Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CULTURE

Five movie treats for English-speaking film fans in Paris in October

Paris-based cinema club Lost in Frenchlation is back with more screenings of French films with English subtitles this month. Here's what's coming up.

Published: 5 October 2022 15:43 CEST
Lost in Frenchlation is a cinema club in Paris that screens French films with English subtitles.
Lost in Frenchlation is a cinema club in Paris that screens French films with English subtitles. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP)

The club offers English speakers who may not be fluent in French the chance to enjoy French cinema, by screening new releases and cinema classics with English subtitles to help viewers follow along.

Five films will be screened in October – including one of the greatest French films of all time in honour of one of the pioneers of the New Wave.

Screenwriter and director Alice Winocour’s 2022 movie Revoir Paris (Paris Memories) kicks off the month’s movie calendar on October 7th at L’Entrepôt cinema, Rue Francis de Pressensé, Paris 14. 

Traumatised by a terror attack in a Paris bistro three months previously, a woman (four-time César nominee Virginie Efira) decides to investigate her memories and retrace her steps on that fateful day.

The evening begins at 7pm with pre-screening drinks. The film starts at 8pm. Tickets, at €8.50 (€7 concessions), are available online here.

Just over a week later, on October 15th, Le Tigre et le Président (The Vanished President) will be screened at Club de L’Étoile, 14, rue Troyon, Paris.

Jean-Marc Peyrefitte’s debut feature is a based-on-a-true-story comedy that follows the election and period in office of eccentric politician Paul Deschanel, who was President of France from February 18th to September 21st 1920. Jacques Gamblin and André Dussollier are absolutely astonishing in the main roles.

The evening begins at 7pm with pre-screening drinks. The film starts at 8pm. Tickets, which cost €10 (€8 concessions) are available online here

La Page Blanche (Eloïse’s Journey) is the big film on October 20th at Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 Rue du Temple, Paris 4.

Sara Giraudeau stars as Eloïse, a woman with no memory of who she is – who sets off on a journey of self-rediscovery, only to discover she does not like what she learns about herself and decides it’s time for a fresh start.

The evening begins at 7pm with pre-screening drinks. The film starts at 8pm. Tickets, which cost €10 (€8 concessions) are available online here.

Head back to Luminor Hôtel de Ville, on October 23rd for a tribute to the late, great Jean-Luc Godard, with a special screening of his iconic feature-length debut A Bout de Souffle (Breathless), which stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Recognised as one of the greatest movies ever made, A Bout de Souffle follows a wandering criminal (Belmondo) and his American girlfriend (Seberg) as they try to avoid the attentions of the police in Paris.

The evening begins at 7pm with pre-screening drinks. The film starts at 8pm. Tickets, which cost €10 (€8 concessions) are available online here.

Fans of New Wave cinema can also take part in a walking movie tour taking in some of the Paris locations for Breathless, Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick, Vivre sa vie, and La Chinoise, as well as some of the places the visionary director lived and frequented.

Tickets for the walking tour – which starts at 5.30pm – cost €15 and are available online here.

A wine-tasting session precedes the screening of the final film of the Month, Ivan Calberac’s La Dégustation (The Tasting), at L’Arlequin cinema, Rue de Rennes, Paris 6.

Isabelle Carré stars as a woman with a big heart and no one to share it with – except her cat, her embittered mom, and a group of homeless people for whom she prepares a gourmet dinner at the local church every week. 

Then, one day, she meets misanthropic wine merchant Jacques (Bernard Campan). And everything changes.  

The film starts at 8pm. Tickets, which cost €10 (€8 concessions) are available online here.

The pre-screening wine-tasting session is €20. Tickets are available here

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

MOVING TO FRANCE

8 books to read before you move to France

Before you move to France - or spend an extended holiday here - you might want to brush up on French culture and history. Here are eight recommendations from the team at The Local France.

Published: 16 April 2024 14:57 CEST
8 books to read before you move to France

A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment

Start off with a light course. Multiple readers of The Local have recommended ‘A Bite-Sized History of France’ by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell, as it is easy to read in small snippets.

Written by a French cheese-maker and an American historian, the book gives you a manageable overview of French history and gastronomy, beginning with the Gauls’ drinking habits. You’ll learn plenty of fun facts to share at the dinner table (for instance: Norman is short for Norseman, a reference to the Vikings who settled northern France).

