Heidi Ellison
The Discovery of France
Back-Road Trip to the Past
Graham Robb, author of biographies of Balzac, Victor Hugo and Rimbaud, has now written what might be called a biography of France, The Discovery of France (Picador), which takes the reader back through time and into forgotten corners of the … Read More
L’Homme qui Marche
The Mystery of a Man
L’Homme qui Marche is a short, elliptical film that takes us on a long, slow, nearly silent walk through Paris over a period of 14 years, between 1974 and 1998, in the company of one man. Victor Atemian (played by … Read More
La Graine et le Mulet
Too Much of a Good Thing
Here is a film that just misses out on being great for lack of an editorial scalpel. La Graine et le Mulet, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and winner of three prizes at the Venice Film Festival, has an engaging plot … Read More
Actrices
Actresses Acting Up
How strange to watch a deeply misogynistic film written, directed by and starring women. In Actrices, directed by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, most of the female characters are depicted as highly irrational and hysterical (if not insane) sexual predators whose main … Read More
Faut que Ça Danse
The Tyranny of the Family
If Tolstoy were alive today, he might have rephrased the famous first sentence of Anna Karenina to read: “Happy families are all alike; every dysfunctional family is dysfunctional in its own way.” Faut que ça Danse (Gotta Dance), directed by … Read More
Hôtel Pavillon Nation
Stars Come Out in Humble Hood Original design touches include sinks made of white pebbles embedded in red resin. As real estate costs rise and gentrification spreads through Paris, the area around Nation, once considered a less-than-desirable residential backwater on … Read More
Hôtel Lumen Paris Louvre
Let There Be Light One of the bright rooms in the Hôtel Lumen. “Lumen” is Latin for “light,” and the lighting in this new Paris hotel (which opened in September) is one of its best features, especially in the four … Read More
Les Amours d’Astrée et Céladon
Pastoral Period Piece
During his long career, the now 87-year-old French director Eric Rohmer has made some 50 films, many of them literally “talkies” that follow the physical, philosophical and emotional wanderings of two or three attractive young people plunked down in a … Read More
Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine
Monumental Success
Just outside the tall windows of the splendid new Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine stands one of France’s most famous monuments, the Eiffel Tower, while inside visitors inspect detailed casts and scale models of many of the country’s other … Read More
Le Severo
Here’s the Beef Le Severo owner William Bernet stands proud in front of his menu. Simplicity and goodness rule at Le Severo. This is the place to go when you crave a big hunk of flavorful beef with a side … Read More