe room, after that an discussion section will be held at the colonisateur room.
t h e f e st i va l
the v enue
Claire Denis has developed a individualistic style, favoring visual and sound elements over dialogue, and her editing technique is famous for its rhythmic quality. Concurrently, she refuses the conformity to narrative and structures of classical cinema, as well as psychological realism and scenic continuity, sometimes blurring the border between dreams and reality. Her films are made on the basis of memories and intertextual references to literature and other films. Denis’ films show deep affection and solidarity with marginalized characters usually absent from mainstream cinema (immigrants, exiles, alienated individuals, sexual transgressives), simultaneously questioning prejudices of the dominant white European culture and its myth of progress. One of the main characters in her films became the accompanying music. Claire Denis is also considered to be one of the representatives of the New French Extremity (transgressive films made by French directors at the turn of the 21st century). The majority of Denis’ oeuvre uses location work over studio work. She sometimes places her actors as if they were placed for still photography. She uses longer takes with a stationary camera and frames things in long shot, resulting in fewer close ups. However, Denis’ cinematic and topical focus always remains relentlessly on the faces and bodies of her protagonists. The subject’s body in space, and how the particular terrain, weather, and color of the landscape influences and interacts with the human subjects of her films maintains cinematic dominance.
3
F eatured Films
30 / 31
f e at u r e d films
Young Fr ance tr aveling through Cameroon and her memories.
c hoc ol at
M a n no ru n
I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
Chocolat 1988 Screening March 12 th | 6pm Immigrée Room discussion March 12
th
| 8:30pm
Colonisateur Room
Chocolat is a film directed by Claire Denis, about a French family that lives in colonial Cameroon. A young French woman returns to the vast silence of West Africa to contemplate her childhood days in a colonial outpost in Cameroon. Her strongest memories are of the family’s houseboy, Protée—a man of great nobility, intelligence and beauty—and the intricate nature of relationships in a racist society. The title Chocolat comes from the 1950s slang meaning “to be cheated”, and thus refers to the status in French Cameroon of being black and being cheated. Towards the end, France’s father reveals a central theme of the film as he explains to her what the horizon line is. He tells her that it is a line that is there but not there, a symbol for the racial boundary that exists in Cameroon. This line is not a physical one but is still one that people widely recognize. The film was entered into the 1988 Cannes Film Festival.
“
I started writing Chocolat as a very autobiographical script. It was like writing a journal until I decided to add fictional elements to it.
”
— Cl aire Denis
32 / 33
“
f e at u r e d films
Truthfully, isn’t really that connected to my own personal experience, it is really more of a collection of received ideas.
”
— Cl aire Denis
Chocolat may be a more interesting film for what it suggests about the powers of observation that than for the story it tells about a white girl growing in Africa. It is an exploration of how various borders—those of time and of race and gender—are approached, contemplated, and, sometimes, crossed. Denis encountered numerous difficulties, particularly financial, in the making of Chocolat. The film went through many changes in personnel, and in the production, it was unclear whether the film would be completed or not. For Claire Denis herself, the film changed contours. Initially, she was considering making a film about African American GIs who moved to Africa after the war in Vietnam, but she discarded the idea. Claire Denis also struggled with the question of the point of view, and she always resisted simplistic readings of the film as pure autobiography. Thus Chocolat is not only an exploration of a white child’s years in former French colony Cameroon, but it is also a reflection on the ways in which French colonial identity leaves its marks on those who travel in its wake—filmmakers and audiences as well as fictional characters. The film follows the journey of France, who returns to Cameroon as an adult. We first see her on the beach, observing a black man and his son as they frolic in the waves. Little information is given about any of them, so that viewers
c hoc ol at
M a n no ru n
I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
might well assume that they are African and France is, as the black man later assumes, a tourist. In fact the man is an African American, while France grew up in Cameroon. Appearances are deceiving, but more important, the very claim to the visibility and transparency of African identity is put into question from the outset of the film. The man offers her a ride, and the movement of the car along the road gives way to the extended flashback that constitutes most of the film. France as a young child lives in a colonial outpost, with her mother Aimée, and her father, Mr. Marc, a colonial officer. France’s life centers around Protée, the family servant, or “boy”, who functions as both a mother and a father to her. France is a part of the “colonial family romance”, that is, the French family and the servants who negotiate virtually every aspect of their lives. France’s closet companion is Protée. Their relations shows genuine affection, yet at the same time France seems to be learning her colonial role quite well. At one point in the film, for instance, Protée waits on France who is seated alone at the dinner table, and she orders him to taste her soup, in a gesture that is both intimate and authoritarian.
3 4 / 35
f e at u r e d films
close friends Fr ance and the boy, ProtĂŠe, sharing their food.
c hoc ol at
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Denis’ Voice
When I was making Chocolat I think that I had a desire to express a cer tain guilt I felt as a child raised in a colonial world. When the film was completed I was asked to write a piece on it for the press booklet. Unsure of what to write. Found an introduc tion to a anthology of Black literature and poetr y by Jean-Paul Sar tre which suggested that for three thousand years the of ficial view of the world had been a white view and he now welcomed an alternative —the view from those who had been watched, what they saw when they looked at us, the white Europe-ans. I put this in the booklet because I though that there was ver y lit tle else i could say: knowing I was white. I tried to be honest in admit ting that Chocolat os essentially a white view of the “other”.
I don’t know what keeps you here.
Look to your wife, she is loosing her mind.
It’s time to leave!
Aimée to the Religious man Nansen, after a hyena attack.
