This article was originally submitted on the 27th March During a single short scene of Paris, 13th District, Jacques Audiard’s extraordinary exploration of digital-age love and lust (not usually in that order), the colour palette changes from its usual monochrome to full-scale colour. The transition is shocking, and not simply because of the Wizard of […]
One of Netflix’s latest creations Emily in Paris was released to us earlier this month, a show that presents itself as a stunning picturesque fantasy life of a young American girl who travels to the beautiful city of Paris. What’s not to like? Well a lot, apparently. This show received so much criticism I couldn’t […]
Encapsulating the explosive socio-political conditions of France in the mid-90s was always going to be a difficult job. Nevertheless, Mathieu Kassovitz somehow manages it in just 98 minutes in his second feature film La Haine (1995). Released amongst the tidal wave of fear and xenophobia spurred on by the far-right populist politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, […]
Rating: 5 out 5. Before watching Cuties, I had, for better or for worse, acquired an idea of the controversy surrounding it. Summaries and reviews of the French film, using terms such as ‘child exploitation’ and ‘abuse’, started to mount from the moment of the film’s screening at the Sundance Film Festival. Some viewers have […]
This week, contributor Allison Pan takes a deep dive into a style that has captured her attention of late – Art Nouveau. Most art students and enthusiasts would not be unfamiliar with the movement known as Art Nouveau. It is not necessarily a welcome style, thanks in part to the overabundance of material that […]
New Yorker journalist A.J. Liebling remarked that “there would come a time, when, if I had compared my life to cake, the sojourns in Paris would have presented the chocolate filling. The intervening layers were plain sponge”. Fifty-three days into lockdown in my teeny flat in the troisième, I finally understood what he meant. Being […]
News of the fire at Paris’ beloved Notre-Dame cathedral was everywhere. We all saw it – a dark Parisian skyline lit up by engulfing flames as the 850-year-old cathedral blackened in the smog. Panning away from the nightmarish scene, however, was to look upon a united Parisian community, gathering together for their cherished Notre-Dame – […]
Paris, that well-known city of freedom. Vive la révolution! L’Arc de Triomphe! Anyone who knows the ‘city of love’ or has seen Les Miserables will know that Paris is an epicentre for social change, empowerment, and freedom. The city comes to represent those classic French ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity it holds so dear. […]