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You are here: Home » Arts + Culture + Fashion » Archive » January 2008-1
January 2008-1
French Arts + Culture Archive: January 1-7, 2008
France experiments with free museum admission
Reuters. Jan. 7, 2008
French national museums including the Louvre in Paris will let in many
visitors free in the coming months, in an experiment intended to open
up high culture to a wider public. "We hope to draw in a new public,
especially young people," Christine Andre, spokeswoman for the culture
ministry's museum body, said on Friday. Until June 30, 2008, some
national museums will offer completely free admission to their
permanent collections, while others will offer it to those under 26,
one evening a week. Foreign tourists will benefit like the French, but
the aim is to draw more locals.
> More
New biopic about French musician Chevalier de Saint-Georges
NewYorkTimes. Jan. 7, 2008
One of the most fascinating figures of the 18th century was the
Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a Guadeloupe-born mulatto composer,
violinist, fencing champion and military hero whose fame spanned
continents. Gabriel Banat, a concert violinist and musicologist,
published a biography, “The Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Virtuoso of the
Sword and the Bow” (Pendragon Press) in 2006. Now “Chevalier,” a film
about Saint-Georges, is in development by Griot Pictures Entertainment
and is scheduled to start production later this year.
> More
France should return New Zealand Maori head
NewZealandHerald. Jan. 7, 2008
France’s Culture Ministry has blocked any transfer of the mummified
maori head owner by the Museum of Natural History in Rouen. It claims
such treasures are part of France's national heritage. “This is a weak,
morally untenable argument. The French should feel ashamed about
clinging to the Maori head. It was not theirs in the first place, never
has been theirs, never will be theirs, and should be returned
immediately,” opines one New Zealand newspaper editorial.
> More
Another memoir of Vichy France’s persecution of Jews
Observer. Jan. 7, 2008
France loves memoirs of its sordid collaboration with Nazi Germany, to
judge by Irene Nemirovsky’s best-selling novels, and a new book, “The
Journal of Helene Berr” published this week. Berr is being dubbed
“France's Anne Frank” and her tale of life as a Jewish girl in occupied
Paris is predicted to be the publishing sensation of 2008. Berr was
rounded up with other French Jews with the help of the French milice,
and died in the Belsen death camp.
> More
Drouot raises Paris's profile in the auction world
IHT. Jan. 7, 2008
The Hôtel Drouot, where a majority of Paris auctioneers wield the
hammer, is far behind Christie's or Sotheby's in annual sales. But
their success in securing record-setting sales may challenge the
current power balance in the international auction system.
> More
Book review: Juan Cole’s “Napoleon's Egypt”
IHT. Jan. 7, 2008
In "Napoleon's Egypt” (Palgrave Macmillan), University of Michigan
professor Juan Cole present’s Napoleon’s 1798 invasion and occupation
of Egypt through Egyptian eyes, drawing on quotations, mostly from
contemporary memoirs and diaries. His an analysis suggests comparisons
to the current American invasion of Iraq.
> More
Simone de Beauvoir Centenary Begins
UKGuardian. Jan. 7, 2008
Simone de Beauvoir was the high priestess of 20th century French
thought, the mother of modern feminism and a champion of sexual freedom
who shocked Paris with her threesomes and bisexual affairs. But as
France begins a glittering celebration of the centenary of Simone de
Beauvoir's birth next week, some academics have warned against getting
hung up on her love life.
> More
Interview: Juliette Binoche
UKTimes. Jan. 7, 2008
French actress Juliette Binoche talks about her role in the Disney film
Dan in Real Life (rel. Oct. 2007) directed by Peter Hedges. The flim is
a smart adult romance about a single father-of-three Dan (Steve
Carell), who writes a newspaper advice column. She also stars in
Olivier Assayas’s upcoming L’Heure d’Eté.
> More
French government blasted for Lascaux neglect
UKTimes. Jan. 7, 2008
Dr Bahn, Britain’s foremost specialist in Ice Age art, wrote to the
director of Unesco, expressing “profound dismay and anxiety” over the
“scandal” of the French government’s neglect of the prehistoric art in
the famous Lascaux caves, which are being destroyed by mold. “If
Lascaux is allowed to deteriorate further, and eventually to die, it
will be an unforgivable blunder by the French authorities and an
indelible stain on France’s international reputation.” Laurence Léauté
Beasley, of the International Committee for the Preservation of
Lascaux, has also blamed French officials: “Lascaux and its paintings
are suffering from the ineptitude and lack of response of those charged
with the care of the cave. It is suffering from a maze of bureaucracy.”
> More
Buren blasts French “state vandalism” of his art
Independent. Jan. 6, 2008
At the very moment French government’s cultural spokesman Poivre
d’Arvor is touting Daniel Buren as an example of French artistic
vitality in Time Magazine, Buren accuses the French government of
ruining his most famous public sculpture. The black and white striped
columns called “Les Deux Plateaux” have been top tourist attraction
since being installed in the Palais Royale in 1986. Now Buren says it
“has already been 50 per cent destroyed … a victim of vandalism by the
state." Buren blames the Culture Ministry: "There is widespread
negligence towards contemporary art [in France]," he said.
> More
Top Ten Films of 2007
VillageVoice Jan. 6, 2008
Critic Jim Hoberman notes the low number of great foreign films in
2007. His Top Ten include Barbet Schroeder’s Terror's Advocate (about
French lawyer Jacques Vergés who defends war criminals and mass
murderers), and his honorable mentions go to Pascale Ferran’s Lady
Chatterley and Satrapi’s Persepolis.