38 / 39
f e at u r e d films
Les Têtes Brulées’ singer Jean-Marie Ahanda in his performance.
choc ol at
M a n no ru n
I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
man no run 1989 Screening March 13 th | 6pm Immigrée Room discussion
While filming Chocolat Denis met Les Têtes Bruleès, a group of Cameroonian musicians who were very popular in their home country. When they embarked on their first ever tour of France
March 13 | 8:30pm
in 1987 Denis was there to document their funny, poignant
Colonisateur Room
encounters and reactions to French culture.
th
Les Têtes Bruleès play Bikutsi music, an ancient rhythm from the rain-forest region of western Cameroon. Bikutsi is the music of the Beti tribe, traditionally played on a “balafon” and danced by the women of the clan in a jerky, hypnotic fashion. But Les Têtes Bruleès do not play traditional music. Even though their sound is based on the Bikutsi rhythm with swirling balafon style guitars and rough-edged vocals, the music is electric. The Bikutsi Rock, carefully nurtured at the Chacal Bar, the band’s headquarters in Yaounde, is unique to Les Têtes Bruleès.
“
I kept in touch with them as I was editing Chocolat, and they wrote me a letter and told me they were coming to France for a tour. So I managed to find a camera and some film stock and there we were. I didn’t foresee my career. Things happen.
”
— Cl aire Denis
40 / 41
“
f e at u r e d films
They were so amazed to be in France to be doing that tour in very bad conditions, eating autoroute pizzas.
”
— Cl aire Denis
Man No Run appeared immediately after Chocolat, and the film had a fairly limited release. It follows the first concert trip to France of the Cameroonian musical group Les Têtes Brûlées. The group became enormously popular in Cameroon in 1987, and Denis met the group while she was shooting Chocolat. The group’s music is Bikutsi, a traditional form of music of the Beti, an ethic and linguistic group who are associated with the forests and villages of Cameroon, but who have also migrated to the urban center of Yaoundé. Les Têtes Brûlées’ form of Bikutsi could be described as hybrid, to the extent, that they use electric guitars instead of traditional African instruments. But the notion of hybridity can be deceptive, implying as it does a fusion of Western and African. Les Têtes Brûlées adapt their instruments—by, say, placing a piece of foam underneath the guitar strings—to better create the sounds of traditional African instruments, that is, to preserve Bikusti music, not to “Westernize” it. Denis was so taken with the music of Les Têtes Brûlées that she originally thought of having France, the female protagonist of Chocolat, visit a club to hear their music near the end of the film. The title of Man No Run refers both to a song by the Les Têtes Brûlées and a slang expression, as one of the musicians explains in the film, for someone who sticks around, who stays with his comrades. Denis’ film is a “concert film” only in the sense that she follows the group on their first tour to France. Thus the film
choc ol at
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becomes a record of their impressions of France, some of which are funny, some poignant, some both. At the beginning of the film, we see Les Têtes Brûlées in concert, but most of the film moves back and forth from their different concert venues to observations of the group when they are socializing, resting, or seeing France for the first time.
Les Têtes Brulées’ performance.
ah, this is it, this is not
my dream.
jean-marie ahanda at the airport.
4 4 / 45
f e at u r e d films
l adies taking self-defense cl asses to face the “gr anny-killer�.
choc ol at
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be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
i can’t sleep 1994 Screening
Daïga has emigrated from Lithuania to Paris and is looking for
March 14 th | 6pm
a place to stay and work. Théo is a struggling musician, and his
Immigrée Room
brother Camille—a transvestite dancer. One of these three people
discussion March 14 | 8:30pm
might be connected to the serial “granny killer” who has been
Colonisateur Room
terrorizing Paris for a while.
th
Claire Denis presents a haunting and understatedly compelling meditation on longing, estrangement, and disconnection in I Can’t Sleep. Using fragmented, often pending episodes, narrative ellipses, and tangential encounters, Denis creates a melancholic and sensual tapestry on cultural division and marginalization. By tracing the aimless, desperate, and isolated lives of social outsiders, I Can’t Sleep becomes an evocative, richly textured, and deeply disturbing contemporary ballad on the pervasive nature of violence and the difficulty of assimilation in an increasingly alienating modern society.
“
(I decided) to question ourselves what it is to be the brother, or the mother, or the neighbor of a monster.
”
— Cl aire Denis
46 / 47
f e at u r e d films
“
”
Political correctness is a corollary of racism.
