Nick Hammond
Bedbugs and Other Paris Vermin
Invasion of the Mutant Super-Rats
Recently, the press in France – and especially in other countries – has been whipped up to a frenzy with stories about Paris being infested by bedbugs (punaises de lit in French). After all, nothing energizes commentators writing about other … Read More
L’Été Dernier (Last Summer)
Echoes of Phaedra
Writer and filmmaker Catherine Breillat made her name with explicit, prolonged depictions of sex and sexuality, perhaps most notoriously in Romance (1999), in which she directed Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi in a number of unsimulated sex scenes, and À … Read More
Lohengrin
Wagner at War
The first night of Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s Paris Opera début at the Bastille was destined to be a sensational event. Serebrennikov, who has always been outspoken in his home country over such issues as LGBTQ rights (he is openly … Read More
Yannick
(Dangerously) Live Onstage!
Quentin Dupieux is one of the most original, innovative and downright wacky movie directors around. All his films have started from a completely absurd premise; for example, in Deerskin, the protagonist falls in love with a deerskin jacket that speaks … Read More
Mon Crime
French Stars Camp It Up
Mon Crime is the latest in the extraordinary number of movies that director François Ozon manages to churn out at a very regular rate. Since his first short film in 1988, he has released at least one movie per year … Read More
Arrête avec Tes Mensonges
A Beautiful Betrayal
Adapting a much-loved novel for the big screen is always a fraught business: how do you keep the book’s readers happy while at the same time creating a piece that can stand on its own as a cinematic work? Philippe … Read More
Les Césars
French Oscars in Review
’Tis very much the season for cinema awards, with the Golden Globes, BAFTAS and Oscars following close on each other’s heels. Squeezed into the mix this last Friday was the French equivalent, the Césars, and it was good to see … Read More
Tristan und Isolde
Visual and Sonic Glories
The famous Paris Opera production of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde by director Peter Sellars, in collaboration with video artist Bill Viola, makes another welcome return to the Bastille. There is a reason why this production has remained in the … Read More
Le Lycéen
On the Cusp Between Childhood and Adulthood
Director Christophe Honoré has spoken of his latest film Le Lycéen (Winter Boy), which evokes the death of his father when Honoré was only 15, as his most personal yet. He has chosen, however, not to place the action in … Read More
MeanWeill: Berlin to Broadway (via Paris)
The Gritty, Bittersweet World of Weill
One of the joys of Paris is how often unexpected performances pop up in unlikely locations. I had been to La Cave Café in the 18th arrondissement before, but I imagined that the bar’s name (“cave” means “cellar”) hinted only at huge … Read More