Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Film
Be it exploring behind the scenes at an art deco cinema, cosying up on a sofa
in a 19th-century Japanese pagoda-turned-cinema to catch art house, or fol-
lowing in the footsteps of iconic screen heroine Amélie Poulain through the
streets of Montmartre, Paris is possibly one of the world's most cinematic cit-
ies: the French capital has produced a bevy of blockbuster film-makers and
stars and is the filming location of countless box-office hits by both home-
grown and foreign directors.
Movie Makers & Stars
French cinema has not looked back since 2012 when
The Artist
(2011), a silent B&W ro-
mantic comedy set in 1920s Hollywood, won seven BAFTAs and five Oscars to become the
most awarded film in French cinema history. Best Director went to Parisian Michel
Hazanavicius (b 1967) and Best Original Score went to French composer-pianist Ludovic
Bource (b 1970). Best Actor was awarded to charismatic Jean Dujardin (b 1972), a born-and-
bred Parisian suburbs lad who started with one-man shows in city bars and cabarets, and
made his name with roles as varied as surfer Brice waiting for his wave in
Brice de Nice
(2005), James Bond in
OSS 117: Le Caire, Nid d'Espions
(OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies;
2006), the sexiest cowboy around in
Lucky Luke
(2009) and a WWII French soldier in Ge-
orge Clooney's recent
The Monuments Men
(2014).
Another French blockbuster packed with Parisian talent is Anne Fontaine's
Coco Avant
Chanel
(Coco Before Chanel; 2009). The movie tells the compelling life story of orphan-
turned-fashion designer Coco Chanel, played by Audrey Tautou (b 1976), the waifish French
actress who conquered stardom with her role as Parisian do-gooder Amélie in Jean-Pierre
Jeunet's
Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain
(2001), an earlier Paris classic set in Mont-
martre.
One of the most successful French-language films ever is
Intouchables
(Untouchable;
2011). Directed by Parisian Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, the comic drama is about a
billionaire quadriplegic and his live-in Senegalese carer in Paris. Assuming the role of carer
is Omar Sy (b 1978), a charismatic actor with a sensational smile, raised in the Parisian sub-
urbs by Senegalese Mauritian parents. The film, which scooped Best Foreign Film at both the
Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards in 2013, turned Omar Sy into the rags-to-riches
darling of French film and an international celebrity.