— Cl aire Denis
I Can’t Sleep is inspired by the case of Thierry Paulin, a young, gay, black HIV-positive man who, in the 1980s in Paris, killed nineteen elderly women, with the help of his lover. Paulin died in prison before he was tried for the murders. His case was the subject of great media attention in France, and he was described routinely as a horrible creature. T. Paulin was also described by those who knew him, whether well or just slightly, as a pleasant, engaging, and charming young man. One might well wonder what inspired Claire Denis to take on a project like this. Paulin’s race and sexuality were routinely mentioned as a means of inspiring dread and horror, as if the murder of nineteen women were not enough. How, then, could one make a film inspired by the Paulin case without indulging the racism and homophobia that were part of the coverage of his case? Claire Denis’ decision was to “evacuate” from the film any notion of “political correctness”, that is, to refuse to engage with question of what can or cannot be deemed an acceptable representation of race or sexuality. The film’s portrayal of Camille is perhaps best assessed in a lengthy scene that shows him performing, in drag, at a gay club. Here, as elsewhere in the film, Camille inhabits his drag persona but seems distant from it at the same time. Part of this effect is literal, since Camille does not fully conform to the cliché of a drag performer. He wears a dress, and gloves, and a band in his head, but there is no attempt to imitate a female persona. There are no high heels. The dress slips down, and his chest, which is definitely not prosthetically enhanced, is visible; his makeup is
choc ol at
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not heavy enough to conceal his masculine features. Yet Camille moves with grace in this long sequence. Numerous spectators in the club, all of them male, are responding to Camille in awe, but there are moments when they appear to be objects of the look as much as Camille is. In the other words, in this performance the very categories upon which our notions of performance rely—the distinction between spectator and spectacle—are undone. The central preoccupation of the film is the chance encounters established between a wide range of characters, three of whom are central. First, is Camille himself, whose immediate circle consists of his lover, Raphael, and another man, a doctor, on the one hand, and his family, on the other. Second, is Camille’s brother Théo, who is struggling to raise his child, to reconnect with his estranged wife, and to make a return to Martinique, where he believes life will be considerably better, particularly for his son, than in Paris. Finally, is Daïga, the immigrant whose arrival in the city marks the beginning of the “game”. Daïga has her dreams of an acting career, inspired by a theater director whom she met during an acting workshop and who, it seems, promised her a job in Paris. The film begins as Daïga arrives in the city in her car and makes her way to the apartment of her great-aunt, who lives in the eighteenth arrondissement. As she drives into the city, we hear, on her car radio, news reports on the continuing activities of the “granny killer”, but only later do we realize that Daïga speaks little if any French, so she has no idea of what is going on. But the film intercuts Daïga’s arrival with the discovery of the body of the latest victim of the serial
48 / 49
f e at u r e d films
killer. Thus a connection is made between Daïga’s arrival in the more tightly woven as the film progresses. Daïga’s great-aunt finds her a place to stay in a hotel run by Ninon, a close friend. The hotel just happens to be where Camille and his lover reside. Ninon adores the two young men, and as they leave the hotel one evening, she tells Daïga—after warning her about the dangers of Paris—that they are sweet and kind. Denis had said that one of the intriguing factors of the Thierry Paulin case was that so many people crossed his path and interacted with him without having a clue as to his crimes. Daïga works as a maid in the hotel, and at some point her dreams of acting are shattered when she realizes that the theater director was interested in sleeping with her, not in helping her career. In the film, Daïga is an observer, and she becomes curious about the two men in the hotel. Because a car accident, she has to go to the police station one day, and there she sees drawings of Camille and Raphael, the two men she recognizes from the hotel. One of their recent victims survived and was able to provide descriptions of them. Only after Daïga has seen the drawing, thus only after she knows “who” Camille is, she takes her observation of him to another level, by pursuing him on the street and standing next to him in a café. Shortly after this encounter, Camille is captured, yet we do not know if Daïga was instrumental in his arrest or not. We do see her proceed, after her encounter with Camille in the café, to his
choc ol at
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hotel room, where she takes the money she finds, money taken from the women victims. We see her again driving out of the city, but we have no idea where she is going, although following the circle of the film, one assumes she is returning to Lithuania. Daïga is, at least, on the move. The film began with her arrival in the city in the early hours, and it concludes with her departure at night, now with the money she took from Camille’s room. In somewhat perverse sense, her curiosity has paid of—she has made some money in Paris.
Camille and Daïga meeting at the café before he is arrested.
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Denis’ Voice
This real stor y was all over in the newspapers—
Then af ter a while I realized I was thinking of that
the monsters—then they were arrested. Then it
and I found a link—that was in a ver y naïve way
became clear that they were black and gay. Then
again—what it was to call someone a monster. Is
they became the only subjec t in the newspapers,
someone born a monster or does he becomes a
on the TV for a year and a half. Then one of them
monster? And then I found an inter view of one of
died before he was judged, from Aids. They then
the guy’s mother and she was like any mother. She
completely disappeared —they were gone. One
was of course, ver y shocked and ver y sad. I felt all
day I read a piece writ ten by Baudrillard. He said
that pain and I thought of course, that most of the
that it was weird to him that those t wo guys have
pain she was expressing, and I thought maybe I
been erased from the French landscape only
can tr y on that track, you know. And that’s the
because they were in jail. They have raised so
way we star ted, tr ying just to question ourselves
many questions— even the worst questions. I was
what it is to be the brother, or the mother, or the
thinking about that and I was not even thinking of
neighbor of a monster.
making a film about it.
My brother, it’s like you. I don’t
know him.
Théo at the police station after his brother was put under arrest.
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galoup after his expulsion from the french foreign legion.
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I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
beau travail 1999 Screening
Beau Travail focuses on an ex-Foreign Legion officer as he recalls
March 15 th | 6pm
his once glorious life, leading troops in Africa. Back in France,
Immigrée Room
master sergeant Galoup remembers the time in the desert, where
discussion March 15 | 8:30pm
he led his men under the command of Bruno Forestier. His life
Colonisateur Room
there consisted mostly of routine duties like supervising the
th
physical exercise of his men. One day, his troop is joined by Gilles Sentain whose physical beauty, social skills, and fortitude make Galoup envious. When Sentain helps another soldier, violating previous orders, he sees a chance to destroy Sentain. As a punishment, Galoup drives Giles out into the desert to make him walk back to the base. But Sentain does not return because Galoup has tampered with his compass, and Sentain cannot make his way out without it. Even though Sentain is later found and rescued by a group of locals, Galoup is sent back to France by his commander for a court martial, ending his time in the Foreign Legion.
“
One of the cast had actually been in the Legion, so we took all their real exercises and did them together every day, to concentrate the actors as a group.
”
— Cl aire Denis
56 / 57
“
f e at u r e d films
Women are in the film for sexuality, but they aren’t a part of the world of the Legionnaires.
