It’s been five years since my last Movie Week, an annual event in Los Angeles when I’d take a survey of the moviegoing landscape by going to a movie in a different theater every night for a week. I did it for five years between 2008 and 2012. Many reasons contributed to the hiatus—two kids and moving from L.A. mean that “I’m going to a movie, again!” is an explanation that falls on deaf ears at home, and plus, there aren’t seven movie theaters to go to, much less seven different theaters year after year.
But this year, a work trip to Paris, my first time there in this more film-focused phase of life, meant an opportunity to sample some of the legendary cinemas of this cinema-loving city and, in retrospect, revisit the Movie Week idea. I didn’t manage to visit a new cinema for seven consecutive nights (only six, désolé), but did manage to hit eleven cinemas in those six days. So while it wasn’t a typical one-a-day Movie Week, it was a great opportunity to see some wonderful films and visit some amazing, historic, and very, very French cinemas.
- Lion (DCP) at MK2 Bibliotheque
- The Big Heat (35mm) at Le Desperado
- Stranger Than Paradise (DCP) at La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin
- Queen Christine (DCP) at Le Brady
- The Shop Around the Corner (35mm) at Christine 21
- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (DCP) at Cinéma Le Champo – Espace Jacques Tati
- Certain Women (DCP) at Grand Action
- Forbidden Planet (35mm) at the Cinémathèque française, Salle Georges Franju
- The Howling (35mm) at the Cinémathèque française, Salle Henri Langlois
- Logan (DCP) at Le Grand Rex
- The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (35mm) at the Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé
MK2 Bibliothèque My first day in the city, and without anything to do for the conference I was there for, I headed to the nearest cinema for a matinee of Lion. For your everyday urban megaplex, you could do a lot worse. Lovely red seats, nice gentle rake and great sightlines.
Cinema Le Desperado After some conference stuff during the day, I headed out to Le Desperado, one of the many cinemas along Rue des Ecoles. I wasn’t sure they were showing films in 35mm, but they didn’t announce that they were screening DCPs, so I figured there was a chance. The cinema was tiny, with an improbable, off-center projection booth with, sure enough, a single 35mm projector visible through the porthole. I enjoyed The Big Heat, which I hadn’t seen since college, though I did face some pushback from the ticket-seller, who didn’t budge until I asked for the film in French, “Règlement de comptes”… To complete the picture, a fellow filmgoer, one of only a few other people there, fell asleep and started snoring. Perfect!
La Filmothèque Quartier Latin At the end of my first day, I was heading back to the Metro from Le Desperado when I came across La Filmothèque, still hopping at 10pm, with a DCP (numérique 2K) screening of Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise about to start. It was a cozy little screening room with a big screen, and provided a great way to top off the evening.
Le Brady Paris is home to dozens of cinemas, and before my visit, I’d narrowed them down to a somewhat more manageable list of the most notable ones which I’d try to visit. Le Brady was on that list, and the next day, I headed up after the day’s events for a screening of Queen Christine. I got there late and rushed out afterwards trying to catch another film (which didn’t end up happening), so no photo. There was a book signing and talk going on connected with the screening, which made the whole thing run a little long (and which my night school French didn’t prepare me too well for), but the space itself was great: a lovely archway topped with neon outside, and a cozy downstairs screening room with the requisite red seats. Imagine if this were your neighborhood cinema…
Christine 21 Maybe my favorite of all the cinemas I visited, for many reasons: the neighborhood, the ambience, the projection, the entire experience… I saw a 35mm print of The Shop Around the Corner here, not realizing at the time that the film and this theater have a special connection: one of the only bits of information on the cinema’s Wikipedia page describes the 1986 “rediscovery” of the film in France, and tells of how more than 130,000 people came to see it in its extended run at the cinema. The cinema was considerably less crowded the night I was there, but what a joyous experience to see a nice print in this wonderful cinema.
Le Champo—Espace Jacques Tati, less than a hundred meters from La Filmothèque, is a beautiful space with a surprisingly small auditorium, where I caught a screening of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. It was a bit of a surprise to see the George Eastman House logo at the head of a film playing in a commercial cinema, but that’s Paris… I really wish this had been a print rather than a DCP; for some reason, this experience, with this film in particular, and this cinema in particular, made me feel a deep sense of loss. The DCP felt flat and lifeless, despite the ravishing Technicolor spectacle it presented. The little twinkling stars on the ceiling of the auditorium were a nice touch, though.
Grand Action Another absolute gem of a Rue des Écoles cinema. Wonderful cinema-themed murals throughout the entrance and hallways, and a nice, roomy auditorium. I’d missed Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women on its release in the U.S., so it was a treat to be able to catch it here, and be transfixed among the cinema literati in Paris.
Le Grand Rex houses the largest screening room in Europe, with a capacity of 2,800, and I figured it would be a great place to see Logan one night. There was even an original language, subtitled screening—perfect! Too bad that screening was in a tiny second auditorium, while the film was playing dubbed in French in the large hall. I had missed the screening in the big room and wouldn’t have a chance to go back, so I decided to see the film in the smaller space and hope to return to the big hall on another trip.
La Cinémathèque Français was home to the conference I presented in and festival I attended, so I watched a bunch of films in both the small (Franju) and large (Langlois, seen here) salles, both of which were roomy and well-appointed.
And finally, Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, a museum with an incredible technology collection and a lovely cinema, was home to one of the silent screenings with live accompaniment that took place as part of the festival. A very nice spot, in a beautiful new building.
