On September 19, Hôtel de Ville unveiled its latest exhibition, “Paris, vu par Hollywood” (or “Paris, viewed by Hollywood”) which runs until December 15. Through an examination of 100 films, the exhibition, curated by Antoine de Baecque, explores the fascination Hollywood has had with Paris from 1900 to today. Collected from French and American archives are nearly 400 varied documents, including costumes, posters, and movie stills. The exhibition moves more or less chronologically, beginning with the silent films of the early 1900s and ending with the 3D effects of today, examining the sophisticated Paris of romantic comedies, the peak of Can Can, and the Paris of action films in between.
Having amassed an expansive but unbalanced collection of various Hollywood relics, from a Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn to Mary Pickford’s lunch receipt from the Ritz, the exhibition comes across in a clumsy manner. The materials are interesting, but the way they are presented is haphazard. Rather than things or themes of importance receiving more attention, it seems that the exhibition highlights what it could get its hands on. For example, among “livrets de presse” (or press releases) of the 1920s, we are presented with no fewer than seven framed sketches of French pastry arrangements designed for the set of Sofia Coppola’s 2005 film “Marie Antoinette.” Another instance of imbalance is in the exhibition’s devoting twice as much space to showcase the objects of one single film, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” as it does to explore the broad theme “The French Kiss,” focusing on a series of films with romantic sensibilities.
Other awkward moments are induced by the physical execution of the exhibition. On the main floor, where the majority of the exhibition takes place, the space is divided into a series of aisles much like a grocery store. But here they are significantly narrower and instead of browsing boxes of cereal the crowd is gathering in front of small framed papers (scripts, sketches, set models and so forth) with serious concentration. Furthermore, the aisles each end at the room’s wall, meaning their entrance and exit are one and the same. To make matters worse, a film roll of short clips from a handful of films is projected as a loop onto a screen in front of the same wall, resulting in onlookers clustering right at the aisles’ outlets. The result is serious congestion through the better part of the exhibit.
Looking past the exhibition’s awkward execution, there is a lot to be learned. The filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch, who set a dozen of his films in the French capital, albeit in studio remakes, once said “There is Paramount-Paris and MGM-Paris, and of course the real Paris. Paramount’s is the most Parisian of all.” The exhibition calls attention to the differences between the Paris of the streets and the Paris of the screen, simultaneously exposing the dreams and desires we place on the City of Light. We see the cityscapes that have become iconified around the world as well as the cultural assumptions that have become clichés, reappearing throughout the city’s cinematic history. With more patience or fewer people, the exhibition has much potential for enjoyment. It is definitely worthwhile to examine Hollywood’s love affair with Paris and see the diverse ways this fascination manifests itself.
September 19th through December 15th, 2012
Free
Hôtel de Ville
Written for The7eme.com.
Copyright © The7eme.com 2012