”
— Cl aire Denis
Beau Travail may well be the ultimate film about strangerhood, since members of the French Foreign Legion are strangers wherever they go. The film has had a phenomenal reception, and it has been shown at more international festivals and received more commentary that any previous of others films. The preoccupations of Beau Travail seem relatively consistent with Denis’ earlier work; what has changed in this film is the level of abstraction, on the one hand, and the increasingly deliberate focus on the male body, in the other. As in other works by Denis, male bodies are investigated and the particular bonds between men are explored, and the complex relation between Africa and France are central. But in Beau Travail there is even less reliance on dialogue than in previous films, and a more emphatic one on bodies as they move through beautiful but desolate landscapes. Rather, the entire film functions as a choreographed ritual. Two narrative threads are particularly important. First, the triangular structure of desire, envy, and jealousy. Galoup adores Bruno Forestier, the commander of his Legion outpost. A new recruit, Gilles Sentain attracts the attention of Forestier when he performs a rescue after a helicopter crash. Galoup immediately perceives Sentain as a threat, and he jumps on an opportunity to expel him from the group. When a soldier is punished, Sertain comes in his aid. The penalty for him is banishment, and it becomes a death sentence when Galoup provides him with
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I c a n ’ t sl e e p
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a broken compass. Yet Sentain is found by members of the local community, who take care of him, it is unclear if he dies or not. Galoup is then punished by expulsion from the Legion. The film unfolds, more or less, as Galoup’s recollection of the drama that led to his expulsion and, we are led to believe, suicide. But never is the relationship between Galoup’s memories and what really happened made clear. It isn’t that Galoup is necessarily an suspect narrator but that his narration is the very symptom explored. The place of women in Beau Travail is one of the most pronounced examples in the film of how abstraction both conjures up the traditional view of the Legion and repudiates it at the same time. For the women may not be a central part of the Legionnaires’s world, but they are definitely part of the spectators’ world. All of the women in the film are black, and they fall into two distinct categories, conjured in the beginning of the film in the contrast between the women on the dance floor and the women whom we see in the train—between, that is, women who let loose, who mug for the camera, whose dress is a combination of European and African, who dance, and those whose movements are controlled, who observe the Legionnaires, and who wear traditional garb, their heads covered. While we see both groups interacting with men, there is also a sense of a communal female identity. The women at the disco provide a sense of female world that could be construed as liberating or constraining. The more traditional women are, perhaps ironically, more defined as independent.
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f e at u r e d films
Beau Tr avail explores the movements of male bodies in the l andscape.
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white m at e r i a l
Denis has alluded to the number of prostitutes in Djibouti, but the women whom we see at the disco in this film are not coded stereophonically as prostitutes. They definitely signify pleasure, however, and they stand in sharp contrast to the women who function as somewhat of women share one characteristic, and that is that they function as observes within the film, witnesses. Denis’ authorial signature is very much tied up in the ways in which women function as observers. She brings a different sensibility to the representation of gender—one in which, most notably, not all women or men are white. But consistently, as Denis’ films ask us to look, and especially to look differently at male bodies, we are asked to consider different configurations of the women who looks.
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did you know?
The French Foreign Legion is a unique militar y
The purpose of the foreign legion was to remove
wing of the French Army established in 1831. The
disruptive elements from societ y and put them to
foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign
use fighting the enemies of France. Recruits
nationals willing to ser ve in the French Armed
included failed revolutionaries from the rest of
Forces. Commanded by French of ficers, it is also
Europe, soldiers from the disbanded foreign
open to French. The reasons and intentions of
regiments, and troublemakers in general, both
legionnaires joining the Foreign Legion, instead
foreign and French. The foreign legion was
of the armed forces of their own countries, is
primarily used, as par t of the “Armée d’Afrique”,
unknown Possible reasons include the majority of
to protec t and expand the French colonial empire
the foreign legion’s ranks being either transient
during the 19 th centur y, but it also fought in
souls in need of escape and a regular wage, or
almost all French wars including the Franco-
refugees from countries undergoing times of
Prussian War and both World Wars. The Foreign
crisis. In recent years, the improved conditions
Legion has remained an impor tant par t of the
and professionalism of the Foreign Legion have
French Army, sur viving three Republics, The
in turn at trac ted a new kind of “vocational”
Second French Empire, t wo World Wars, the rise
recruit, from middle-class backgrounds in stable
and fall of mass conscript armies, the dismantling
and prosperous countries, such as the US, Britain
of the French colonial empire and the loss of the
and France itself. The foreign legion is today
Foreign Legion’s base, Algeria.
known as an elite militar y unit whose training focuses not only on traditional militar y skills but
By 1962 the morale of the foreign legion was at an
also on its strong “esprit de corps” (morale). As
all-time low; it had lost its traditional and spiritual
its men come from countries with dif ferent
home (Algeria), elite units had been disbanded, in
cultures, this is a widely accepted solution to
addition, many of ficers and men were arrested or
strengthen them enough to work as a team.
deser ted to escape persecution. General de
Consequently, training is of ten described as not
Gaulle considered disbanding it altogether. But
only physically challenging, but also extremely
af ter downsizing it to 8,000 men, stripping it of all
stressful psychologically.
heav y weaponr y, the foreign legion was spared, packed up and re-headquar tered in France.
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The Foreign Legion now had a new role as a rapid inter vention force to preser ve French interests not only in its former African colonies but in other nations as well; it was also a return to its roots of being a unit always ready to be sent to hot-spots all around the world. Some notable operations include: the Chadian-Libyan conflic t in 1969–72 (the first time that they were sent in operations af ter the Algerian War), 1978 –79, and 1983 – 87; Kolwezi in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 1978; Rwanda in 1990 –94; and the Ivor y Coast in 2002 to the present.
I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
If it weren’t for
,
fornication and blood
we wouldn’t
be here.
Commander Bruno Forestier to galoup.
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f e at u r e d films
maria vial trying to save her family’s coffee pl antation.
