Category: Paris

38 Movies That Will Transport You to Paris

Musicals, mysteries, and a whole lot of Audrey Hepburn.

Paris has inspired every type of artist over the years, from Impressionist painters to literary giants. But the city perhaps shines the brightest on the big screen, serving as the backdrop to countless movies over the past century. Even before French directors like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut launched a cinematic movement in the 1960s, Hollywood showcased the beauty of Paris in breezy musicals and romances. And since then, we’ve seen the city shine in animated films, white-knuckle thrillers, gritty biopics, and more. Regardless of the genre, one thing’s for sure: The City of Light sure knows how to steal a scene. From Amélie to Ratatouille, here are 35 movies that will transport you to Paris—no plane ticket required

Amélie (2001)

When I think of Paris on film, I think of scenes from Amélie. The quirky 2001 romantic comedy follows the titular character, played by Audrey Tautou, as she flits around her hometown of Paris, observing strangers around her. Though she’s struggling with her own loneliness, she becomes fixated on improving the lives of others, often from afar and with no recognition. The feel-good film was supposedly filmed in over 80 locations throughout the city, so it alone is a whimsical trip through the City of Light. —Megan Spurrell, associate editor

Watch now: Buy from $16, amazon.com

Alphaville (1965)

The genius of Jean-Luc Godard’s hard-boiled dystopian sci-fi flick from 1965 is that it uses the Paris of its day to create a world that feels utterly unlike the place we think of as Paris, then and now. Shooting at night, Godard used the glassy Modernist high-rises of La Défense and other then-new developments on the outskirts of the city to depict the cold, computer-run autocracy of Alphaville, a Brave New World sort of place into which a Humphrey Bogart-ish American detective (played by Eddie Constantine) must go to seek the people’s freedom. The marriage between noir and science fiction that Godard achieved here is one that numerous other filmmakers would seek to replicate, with Ridley Scott in Blade Runner being perhaps the greatest example. —Jesse Ashlock, U.S. editor

Watch now: Rent from $4, amazon.com

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Paris Beaches Open with Floating Cinema on the Seine

Paris Plages (Paris Beaches) opened this year with an outdoor movie showing on the banks of the River Seine, as the city is coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

MK2 Cinemas partnered with the city of Paris to organize this year’s event.

“It’s been years, we’re creating operations to take the cinema out of the cinema rooms as a promotion tool, and after the few months of confinement, we thought we needed a way to tell to the people and to tell to the world that cinemas are open in Paris, that Paris is one of the worldwide capital of cinema, and also to create a way for them to enjoy with their families a magnificent night, said Elisha Karmitz, CEO of MK2 Cinemas.

On Saturday people watched the 2018 French comedy “Le grand bain” from boats or on deck chairs on the Seine’s banks. Some said they felt safer at an open-air screening.

“I already went back to the cinema once, wearing a mask, but I have to admit there is still some apprehension to go back to cinema,” said Luc Bouvier, an attendee. “But here, since it is an open-air screening, there are less doubts, we feel safer.”

Paris Plages is an annual event held in July and August during which roads along the River Seine are closed to turn the waterfront into beach front.

The event was initiated in 2002 by the newly elected Socialist Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, to help people cope with the hot summer in the city.

Source: Paris Beaches Open with Floating Cinema on the Seine | Voice of America – English

Macron vs Yellow Vests

Judges Order Antisemitic Murder Trial Against Two Suspects

L’octogénaire juive avait été tuée à Paris en mars 2018.

The judges in charge of the investigation into the murder of Mireille Knoll, a Jewish octogenarian killed in Paris in March 2018, ordered a assize trial for ” murder of a vulnerable person and committed because of the religion of the victim ” at the against two suspects, AFP learned Monday from concordant sources

On March 23, 2018, the body of this 85-year-old woman, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, was found stabbed with 11 stab wounds and partially charred in her apartment in an HLM, in eastern Paris [ . . . ]

Continue at Le Figaro: Mireille Knoll: Judges Order Antisemitic Murder Trial Against Two Suspects

Tati, much-loved French retailer, shuts up shop in Paris after 70 years

Tati, the much-loved cut-price clothing chain that has been a French retail institution for more than 70 years, is to close its original – and last – Paris store, after public transport strikes and the coronavirus crisis sent sales plunging by more than 60%.Founded by a Tunisian immigrant at the end of the second world war in the mainly west African Barbès district at the foot of Montmartre, Tati grew into more than 100 outlets around France, and its pink-and-white chequered carrier bags became a style statement for film stars and celebrities.

The company has been in difficulty for decades, having struggled to adapt its “pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap” strategy of the early postwar years to a more fashion-conscious clientele seduced by big fast-moving multinationals such as H&M or Primark. [ . . . ]

More at: Tati, much-loved French retailer, shuts up shop in Paris after 70 years | World news | The Guardian