La Villette

Last night Ericka and I ventured to La Villette near Porte de Pantin, to see the first cinema en plein air of the the film festival. In order to keep up this Parisian summer tradition, one must pay 2 euro (last year it was gratuit) for entry, a price that is in truth favorably disproportionate to the experience on receives. La Parc de La Villette consists of a cobblestone square with a cetral fountain, surrounded by large contemporary buildings including a science museum, a music hall, a performance theatre, and a hall of cinema. Directly adjacent to the hall of cinema is a huge field where we saw a large half-inflated white structure. After buying our tickets we quickly hurried to find a seat in front of the screen, which now looked like a giant Megalithic rock. We had some wine and Caprice des Dieux , my new favorite cheese, while we waited for it to get dark. The movie began around 10:30, entitled LouLou. It is a German adaptation of an originally Italian film, so the words mouthed are in German, the silent film titles were in Italian, and the subtitles were in French. It was not until just before the film began that I noticed a stage on the left, dwarfed by the massive screen. I realized as soon as the production started that the purpose of the stage was to provide a live sound track to accompany the silent film. The combination had an entrancing effect. the music was reminiscent of some of Stereolab's more recent work, but a bit jazzier and with classical undertones. The music also added a more complex level of comedy at certain moments to an otherwise very dramatic and ultimately tragic tale of a seductress. Although at several points people shouted things out, for the most part, the young crowd watched the silent film with almost monolithic reverence and attention. This baffled me, especially given the low entry fee. I think in the U.S., one would be hard-pressed to find such a voluntarily gathered crowd of 20 year olds who were culturally aware enough to be respectful during the outdoor showing of an old silent film. The experience was wonderful and La Parc de La Villette is a wonderful suburban escape from the heart of Paris. I hope to go back and see more films before I leave!