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I c a n ’ t sl e e p
be au t r ava i l
white m at e r i a l
white material 1999 Screening March 16 th | 6pm Immigrée Room discussion
Denis revisits Africa, this time exploring a place rife with civil and racial conflict. A white French family outlawed in its home and attempting to save its coffee plantation connects with a black
March 16 | 8:30pm
hero also embroiled in the tumult. All try to survive as their
Colonisateur Room
world rapidly crumbles around them.
th
White Material is an extraordinarily visceral, potent and very personal rumination on a society turned upside down. In an unnamed African country in the throes of a volatile regime change, Maria Vial is trying to sustain the coffee plantation she runs with her ex-husband André, but unknown to her, he has other plans. The country is tenuously under the control of a rebel militia whose leader is on the run. With the regular army preparing to regain control, French forces have moved out, warning the remaining white residents that they’re on their own if they stay behind. However, Maria refuses to be driven off the land, continuing to run the farm as the specter of impending tragedy looms.
“
My question was, what is it to be white material, white people, who believe, today, in the modern world, that all this bullshit—slavery, things— are gone, far away, colonialism, racism no more, blah blah blah.
”
— Cl aire Denis
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“
Someone who spends childhood in Africa has a different perspective on life. Also, I felt, as a white minority amongst blacks, who were a majority—I felt something that few people feel in Europe.
”
— Cl aire Denis
At one point in Denis’s White Material, Maria, a coffee plantation owner in an African country increasingly torn apart by escalating civil war violence, is driving her grown son, Manuel, on a tractor to bring him medical attention for a minor injury to his foot. Since she has been warned time and again to evacuate for her and her family’s safety, along with the few other French nationals who remain there, she must constantly defend her decision to stay, yet now as she drives on, the rickety machine’s motor drowns out her words. She tells Manuel that there is nothing to worry about, that reports of strife have been exaggerated, and that they cannot give in, yet soon we cannot hear her at all. It’s not just her white pride of ownership that causes such surety, but also her increasingly deranged hubris, one cultivated over years of embodying superiority in a place she has wrongly deemed her own. Of course, postcolonial critiques are not wholly unexpected in French art filmmaking, and neither are dramatizations of war-torn Africa from white perspectives uncommon. Yet with Claire Denis at the helm, this is hardly the same old story. While less abstract than many of her other works, White Material is similarly open-ended and purely experiential, and its way of playing with viewer identification with its protagonist is reminiscent of such previous works. In this case, one might assume initially that the film’s strong Caucasian female lead is in some ways a surrogate both for its implicitly white audience and
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its, well, strong Caucasian female filmmaker. The growing disconnect we feel to the irrational, stubborn Maria, however, makes White Material a frustrating and illuminating experience. Yet Maria is no white devil, and the Africans surrounding her are neither savages nor victims. She evidently views herself both as a special case and just one of the common folk, and her double self-identification as insider and outsider is her downfall. Her refusal to leave, and to keep her coffee plantation in operation naturally requires assistance, and she summons remaining villagers to work for her, none of whose fears she seems willing or equipped to assuage. If this description makes the film seem like a character study, of course Denis approaches it in her usually unconventional way. The narrative is told prismatically, so that we’re constantly shifting in time, watching small events unfold both before and after the town explodes into chaos. At the start of the film, we are thrust into a motion that will never let up, with Huppert desperate to hail a ride from a dusty street in the middle of nowhere; whether she’s trying hysterically to get out or to get back home is initially unclear and remains one of the film’s lingering queries. White Material has a hectic power, fueled by constant unease, culminating in a provocative ending that turns the entire film’s portrait of racial and familial dynamics on its ear.
It is safe.
I have had no trouble.
Maria Vial trying to convince people to work for her.
choc ol at
Maria struggles to go back to her coffee pl antation after the chaos.
M a n no ru n
I c a n ’ t sl e e p
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white m at e r i a l
4
t he city of light
74 / 75
T h e Ci t y of L igh t
exploring paris
e x pl or i ng pa r i s
stay i ng i n pa r is
ta st i ng pa r is
Welcome to Paris! This section was designed especially for you who may visit Paris for the first time. The idea is to give you advices to acquaint you with the City of Light, and help you prepare for this exciting trip. Once you have settled down in your comfortable hotel room and are getting ready to take your first stroll, take some time to dress appropriately. First, put on a really good pair of walking shoes to feel comfortable in the Parisian streets. Walking in Paris means stopping often to look at amazing details and buildings. This constant stop-and-go will wear you down if you aren't comfortable in your shoes. Visiting the Eiffel Tower means waiting often over 30 minutes to gain access to the ticket booth, then waiting some more for the elevator on the way up, and waiting some more for the elevator on the way down. So to your feet, a pair of good shoes will make a big difference. Parisian weather is fickle in springtime and during fall: what starts out as a great clear day can turn rainy and chilly in the afternoon. Pack a sweater and a rain breaker if you are visiting during these seasons. Summer is usually fine (70-85°F), August is generally hotter (80-95°F). Winter is rainy and cold, almost as cold as in NYC. In any case, take your umbrella along, it may become your best friend—especially if you intend to take pictures of everything. Rain and camera lenses don't like each other.
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1 st A r rondissemen t Musée du Louvre is one of the world’s largest museums, the most visited ar t museum in the world and a historic monument. The museum is
The tower is the tallest building in the cit y and the most-visited paid monument in the world. The tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair.
housed in the Louvre Palace which began as a
Musée d’Orsay is housed in the former Gare
for tress built in the late 12 th centur y.
d’Orsay, an impressive railway station. It is best
The Pl ace de l a Concorde is one of the major public squares in Paris. It is located bet ween the cit y’s first and eighth arrondisse-
known for its collec tion of impressionist and post-impressionist pieces by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne, and Van Gogh.
ment. Decorated with statues and fountains, it was here that King Louis XVI was executed.
