La soirée des sœurs jumelles

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (Catherine Deneuve and her sister Françoise Dorléac)

Have you ever had a twin sister?
I was personally so lucky to find one in my life some years ago: her name is Patricia, like Jean Seberg in À bout de Souffle, and not only she has her same name but she really looks like her. 
This was, of course, the reason why I talked to Patricia the first time I met her. 
Few months later (I was still living in Italy) I went to visit her in Paris and from that very moment on it was "friendship at first sight"!
Patricia and I found out to have in common, among many other things, an unconditional love for Jacques Demy. 
We even made together some pilgrimages on Demy’s movies places: Nantes (where Patricia comes from, by the way) and Rochefort, because “our” movie is Les Demoiselles de Rochefort.
When a couple of weeks ago I received from the Cinémathèque Française the invitation to a very special avant-première of their exhibition on Jacques Demy, I didn’t even have to think about the person who has to be there with me. Evidently enough, c’était ma jumelle!
So, Monday night at 7 pm, we were ready to enter the enchanting world of Monsieur Demy.
And enchanted we were! 

The exhibition is a must-see for any Demy fan in the world: the entire fifth floor of the Cinémathèque has been split in small rooms containing the different Demy universes, corresponding to each of his movies. 
From the Nantes of Lola, to the one of Une chambre en ville, from the wonderful papier-peints of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, to the reproduction of the art gallery in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, you are happy to be swallowed up by the world created by Jacques Demy and his collaborators (oh, the magnificent costumes of Peau d'Âne!). 
I particularly liked the pictures taken on the different sets by Agnès Varda, and the small objects that make a big difference, like the congratulations letters received by his friends (Truffaut, Cocteau...) and the card invitations to the avant-première of his movies.

Madame Emery and Roland Cassard - Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

Invitation to the avant-première of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort

The sumptuos costumes of Peau d'Ane

Around 8 pm, the space was full, and one can easily imagine to be in a Demy movie: besides his family (wife Agnes Varda, son Mathieu and stepdaughter Rosalie), many of the actors of his movies were there: Anouk Aimée, Michel Piccoli, Jacques Perrin, Dominique Sanda, Mathilda May, Richard Berry, Jean-François Stévenin, were walking around, amazed.
Many cinema stars were at the appointment as well: Michel Gondry, Jane Birkin, Virginie Ledoyen, Costa Gavras, Lambert Wilson, Salma Hayek, Claudia Cardinale, Valérie Donzelli et Jérémie Elkaïm, Louise Bourgoin, Déborah François, Agathe Bonitzer, Guillaume Gouix (Serge, the killer of Les Revenants), Melvil Poupaud (at his best!), and even secretive French film-maker Leos Carax, with his unavoidable black glasses. 
The royal touch was gently provided by the Prince Albert of Monaco, who apparently is a huge Demy fan. The only one missing, evidently enough, was Catherine Deneuve. Was she out of France? Difficult to believe, but not hard to understand why this event could be way too emotional for her. 

Geneviève and Madame Emery - Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

And emotional is the word I would use to describe the next best thing of the soirée: a special concert by one of Jacques Demy’s best friends and most precious collaborators, Michel Legrand. The musician, 81 years old and the enthusiasm of a 20something, played with his small band many songs from Demy’s movies with a new, jazzy, fabulous arrangement.
Patricia and I burst into tears several times, trying (uselessly enough) not to let the other being aware of that, but at the end, when a picture of Jacques Demy invaded the screen, and Legrand kept looking at him, waving a good bye, we both cried without restraint.  

Les soeur jumelles ont le cœur doux! 

Michel Legrand - The Cinémathèque Concert

We definitely needed a glass of champagne to overcome the difficult moment. 

