Nick Hammond
Der Rosenkavalier
A Sugar-Coated Comedy With Serious Underpinnings
Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, which has just opened at the Bastille Opera House in Paris in a production shared with the Salzburg Festival, feels like a regression in so many ways. After the visceral violence of Strauss’s first two operas, … Read More
L’Avenir & Quand On A 17 Ans
Hostility and High-Mindedness
Two highly regarded French directors have released favorably reviewed films within a week of each other, but to my mind one deserves all the praise it has been getting while the other flatters to deceive. Mia Hansen-Løve gained worldwide recognition … Read More
Bajazet
Murder and Intrigue In the Sultan's Court
Racine’s play Bajazet, first performed in 1642, differs from the 10 other tragedies he wrote in one major respect. Whereas all the other plays are set in a distant timeframe – in ancient Greece or Rome, or in ancient biblical … Read More
Pauline s’Arrache
Growing Up in an Oddball Fairytale
Émilie Brisavoine’s documentary Pauline s’Arrache (Oh La La Pauline!) initially reminded me of the kind of clip that might attract 30 views on YouTube, with the 15-year-old Pauline talking to the camera about the minutiae of a life that would … Read More
La Damnation de Faust
Weirdly Wonderful OperaBooed on Opening Night La Damnation de Faust. Photo © Felipe Sanguinetti Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, a weirdly wonderful work labeled a “dramatic legend” rather than an opera by the composer, seems better suited to the 21st … Read More
Parisian Soundscapes
Parisians Attack Sun King with Scurrilous Songs The awful events in Paris this month have been keenly felt in other countries, not least in Britain, where the huge swell of empathy and support has been genuine and deeply felt. A … Read More
Moses und Aron
Breaking Out ofThe Operatic Comfort Zone A Charolais bull plays the golden calf in Moses und Aron. Photo © Bernd Uhlig If the slogan currently emblazoned across the huge facade of the Bastille Opera House – “Verdi or Schoenberg, why … Read More
Dheepan
Montesquieu Revisited for The 21st Century
Jacques Audiard is deservedly the most internationally respected and fêted French director around at the moment. Every one of his films manages at the same time to be powerfully memorable, horrifically violent and yet unexpectedly lyrical, whether it be through … Read More
Mustang
Home Imprisonment for Girls Who Want to Have Fun
Mid-July is never a good month for new French movies. Almost always at this time of year, distributors tend to release the films they know are complete stinkers, usually “comedies” involving middle-aged men going on vacation. So this week’s movie … Read More
Athalie
Discreet Paris Theater Gives Full Voice to Racine
Theater actors are not generally a self-effacing bunch. Dreams of having their names up in lights must be a powerful motivating factor. Indeed, many theaters, even on tour in the provinces, usually need a lead actor known from television or … Read More