8 t h a r rondissemen t Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous
3 r d a r rondissemen t Centre G. Pompidou is a complex designed in the st yle of high-tech architec ture. It houses the
monuments in Paris. It honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionar y and the Napoleonic Wars.
Bibliothèque Publique d’Information, the Musée National d’Ar t Moderne, and IRCAM, a centre for
9t h a r rondissemen t
music and acoustic research.
Pal ais Garnier is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1860 to 1875 for the
4t h a r rondissemen t Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic, Catholic cathedral. It is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architec ture in Europe.
5 t h a r rondissemen t Panthéon was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve but, af ter changes, now func tions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens.
6 t h a r rondissemen t
Paris Opera. It also houses the BibliothèqueMusée de l’Opéra de Paris. Although the Librar y-Museum is no longer managed by the Opera and is par t of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France,the museum is included in unaccompanied tours of the Palais Garnier.
12t h a r rondissemen t Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigr ation is a museum of immigration histor y. The museum was conceived in 1989 with a mission to contribute to the recognition of the integration of immigrants into French societ y. The
Jardin du Luxembourg is the second largest
museum’s collec tions include photographs, prints,
public park in Paris. The park is the garden of the
audiovisual materials; objec ts of daily life; and ar t
French Senate, which is itself housed in the
concerning immigration, territor y, and borders.
Luxembourg Palace.
Bastille was a for tress. It played an impor tant role in the conflic ts of France and it was used as a
7 t h a r rondissemen t
prison by the kings. It was built in response to the
L a Tour Eiffel is a puddle iron lat tice tower
English threat to the cit y of Paris during the 100
located on the Champ de Mars. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable struc tures in the world.
Years War. It was stormed during the French Revolution, becoming an impor tant symbol for the Republican movement.
e x pl or i ng pa r i s
stay i ng i n pa r is
ta st i ng pa r is
14t h a r rondissemen t
19t h a r rondissemen t
Parc Montsouris is a public park st yled as an
The Parc de l a Villet te is a park. It was built
English garden, a genre popular since the early
on the site of the huge Parisian slaughterhouses
19 th centur y. The park was ordained by Napoleon
and the national wholesale meat market, as par t
III and Baron Haussmann as par t of a plan to add
of an urban redevelopment projec t.
green areas to Paris.
Parc des But tes Chaumont is a public garden, the third largest of its kind. The main
15 t h a r rondissemen t
feature is the Temple of Sybil which sits at the top
Tour Montparnasse is a tall of fice skyscraper
of an island in the middle of a lake.
construc ted from 1969–72. It was the tallest skyscraper in France until 2011, when it was surpassed in height by the Tour First.
20t h a r rondissemen t Père-L achaise is the largest cemeter y in the cit y. It is reputed to be the world’s most-visited
16 t h a r rondissemen t
cemeter y, at trac ting hundreds of thousands of
Le Stade de Rol and Garros is a tennis
visitors annually to the graves of those who have
venue. It hosts the Roland Garros Tournament, an
enhanced French life over the past 200 years.
event played annually in May and June. The facilit y was construc ted in 1928 and it was named af ter Roland Garros, a pioneer aviator, engineer, and World War I hero, who was killed in aerial combat in 1918. Trocadéro is an area across the Seine from the Eif fel Tower. Five avenues originate in there.
17 t h a r rondissemen t Pal ais des congrès de Paris is a concer t venue and convention centre. The venue was built by French architec t Guillaume Gillet, and was inaugurated in 1974. Parc Monceau is a semi-public park. Its informal layout, cur ved walkways and randomly placed statues distinguish it from the more traditional French-st yle garden.
18 t h a r rondissemen t The Stade de Fr ance is the national stadium and it is the fif th largest stadium in Europe. Basilique du Sacré-Cœur is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica, dedicated to the Sacred Hear t of Jesus. A popular landmark, the basilica is located at the summit of the but te Montmar tre, the highest point in the cit y.
e x pl or i ng pa r i s
stay i ng i n pa r is
ta st i ng pa r is
denis and the cit y
In what is now her trademark, Denis gives generous screen time to interiors and the nuances of the lives within them, making the building a character in the film as well as a metaphor for its residents. Bathing, cooking, smoking, all become clues about who these people are and why we should care. The mysteries aren’t solved on screen, but they certainly feel like they could be. Instead we all feel the hidden connections between ex-lovers, friends, and co-workers. The ghosts of characters and events who aren’t given names or appear in silly flashbacks, are equally as present as those we are watching on the screen. And to give them names, or images, would rob them of their power, because the gap between our imagination and their sublime mystery would be filled. The Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration is a museum of immigration history located in the XIIe arrondissement. The nearest metro station is Porte Dorée. From there visitors can travel to all the main important landscapes in Paris, and get a deep feeling on Denis films.
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T h e Ci t y of L igh t
staying in paris
e x pl or i ng pa r is
s tay i ng i n pa r i s
ta st i ng pa r is
12 st A r rondissemen t a. Hotel de l a Porte Doree The hotel is located a few metro stops from the cit y’s main tourist centre and is close to the Bois de Vincennes. From the hotel, you can walk to the centre of Paris along the ancient Roman viaduc t, transformed into an elevated garden best known as the “coulée ver te”. 273
av e daume snil
B. Ibis Paris Porte Doree is located in the east of Paris, a shor t walk from the Espace Charenton and the Bois de Vincennes. Various bus and metro lines near the hotel of fer access to the cit y’s top tourist at trac tions. 111
boule va r d poni atowsk i .