Reader Julia Gray said in a previous survey that it “combines stories about French food and history. A great book for a Francophile.”

A Year in the Merde

Published in 2003 by Stephen Clark, you might be tempted to dismiss this funny novel that is now over two decades old, but it still has a lot to say about France.

Fictional Brit Paul West goes to spend a year in France, right around the time of the invasion of Iraq, when the French and their anglophone counterparts were not too happy with one another. Paul tries to assimilate but finds himself struggling to adjust to French culture, especially its bureaucracy (something many foreigners in France can relate to).

Of course, these days Paul would need a visa. 

The New Parisienne: The Women & Ideas Shaping Paris 

Paris women are often the subject of stereotypes, presumed to be white, thin and effortlessly stylish. English-language women’s magazines still try to sell readers on tips about ‘how to be more French’.

But Lindsey Tramuta, journalist and author of ‘The New Parisienne’, disagrees with these presumptions.

In her book, she explores the diversity of Paris, hoping to break away from the monolithic view of Parisian women with vignettes of modern Parisiennes who hail from different backgrounds and cultures.

READ MORE: ‘Romanticised and commodified’ – why France is rejecting the ‘Paris woman’ cliché

Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong

Authors Jean Nadeau and Julie Barlow are on a mission to decipher the mysteries of France, as they reveal the foundations of French culture and social cues. From land and food to privacy and language, Nadeau and Barlow try to explain the most puzzling aspects of French life. 

Like ‘A Year in the Merde’, this book is a little dated these days; it was published in 2003. Some of the norms the authors explore might feel distant from life in 2024, while others remain just as pertinent today as they did 20 years ago. 

‘Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong’ is both a time capsule and a timeless exploration of French culture. For instance, the authors discuss French concerns about globalisation and anti-American sentiment. While young French people might love American fast-food chains like McDonald’s these days, there are still semi-frequent rows over the encroaching ‘anglicismes’ taking over the French language.

The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed

As you learn French, you’ll also learn that there are a lot of rules around conversations. Politesse requires that you greet everyone with a bonjour before getting on with your conversation.

Once you get the hang of these rules, speaking French will feel a lot less daunting. You can begin by reading ‘The Bonjour Effect’ to decode French conversation.

History of Modern France: From the Revolution to the War with Terror

Veteran journalist and historian Jonathan Fenby, has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to France – so much so that he was awarded the Légion d’honneur “for his contributions promoting Anglo-French understanding”.

READ MORE: Readers recommend: The best books, TV series and podcasts about France

Looking at 200 years of history, Fenby asks ‘what does France stand for’, as he tracks the country from its first revolution and forward through subsequent revolutions, empires, returns to monarchy, wars with Germany, and the post-war era, decolonisation and the bits of stability interspersed. 

As with most countries, understanding history and the founding myth (in France’s case: the Revolution) helps to understand the people, government and what they aspire toward. 

Big Pig, Little Pig: A Year on a Smallholding in South-West France

For those looking to explore life in rural France and animal husbandry, ‘Big Pig, Little Pig’ by Jacqueline Yallop is a good place to start. 

The author starts out with her dream of moving to France and raising two pigs, which will eventually be slaughtered for food. She finds herself struggling with the decision as she grows closer to the pigs. 

Reader of The Local Margaret O’Hare suggested it in a previous survey. She said: “[It is a] beautiful read, adored by the Francophiles in my life that I have given it to. My husband isn’t a great reader but even he gobbled it up. It is both a debunking and a celebration of life in rural France. Meat-eating foodies will be enthralled to the end.”

Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic

Foreigners tend to view France with rose-tinted glasses, so perhaps it is best to take those off ahead of time and learn about some of the not-so-positive realities of French life in ‘Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic’ by Nabila Ramdani, a French journalist with Algerian origins.

Ramdani, who grew up in the Paris region, is able to diagnose the country’s shortcomings and how it often fails to live up to its motto ‘Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité’ – whether that be from terrorism, social inequality, racial and religious discrimination, or the rising influence of the far-right.

And while she can pinpoint France’s problems, Ramdani can also prescribe solutions, looking to a brighter future for the French Republic.

Do you agree or disagree with any of the books listed here? Let us know in the comments below.

SHOW COMMENTS