Paris in 2009 : Locations, Locations, Locations.

Sorry for taking so long to update this: I'm lazy at heart.

Anyway here follows the account of my trip to various locations which are important to French Cinema in June 2009 in the city of lights.

First up, I'll hit you up with a list of all the locations either from or relating to Truffaut films. Guess I'd best start with Les Quatre Cents Coupes, which was filmed mainly in the 9th Arrondissement (just north of the Opera towards Place Clichy) and the 18th, Montmartre.

I'll begin with a place which is pretty seminal to Truffaut's films, Place Clichy.

Upon exiting the metro at Place Clichy you find yourself at the location where Antoine catches his mother kissing her lover, and where his mother catches him skipping school! Antoine can also be seen running across the busy roundabout in Baisers Voles , and later on crashing his T.V repairman's car here.  I also think (though I stress that I'm not sure) that the block of apartments on the right hand side of this picture is where Antoine's initial apartment in Antoine et Collete is located. However I'm not really sure about this, as the architecture of Place Clichy has changed a lot since that period, with buildings being removed etc, so it's tough to try and place the building exactly.

Second up is the bridge over Montmartre cemetery, which I believe is where you see Antoine and his friend arguing over the typewriter they just stole from 

his dad's office, in Les Quatre Cents Coupes.

In a little bit of cruel irony, Truffaut would end up buried in the very cemetery this bridge crosses over, decades later. Of course, we visited Truffaut's grave (like you needed to ask), twice actually. The first time, we didn't have anything to leave for him, and his stone was looking bare, so the next day we purchased him a copy of Cahiers Du Cinema from a local news stand, which in a moment of weird coincidence, turned out to be a "5oth Anniversery Of La Nouvelle Vague" edition. Cool huh?

(You can see the copy of Cahiers in the bottom right corner).

Next up is the offices of Les Films Du Carrosse, where Truffaut spent a lot of time in his later years. It's just off the Champs in Rue Robert Essiene and, despite now being long closed, the plaque still remains outside the door, which is pretty nice if you ask me. This was also used as an exterior in Domicile Conjugal and later La Amoure en fuite, as the outside of (though not the courtyard, as far as I'm aware) Antoine & Christine's apartment.

I was tempted to go in, as I'm pretty sure the stairway to the top floor is the one used for the apartment too, but I figured the owners would be less than pleased, and have probably had crazed Truffaut fans doing similar stuff before.

Finally, I don't think any Truffaut photo-blog would be complete without a shout of the Tour Effiel, as he loved the damned thing so much. Pretty much every one of his films set in Paris features some kind of homage to the tower, so this is mine.

In case you can't tell, this is taken from just in front of the Trocadero Palace, which used to house the cinematheque Francaise. (Remember the opening shot of Baisers Voles?). I tried to track down the old "Cinematheque" sign, but it's now gone unfortunately, as the building now houses some weird acquairium called "Cineaqua". Fitting, I guess. For more Truffaut locations and some nice Truffaut music to accompany it, check out my video collage here and comment!

Coming tomorrow is a similar post on locations from Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain. 

Allow me to introduce myself.....

Hi there! I guess a good place to start with this thing would be to introduce myself and try and outline exactly what I think I'll be doing here.

I'm Lee, I'm a 19 year old Film student from Scotland, and I'm currently beginning my third year of my degree. Over the last two years, I've become obsessed with the cinema of France, particularly that of the Nouvelle Vague, but also Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Perhaps in homage to the latter, I shall present the following list:

Things I like:

The films of François Truffaut

The film criticism of Cahiers du Cinema during the 50's.

People who think Truffaut, despite not being as immediately "groundbreaking" as Godard, is still the better film maker.

The films of Jean-Luc Godard (though not as much as Truffaut).

Paris, in particular, parts of Paris which feature in Nouvelle Vague films!)

Frank Zappa (including his films).

FC Barcelona.

Things I don't like:

People who think Godard is better than Truffaut!

People who don't like Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain purely because it achieved commercial success. 

Living in small-town Scotland and not big-city Paris!

Real Madrid

People who say the French are rude when in actual fact, they are only responding to the rudeness of the person in the first place.

So I guess that kind of sums me up to an extent. Here's a couple more key facts:

I don't speak French, I actually speak decent Spanish, but when it comes to French, I can rhyme off 100 names of French films in French, but I have absolutely 0% awareness of the grammar. Nothing. Zilch. I'd like this to change, as I feel I spend too much time reading the subtitles for most of my favorite films and, in the process, miss some essential stuff which is happening on screen. I'll update you on the progress of my quest for French knowledge.

So what am I going to do with this blog then, I hear you ask?  

I intend to write on anything French-cinema related, for example, if I watch a film by Truffaut, Chabrol , anybody, then I'll post a summary of my feelings towards the film here. Don't think of it as a review, because I think reviews are absolutely useless. Instead I'll only write positive stuff which I think sums up the spirit of the film and would draw potential viewers towards it. Oh and, here's a point, I also intend to write about films which are set in France, but not necessarily made by French film makers per-se, as I think there's a couple of films that fall into this category which certainly embody the spirit of France.

I'll also write about interesting articles produced by French film makers who were at one point critics, or indeed books on French film makers in general. I'll also write about one man who never got round to making a film in his life (though he was working on one prior to his death), Andre Bazin. I find his writing to be fascinating, and absolutely essential to understanding my love for French cinema.

Finally, my first blog entry-proper will fall into an altogether different category, I intend to write about my recent trip to Paris, where I visited several iconic locations from French cinema, as well as visiting the grave of my hero, Mr Truffaut himself. I'll also tell the epic tale of how I thought I'd found Andre Bazin's grave, but didn't, and probably would have if I spoke French.

Anyway, if you're at this point, thanks for putting up with my rambling. I'd like to pretend it's my writing "style" but really it's just laziness. I'll try and condense as much as possible in the future!