french media pre*paris blog ii
i understand how historians chose a living: i mean, sometimes research is easier (& more enjoyable) than output. as in, i ’m a bit addicted to my pre-paris parisian research in anticipation of march’s trip.
and reading every book and watching all the movies and shows that feature paris? well, i could keep this up for a while.
at some point, of course, one must do the work. alas: we’ll call this blog a hobby. but all feeding the eventual art.
and so I carry on. “refilling the well” as they call it for us writer and artist types. “self-care” is also an acceptable term. something done for the pure, glorious fun of it.
if it turns into something else? so be it.
okay.
welcome to the second installment of french media i’ve digested since the last time i typed at you:
forget paris (1995)
starring: billy crystal, debra winger
written and directed by: the brilliant & hilarious billy crystal
bonus points: an actor who created his own project. and music by one of my faves: marc shaiman (i.e. composer of the down with love score and hairspray the broadway musical, among many others.)
double bonus: unlike a lot (most?) of the films that center around paris, it looks like at least some of this film was actually filmed in paris! hurray!! there was also a red balloon (coming later in this blog post) visual reference in front of the eiffel tower.
unique narrative structure: the story is told within the framework of our main character’s best friends telling his love story to one of the friend’s brand new fiancé at a birthday party. so friends as storytellers + flashbacks to the story itself. a little more interesting & entertaining than the usual linear meet cute/breakup/resolution telling of a tale.
best bits: the banter between billy crystal and debra winger. and i also re-watched the on-court/sideline banter between billy crystal (a professional NBA referee in the film) the famous basketball players of the 1990’s. (who, yes, i actually recognized all of them; i was very obsessed with USA’s “dream team” of the 1992 olympics.)
some fave moments:
“i’ve never been to paris. & i was thinking, maybe i should do some sightseeing.”
“sightseeing? in paris? what a bizarre notion.”
“whattya got here? you got anything?”
“we got some stuff.”
“yeah? like what kind of stuff?”
“would you like to see the eiffel tower?”
“that’s here?!”
“do you dream in french or english?””
“french with english subtitles.”
the red balloon (1956)
(or, in french, le ballon rouge)
written, produced, & directed by: albert lamorisse
not until twelve minutes in do we have any dialouge. it’s a mostly silent film, and comes in at only about 34 minutes or so. the protagonist is a blond little boy and his round-as-a-lollipop perfectly-red balloon against the gray landscape of paris. (no monuments, but the bonus features said it was, indeed, paris.)
this film won the Oscar for best original screenplay, and the music is as much a narrator as anyone (prokofiev’s peter-and-the-wolf-esque to my untrained music ear.)
no spoilers, but i’m gonna go ahead and tell you that pixar’s UP’s iconic visual was not an original concept.
sabrina (1954)
starring: audrey hepburn, humphrey bogart, william holden
film by: billy wilder (who also directed the quintessential sunset blvd.)
adapted from the stage play sabrina fair by samuel taylor
this was audrey’s second big screen appearance (her debut was roman holiday which won her an Oscar).
while I’ve seen this sabrina a number of times, i am even more familiar with the 1995 remake of sabrina i grew up on. (the one starring greg kinnear, harrison ford, and julia ormond.)
the only thing “paris” about the 1954 version is a bad screen background of the eiffel tower outside of the fake window of sabrina’s cooking school—a frame device which is used to show the passage of time as her chauffeur father reads her letters home aloud to the estate staff. the snow falling outside the “window,” and sabrina’s lengthening ponytail, indicate the passage of time until she returns home with that infamous pixie haircut.
there’s also a “view” of sacré coeur (again, i’d never noticed it as a paris landmark before booking this trip to montmartre in march!) as she writes a letter home. and “lavie en rose” plays…
favorite lines:
“i have learned how to live… and not just to stand aside and watch.”
“i was happy in paris. i think you would have been, too.”
eloise in paris (1957)
written by: kay thompson
illustrated by: hilary knight
“room service, and charge it, please!”
six-year old eloise is my plaza hotel-dwelling hero.
and in this heavily-illustrated book, eloise takes nanny (and weenie and skipperdee, too) on a luxurious, exhausting romp through paris!
the illustrations absolutely blow my mind: the gestures of the characters, the line quality, the spot color (pink!) used so effectively against the black and white humorous sketches. the accuracy and stylistic simplicity of the famous monuments. the subtle cameos of friends of the author and illustrator: christian dior designing a custom dress for eloise. yves saint laurent as his assistant. richard avedon as the passport photographer.