C. Wat tignies Hotel The quiet location, the ser vices of the hotel, the proximit y of the subway with an easy access to all interests (sightseeing, nightlife, train stations and airpor ts) can allow an enjoyable stay for both business trip for a tour. 6,
rue de wat tignie s
d. Pavillon Bercy Gare de Lyon is a classic and friendly address for your business stays or leasure that will allow you to discover the cit y. Close to the Reuilly market, the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Cour Saint Emilion that illustrate the evolution of the urban landscape. 209-211
rue de ch a renton
11t h a r rondissemen t E. Pavillon Nation is stuated close to the Bastille, Pere Lachaise Cemeter y, and National Librar y. It provides complimentar y wireless Internet access, limo/town car ser vice, conference/meeting rooms, and multilingual staf f. 13
boule va r d de ch a ronne pa ris
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T h e Ci t y of L igh t
Street-sav v y tips
When leaving your hotel avoid taking a taxi during the day, and notably in the morning until 11:00, and in the late afternoon from 4:00 to 8:00. Streets are jam-packed during those periods. Taxi meters show your fare and one of three letters: A, B, or C. If you are within Paris and on the ring outside Paris, the A rate applies from 6:00 PM and 8:00 PM, and the B rate turns on from 8:00 PM till 6:00 AM. When you leave Paris intra-muros, the driver will turn on the B rate during the day and the C rate from 8:00 PM. You will pay extra for every luggage you load and if you take the cab from an airport. Don't try to hail a cab in the street too close to a train station: taxi drivers can't load passengers within a 100-meter radius from the train stations. Armed with these few basic advices, you are ready to conquer the asphalt. On to places to visit.
An artist has
no home
in Europe except in paris.
–Friedrich Nietzsche
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T h e Ci t y of L igh t
tasting paris
e x pl or i ng pa r is
stay i ng i n pa r is
ta s t i ng pa r i s
French people do lunch between 12:00 and 1:30 PM, and dinner between 7:30 and 10:00 PM. If you wish to avoid the crowd, lunch at 12:00 tops and dine out from 6:00 to 7:00 PM. Restaurants rarely serve between 2:00 and 6:00 PM. Having a drink at the terasse of a sidewalk cafe is a necessary experience in Paris (skip it between November and March though,except if weather permits). However, terasse drinks are often charged premium prices. Although they are saddled with a reputation, cafe waiters are not necessarily rude: they're just in a hurry. So don't take offense if they are impatient with you. Smile and show them what you want on the menu. They won't return the smile, but you will get your order quickly. In Parisian restaurants, it is not customary for your waiter to come back to you once you are served to see if everything is alright: they assume this is the case. So don't feel you are ignored: just call the waiter when you wish to have your bread basket replenished. If you dine out at an expensive restaurant, waiters will tend your table diligently. Otherwise, it won't be the case. Gratuity: your restaurant/cafe check already includes a 15% gratuity. If you feel like giving an extra tip to your cafe waiter, leave EUR 1 ($.97) on the table. In a restaurant, you may leave EUR 3-5 ($2.7-4.5, more if you are in an expensive place) but again, that's not expected in either case. Your credit card receipt won't show any gratuity line.
T h e Ci t y of L igh t
88 /89
1 st A r rondissemen t Le Meurice: Anyone wanting a grand-slam
Yam’Tcha: The young cook Adeline Grat tard
experience of Gallic gastronomic grandeur won’t
— one of the still rare female chefs in Paris— did a
do bet ter than the glamorous dining room at the
stint in Hong Kong during which she fell in love
Hotel Meurice in the hear t of the cit y. It’s good
with Asian produce and cooking techniques and
French bones sur vived intac t— mosaic floor,
met her husband Chiwah, who works as the tea
cr ystal chandeliers, heav y damask cur tains at the
steward. At their small charming restaurant near
windows overlooking the Tuileries Gardens across
Les Halles, with a beamed ceiling and ancient
the street—and the space is animated by a
stone walls, Grat tard’s tasting menus change
precise old-school ser vice. Chef Yannick Alléno’s
according to her daily shop, but dishes such as
inventive cooking is based on a deep knowledge
grilled scallops on a bed of bean sprouts in bright
of classical Escof fier vintage culinar y technique.
green wild-garlic sauce and a superb desser t of
Alléno has become a dedicated locavore by
homemade ginger ice-cream with avocado slices
occasionally featuring rare produce from the Ile
and passion fruit deliciously display the finely
de Francer on his regularly evolving menu.
honed culinar y technique and imagination that
228
rue de ri voli ,
lunch and dinner
+ 33 1 44 58 10 10. from mon - fri .
open for
Macéo: Run by Englishman Mark Williamson this handsome restaurant with oxblood walls, wedding cake mouldings and parquet floors overlooks the
won her a Michelin star. 4
rue sau va l ,
+33 1 40 26 08 07.
open for lunch a nd
dinner w ed - sat, sun dinner only.
6 t h a r rondissemen t
Palais Royal in the hear t of Paris. Chef Thierr y
Huitrerie Regis: Tucked away in the hear t of
Bourbonnais not only includes many vegetable
Saint Germain des Pres, this snug shop-front table
dishes on his menu— making this a good choice
with a white facade and interior is the best place
for vegetarians— but features regularly changing
in Paris for a fix of impeccably fresh oysters, which
tasting menus themed around a single vegetable.
are delivered direc tly from France’s Marennes-
Dishes like scallops marinated in sea weed oil on
Oléron region on the Atlantic coast. Depending
a bed of quinoa and wild sea bass with baby
upon availabilit y, prawns, clams and sea urchins
carrots and mange toute on a bed of cumin-
can also be added to your plateau de fruits de
scented bulghur show of f his cosmopolitan st yle.
mer, which will be ser ved with bread and but ter.
