I recently returned from Europe, where I had the opportunity to visit the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, for the first time in about six years. They have relocated to the Rue de Bercy, to a more spacious, well designed facility. Unfortunately, all the exhibits are still in the French language only. While I understand no French, I did know enough about the exhibits, to spend four hours there, and thoroughly enjoy myself. There are wonderful exhibits of pre-cinema artifacts (which I collect), including many antique magic lanterns, zoetropes, phenakistiscopes, and praxinoscopes, with modern hands-on replicas to show they work. The poster displays are curiously lacking in real significance. I recall the first time I visited the Cinematheque in the early 1980's, I was surprised to see a 1912 American three-sheet from THEIR IDOLS prominently placed. I h ad a copy of my own, and even in the early 1980's, I did not consider that poster of any real importance. That poster is no longer displayed at the Cinematheque, but there were many others I found to be lackluster choices. They had an entire floor devoted to costumes from films, as well as many interesting props, including the actual "Mother" from the end of PSYCHO. There is a wonderful bookstore with thousands of selections devoted to film, and a rather esoteric selection of DVDs. The Cinematheque was the brainchild of Henri Langlois, who was ousted in 1968 by Andre Malraux, the French culture minister, for what seemed to be political reasons. There was an outcry from the world film community, and dozens of film-makers, including Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles, Francois Truffaut, and Stanley Kubrick, wrote letters and sent telegrams calling for Langlois' re-instatement. To a man, these auteurs forbid the Cinematheque to screen their films. Malraux eventually backtracked and re-instated Langlois. All the letters and telegrams from the "Who's Who of Classic Cinema" are on display. (Some of the telegrams are only things in English). The above exhibits are part of the permanent museum. The Cinematheque also has a constant stream of temporary exhibits. One of the temporary displays while I was there, was a series of high quality photographs taken by Wim Wenders, when he was on location for PARIS, TEXAS (1984). Wenders traveled throughout Texas, and took photographs of the many closed and forgotten movie theaters. It was interesting to see the various re-incarnations of the theaters. Everything from a Church, to a funeral parlor, to a porno video shop. Of course, the Cinematheque's original raison d'etre is it's extensive film library. They are constantly running varied programs, and often show as many as seven to nine films per day. International films are routinely shown in their original versions, with French sub-titles. I highly recommend the Cinematheque to anyone who loves film, even if they have no knowledge of the French language.
Marty Davis Vintage Film Posters 43215 N. National Trail Anthem, AZ 85086 623/551-6655 tel 623/551-6622 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] OneSheet (eBay Screen Name) www.vintagefilmposters.com ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