the whole thing is charming and brilliant and filled absolument with true joi de vivre. including the ridiculous fact that a six year-old comes home with her handmade champagne cork necklace collected from all the bottles she and nanny have drunk while away…
hugo
book written & illustrated by: brian selznick (2007)
movie directed by: martin scorcese (2011)
this book absolutely blew me away the first time i read it. it looks like a GIANT book, but it’s mostly pictures, i promise. storyboard-like giant full-page spread drawings that lead you further and further into the story as it unfolds. it even won the caldecott medal (given annually to an illustrated book), which i think had otherwise only gone to picture books. not novels.
i don’t want to give any spoilers, except to say i love both tellings of this story: the book and the movie are absolute magic in their own ways.
also highly recommend the movie bonus features for the real history behind the story and how the movie was made. (hopefully your library has a copy; if we’re friends IRL, i miiiiight let you borrow my blu-ray. or at least come over and re-watch it with me.) ;)
noticed this rewatch: the whole thing is complementary colors! orange against blue. it’s like a sepia-toned antique postcard with bright cerulean highlights here and there.
i also downloaded the soundtrack to write my next book by. (gorgeous atmospheric music by howard shore; only a couple tracks i have to skip that get too tense!)
quotes to live by:
“if you ever wondered where your dreams come from, look around. this is where they’re made.”
“why are you helping me?”
“because this might be an adventure. and i’ve never had one before. outside of books, at least.”
and martin (“marty”) scorcese on making the film: “[we wanted to] recreate the atmosphere of the first films being made; [george méliès’] influence is everywhere.”
midnight in paris (2011)
written and directed by: woody allen
starring: owen wilson & rachel mcAdams (plus playing other-famous-people cameos by the likes of kathy bates, tom hiddleston, adrien brody, & then some)
the first four minutes of this film are just atmospheric music set against establishing shots of the city. the famous monuments, the streets, a rainfall… a full parisian day across the city as dawn turns into night.
the concept for the film came to woody allen first as just the title. it sounded romantic. as romantic as paris itself. he filmed it in warm and yellow tones and filled the story with amusing, satirical versions of the now-famous people we know from 1920’s paris: ernest hemingway, gertrude stein, salvador dali, pablo picasso, f. scott & zelda fitzgerald, man ray, and more and more… also unique about it? the long takes. it feels almost more like a play as they would shoot 4-5 pages of script in one take instead of the quick-cuts that take you out of the story… it let the actors have FUN and stay in the moment.
this movie lives in my top ten all-time favorite movies and i don’t get sick of re-watching it.
and while i may be going to paris myself with owen wilson’s overly-romantic mindset of the city, i’m totally okay with that.
fave quotes:
“you’re in love with a fantasy.”
“if you’re a writer, declare yourself a writer. but you’re not the best as long as I’m around.” (as said by fake ernest hemingway. ha!)
funny face (1957)
starring: audrey hepburn, fred astaire
music by: george & ira gershwin
directed by: stanley donen
costumes: edith head
audrey’s paris wardrobe: givenchy
background color consultant: richard avedon
special thanks to: harper’s bazaar (not sure why; maybe how magazines are run and fashion shoots created? was an interesting opening credit note to me!)
the whole thing has a fashion magazine aesthetic. it’s bold and colorful, and while most people only talk about this movie because of the [rawther large] age gap between audrey & fred, i’m not going to argue with a great film over that casting detail.
audrey is a mousey clerk at a hole-in-the-wall philosophy bookstore, and fred’s magazine is looking for the next model to be the every-woman. audrey agrees to model only because her philosophical teacher hero is in paris (head of the “empathacists.”) antics ensue.
while there are a lot of soundstage dance numbers, it does seem as if some of this movie was filmed in paris?? (particularly when they dance on the sidewalk and next to the river?)
dance bonus: audrey’s impromptu dance in the underground philosophy club may give wednesday addams some new moves ideas for season two of netflix’s wednesday…
quotes to remember:
“i’d be in paris now if i could afford it.”
“who goes to Paris for lectures?”
“she’s got to be more than alright. she’s got to have pizzaz.”
“now what’s wrong with bringing out a girl who has character, spirit, and intelligence?”
“that certainly would be novel in a fashion magazine.”
“can you make me some black & while enlargements… let me study the possibilities.”
“if anyone tries to stop me, there will be plenty of hair cut. and it won’t be mine.”
“i can’t stop! take the picture! take the picture!”
“the books are here.”
“modeling may not be as bad as you think. and if it is, at least you’ll be in paris.”