Luckily enough, the Merveilleux Cocktail offered by Dalloyau was the grand final de la soirée. 
The problem with my twin sister and I, is that we really love champagne, and when we start drinking it, well, it is difficult to stop us. And then we become even more sociable than we normally are. 
This basically means we went to talk to any actor/actress we vaguely love who was in the room (I personally wanted to put my arms around Melvil Poupaud but since there was his family there I just told him how fabulous he was in the last Dolan's movie). 
I have to confess that the one who had to pay dearly for our uncontrollable enthusiasm was Mathieu Demy: we first met him in the exhibition, while we were taking a pictures of ourselves near Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (and he was already laughing a lot), but then we saw him from a balcony where the cocktail was taking place and we kept stupidly waving at him, and in the end we just blocked him in a corner. He looked scared. We said: "Don’t worry, we are not as crazy as we look!" We confessed him all our love for his father, and all the things we have done because of that, and once our speech was over, Mathieu looked really impressed and he even drank a glass of champagne with us. 
Truth is, he couldn’t stop laughing. 
My twin sister and I can be pretty funny, c'est vrai... At least five different people that night came to see us, asking: "Are you twin sisters?" Of course we are, can’t you see THAT??!

And this is La chanson des Jumelles of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort:

Tutte le strade portano a Parigi

Vi sarà successo, immagino, che un bel giorno una cosa che avevate sognato tutta la vita sia diventata realtà. Ecco, a me è capitato il giorno in cui mi sono trasferita a Parigi.
Nel mio personalissimo immaginario, questa città era la mia città, perché tutte le strade, qui, portano al cinema. Al cinema che mi piace, al cinema che quando ci penso (mi basta una sola inquadratura, un solo fotogramma), il cuore invia un messaggio di benessere e felicità assoluta a tutto il resto del corpo. Da quando sto qui, non passa giorno senza che mi capiti di pensare: ma ci vivo veramente, in questa città? Intendo dire: un posto dove se mi gira prendo un metrò e in 10 minuti sono sugli Champs Elysées e posso mettermi ad urlare a squarciagola: New York Herald Tribune??!!! Ebbene sì, è vero, è reale! 

In questi anni ho accumulato una quantità ridicola di libri sui luoghi di Parigi in cui sono stati girati dei film, e ogni tanto mi diverto a fare dei pellegrinaggi “a tema”, ma una cosa davvero carina che mi succede ultimamente, è che riconosco i posti guardando un film. E non perché li ho visti in un libro, li ho proprio visti con i miei occhi! 
Questo fine settimana, ad esempio, colta da tristezza autunnale, ho rivisto due classici del cinema francese. Molto (ma molto, eh!) diversi tra loro per temi e stile, ma entrambi super famosi e indispensabili: Belle de Jour di Luis Buñuel (1967) e Un homme et un femme di Claude Lelouch (1966).
E mentre ero lì che ammiravo i vestitini Yves Saint Laurent sfoggiati da Catherine Deneuve (a proposito: auguri alla Deneuve che proprio ieri ha compiuto 69 anni!), ecco che, quando entra nel palazzo dove va tutti i pomeriggi dalle 14 alle 17 a prostituirsi, mi sembra di cogliere nel luogo un’aria vagamente familiare. Ma certo, è la corte in cui abita il mio amico Denis nel 13° arrondissement! Capite? Ho amici che abitano dove lavorava Belle de Jour! 

Rivedendo il film di Lelouche, invece, mi sono resa conto che Anouk Aimée abitava a Montmartre, al 14 di Rue Lamarck, praticamente dietro casa mia. Una mia vicina, insomma. 
Ebbene sì, continua la mia grande passione per i film degli anni ’70 (vi ricordate la mia recensione dei 3 Giorni del Condor?). Ho scoperto di avere questa nostalgia mista a struggimento per un modo di essere e di vivere che oggi mi sembra completamente perduto. La tenerezza, ad esempio, di sentir dire ad Anouk Aimée il suo numero di telefono: Montmartre 15-40! O cose come i telegrammi, la posta pneumatica (una mia ossessione!), i vecchi autobus parigini con la parte posteriore tutta aperta. Per non parlare della reazione di Jean-Louis Trintignant alla lettura del telegramma di Anouk Aimée, in cui lei gli ha appena scritto: "Je vous aime". Parte immediatamente da Montecarlo e si fa 5.000 km in macchina di notte per poter essere la mattina presto in Rue Lamarck! (uomini come Jean-Louis Trintignant, se siete lì fuori da qualche parte battete un colpo! Anche due, che a furia di aspettare siamo pure diventate un po’ sorde). E quel monologo bellissimo che gli parte nella testa ad un certo punto del tragitto sul fatto che lei sia una donna notevole per aver avuto il coraggio di scrivergli quelle parole. O la mitica scena in cui al ristorante, dopo aver ordinato la cena, richiama il camiere e gli chiede: "Garçon, avete delle camere?" Non ci posso quasi credere che sono qui che mi sdilinquisco su un film di Lelouche, ma tant’è. 