> More
France keeps Maori head as “French heritage”
Time. Jan. 6, 2008
A French court has blocked the natural history museum of the city of
Rouen from returning a mummified, tattooed Maori head to New Zealand.
The Rouen town council wants to honor New Zealand’s request that the
relic be returned for proper burial, but the French culture ministry
has refused, for fear that it would set a precedent leading to the loss
of more of France’s foreign cultural pillage.
> More
French Culture Wars: The Mandarins Strike Back
Time. Jan. 5, 2008
Time magazine declared "The Death of French Culture" in its Nov. 21,
2007 issue, infuriating the French mandarins who squander millions of
taxpayer euros on bizarre and pointless cultural projects to
negligeable effect. Now the French government’s cultural mouthpiece
Olivier Poivre d’Arvor replies, trotting out the usual Jesuitical
arguments about the country’s diversity and hospitality substituting
for dwindling audiences and influence. Why are the French so
pathetically obsessed with demanding world respect for “stars” like
Yasmina Reza, Philippe Starck, Daft Punk, Julia Kristeva, and
Bernard-Henri Lévy?
> More
French BAFTA Nominees
Variety. Jan. 4, 2008
Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” and Olivier Dahan’s “La
Vie en rose” have been nominated for best film not in the English
language at the 2008 British Academy Film Awards.
> More
Third Asterix film to debut in Paris
Variety. Jan. 4, 2008
“Asterix at the Olympic Games,” one of the most expensive European
films ever made, will world premeire Jan. 13, 2008 in Paris. Budgeted
at Euros 78 million ($114.6 million), the family adventure comedy film
is the third in the live action franchise, with Clovis Cornillac as
Asterix, Gerard Depardieu as Obelix, and Alain Delon as Julius Caesar.
Warner will release the film in the USA in 2008.
> More
The Magic of Pelleas
UKGuardian. Jan. 4, 2008
The French-speaking Belgian author Maurice Maeterlinck’s play “Pelléas
et Mélisande” inspired musical masterworks by Debussy, Fauré,
Schoenberg, and others. The Guardian examines why composers are so
drawn to this 'tragedy of adultery'
> More
Broadway Cyrano heading to PBS and DVD
Broadway.com. Jan. 4, 2008
For those who won't be able to catch the hit Broadway production of
Rostand’s French play Cyrano de Bergerac starring Kevin Kline and
Jennifer Garner before the run ends on Jan. 6, do not despair. The play
is being taped for TV broadcast later this year and future release on
DVD.
> More
New life for Marithé + François Girbaud
Style. Jan. 3, 2008
French denim giant Marithé + François Girbaud is planning to reclaim
its innovator status in 2008 with the launch of two new collections, Le
Jean de Marithé + François Girbaud and Legend, in a campaign called
Denim Reloaded. Le Jean is a directional, unisex collection of tailored
jeans and casualwear while Legend is billed as a "beyond premium denim"
that will come in a host of styles, "many imbedded with hidden
accessories.”
> More
Sean Penn to head Cannes festival jury
BBC. Jan. 3, 2008
Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn will head the jury at the 2008 Cannes
Film Festival. The festival's artistic director, Thierry Fremaux, told
news agency AFP that Penn "represents the independent American cinema
as well as a vision of America which we like". Penn is also a staunch
activist against President Bush’s policies and administration. The 61st
festival begins on 14 May, with the jury awarding the Palme d'Or prize
for best film on 25 May.
> More
Treatment to save Lascaux cave paintings
CBC. Jan, 3, 2008
The French government is taking emergency action to rescue the
celebrated cave paintings of the Lascaux caverns from a fungus.
Archeological experts have begun applying a fungicide to halt the
spread of grey and black mould in the caverns, dubbed the Sistine
Chapel of prehistory. The fungal growth may have been permitted by a
faulty air treatment system, installed seven years ago.
> More
L'Oreal award honors Sundance women
Variety. Jan. 3, 2008
L'Oreal and Women In Film will present the L'Oreal Paris Women of Worth
"Vision" Award at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. The presentation
will take place Jan. 21 during Variety's annual "10 Directors To Watch"
event at Sundance. All female directors participating in the festival
are eligible for the award, which includes a $15,000 prize from L'Oreal
Paris.
> More
Lagerfeld film a disappointing tease
Jan. 2, 2008
French director Rodolphe Marconi spent two years following fashion icon
Karl Lagerfeld around the world and asking him questions. But the film
“Lagerfeld Confidential” is a major disappointment insofar as it
doesn't get behind he façade, or address the distinct possibility that
Lagerfeld may well be Dracula.
> More
Book review: Mario Vargas Llosa: “The Temptation of the Impossible: Victor Hugo and Les Misérables”
Firstthings. Jan, 2, 2008
The outstanding South American novelist Mario Vargas Llosa is ideally
placed to lead a reconsideration of Victor Hugo, and in his important
new book Vargas Llosa examines the providential vein in Les Misérables
that runs through both individual destinies and the life of nations.
> More
Broadway Cyrano closes a great run
New York Observer. Jan. 1, 2008
The broadway production of Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac starring Kevin
Kline and Jennifer Garner will close on Jan. 6, 2008 after a successful
three-month run which grossed over $900,000 every (full performance)
week.
> More
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