Excellent wine list.
A nice selec tion of mostly Loire valley white wines
15
rue des pe tits - ch amps ,
for lunch and dinner
+33 1 42 97 53 85. open mon - fri , sat dinner . closed sun .
Spring restaur ant: This talented American shows of f just how cosmopolitan the cit y’s culinar y talent pool has become, and Parisians have been swooning over dishes such as Basque countr y trout with avocado and coriander flowers
complements the bivalve-centric menu, and a convivial atmosphere is created by the jovial oyster shuckers and many local regulars. 3
rue de montfaucon ,
+33 1 44 41 10 07. open N o re ser vations .
t ue s – sun for lunch a nd dinner .
7 t h a r rondissemen t
and grilled New Caledonian prawns on a bed of
Ze Kitchen Galerie: St yled like the neighbor-
shaved baby fennel. There’s also a wine bar in the
ing ar t galleries on this Saint Germain des Pres
basement, with a selec tion of charcuterie, cheese
side street, this lof t-like white space with parquet
and several plats du jour; and with reser vations
floors is furnished with steel tables and chairs and
tough to land for a table upstairs.
decorated with contemporar y ar t. Chef William
6
B ailleul , + 33 1 45 96 05 72. t ues - sat, lunch w ed - fri . rue
open for dinner
Ledeuil’s popular restaurant of fers an intriguing experience of contemporar y French cooking.
ta s t i ng pa r i s
stay i ng i n pa r is
e x pl or i ng pa r is
Ledeuil, who trained with Guy Savoy, is fascinated
his galet te of finely sliced but ton mushrooms and
by Asia and makes imaginative use of oriental
verjus marinated foie gras dressed with hazelnut
herbs and ingredients in original dishes like
oil, or turbot with baby spinach and sea urchins,
Sardinian malloreddus pasta with a pesto of Thai
both of which are par t of his regularly changing
herbs, parmesan cream and green olive condi-
tasting menus.
ment, or grilled monkfish with an aubergine
4
marmelade and Thai-seasoned sauce vierge.
a nd dinner t ue s – fri .
4
rue des gr ands - augus tins ,
+33 1 44 32 00 32.
open
for lunch and dinner mon - sat.
rue bee thov en ,
+33 1 40 50 84 40.
open for lunch
Les Tablet tes: Signalling a revival of the serious, dressed-up restaurant in Paris, chef Jean-
Thoumieux Restaur ant Gastronomique:
Louis Nomicos’s new table has a dramatic modern
Chef Jean-Francois Piège rebooted Thoumieux, a
basket-weave interior by French interior designer
long-running Lef t Bank brasserie known for its
Anne-Cécile Comar and a dog’s leg banquet te
cassoulet and huge resident cat. While the new
upholstered in apricot velvet. Nomicos, who most
menu and slick Manhat tan supper club décor at
recently cooked at long-running societ y restau-
this address created a lot of buzz, this gastronom-
rant Lasserre, trained with Alain Ducasse and is
ically wit t y young chef ’s talent was never really on
originally from Marseille —which explains the
display here until he opened an intimate first-floor
produce-centric nature of his excellent contempo-
restaurant with a Las Vegas, rat-pack decor by
rar y French cooking and its Provencal accent with
Parisian interior designer India Mahdavi at the
a star ter such as squid and ar tichokes barigoule
same address last autumn. Here you can order a
(cooked with white wine, lemon and herbs) and
single dish, maybe a delicious rif f on paella
veal sweetbreads with a confet ti of lemon pulp
comprised of lobster, langoustines, squid, baby
of fering good examples of his st yle.
clams and cockles in a saf fron-spiked shellfish
16
fumet, and still get a suite of hors d’oeuvres to
for lunch a nd dinner .
star t, a cheese course and desser t. Not surprisingly, this restaurant just won t wo Michelin stars in one fell swoop. 79
rue saint d ominique ,
+33 1 47 05 79 00.
open
daily for dinner only.
av enue buge aud ,
+33 1 56 28 16 16.
open da ily
Le Stell a: Since most of Paris’s storied brasseries are now owned by corporate chains and ser ve willingly mediocre food, it’s a pleasure to head to one of the last remaining independent ones in a quiet corner of the silk-stocking 16th arrondissement for a fine feed of such well-pre-
16 t h a r rondissemen t
:
L’Astr ance A meal at one of these nec plus ultra tables is an investment that just can’t disappoint, and snagging a sought-af ter table at chef Pascal Barbot’s three-star restaurant is well wor th persistence. The smallest and most casual table at the top of the Parisian food chain, this high-ceilinged dining room with mirrored walls, widely spaced tables and friendly ser vice of fers a decidedly 21st-centur y take on French haute cuisine. Barbot loves vegetables, fruit and fresh herbs, and his st yle is brilliantly wit t y and deeply imaginative, as seen in signature dishes such as
pared French classics as onion soup, escargots, sole meunière, steak tar tare, roast lamb and other Gallic standards. The people-watching here might be subtitled “the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie”, ser vice is ef ficient and this place has what the French call du gueule, or real charac ter. 133,
av enue v ic tor hugo ,
+33 1 56 90 56 00.
da ily for lunch a nd dinner .
open
Filmmaking is to me very similar to being in a cafĂŠ somewhere
in Paris
and looking at
the people walking by.
– Claire Denis
© 2011 Cecilia Bissoli All rights reser ved. No par t of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means — graphic, elec tronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without prior writ ten permission.
Designer: Cecilia Bissoli Instruc tors: Hunter Wimmer & Christopher Morlan Typefaces: Avenir & Mrs. Eaves Paper: Nina Paper Environment Printer: Epson St yllus Photo R2880