Immagino che la colpa sia sempre di quel sogno iniziale, quello di vivere a Parigi. 
E del fatto che tutti i giorni, sul treno locale che dal mio paesello natìo mi portava a scuola a Pavia, mi fermavo a guardare il poster che un genio incompreso aveva piazzato nella sala d’aspetto della stazione di Villamaggiore. Un dipinto di Bernard Buffet del 1963 (a tinte piuttosto cupe ed invernali, per altro): il retro della cattedrale di Notre-Dame, la Senna, un ponte. Ma tanto bastava per lasciarsi trasportare lontano.
All’epoca, per poter credere di andare a vivere a Parigi, un giorno, bisognava avere davvero una fervida immaginazione. Ma quella, per fortuna, non mi è mai mancata.



E una piccola sorpresa finale: Deauville Sans Trintignant di Vincent Delerm
(con tanto di dialogo citato da Zazie nel post!)

Things to do in Paris when you are on holiday

Zazie is about to go on holiday, but this doesn’t mean that the city where she lives stop going to the movies... unfortunately!

Even if I’m very happy to go away for a while, I know that I will surely miss all the great things that will happen while I’m not here. So, for friends and readers staying in town, these are the cinema things you absolutely can’t miss in Paris this summer!!!

John Cassavetes Movies

Five of the greatest movies by American director John Cassavetes have been restored and are now distributed in Paris cinemas. Don’t miss masterpieces like Opening Night, A woman under influence, Shadows, Faces and Death of a Chinese bookmaker.

I personally watched Opening Night last saturday and I found it absolutely modern, intense and very powerful. Gena Rowlands is to die for. I strongly suggest you to see them all!

Lola by Jacques Demy

A restored version (un grand merci à Ciné-Tamaris, Fondation Gan pour le Cinéma et Fondation Technicolor!) of the masterpiece by Jacques Demy, Lola (1961), will be out in Paris cinemas on July 25. Isn’t that great?

And for you lucky people who are going to be in town today, July 26, at the Cinéma Arlequin there will be a special screening at 8 pm with Agnès Varda (Jacques Demy’s widow) and adorable French actress Anouk Aimée (who played Lola).

Don’t miss this enchanting movie and the presence of two great ladies of French cinema (and of cinema tout court!).

50^th Anniversary of Jules & Jim by François Truffaut

Oh, yes, could you believe it? 50 years have passed since the creation of one of the most unforgettable movies of all cinema history. Now you can watch it seated in a comfortable cinema seat in a restored and shiny version. What are you waiting for? RUN!

Parc de la Villette – Cinéma en plein air (July 25 – August 26)

La Villette is back as every summer with a nice program of movies en plein air. This year’s theme is “Métamorphoses”. What I really like about this event is that, usually, contemporary movies are not contemplated. There is always a bunch of interesting films from different times and different parts of the world. This year, you can see some fabulous movies by David Cronenberg, Michel Gondry, Michael Mann, Clint Eastwood, Spike Jonze, Don Siegel, Milos Forman, Ken Loach, Tim Burton, François Ozon and many others.

Cinéma au Clair de Lune – 12^th Edition (August 1-12)

The Forum des Images takes its Quartiers d'été as every summer in the street of Paris for my favourite cinéma en plein air, the one Au Clair de Lune! The idea is to see movies set in Paris in the same area of the city where they have been filmed. A couple of years ago, for example, I have seen A bout de Souffle by Godard in a garden on the Champs Elysées... useless to say, it was great!
In this year's edition there are two movies I simply adore: César et Rosalie by Claude Sautet (1972) and Les Demoiselles de Rochefort by Jacques Demy (1967). I have to confess this last one is set in Rochefort and I dond't understand what it has to do with Les Invalides where it is going to be showned but who cares: any excuse is good to see this adorable movie by my beloved Demy!

Bande-annonce Cinéma au clair de lune di forumdesimages
Have a great Parisian Summer, dear readers!