Out on the Town in Paris

In the space of one week, I saw the movie Les Demoiselles de Rochefort on Catherine Deneuve’s birthday, Sunday, Oct. 22; Killers of the Flower Moon, a masterpiece by Martin Scorcese, which will probably net a plethora of Oscar nominations; and West Side Story, an American production that has been traveling around Europe and the UK to rave reviews. Not only is that more evenings out than I normally do in even a month but each one was A+ Excellent.

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort was Jacques Demy’s attempt to replicate the American musicals of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. He had produced The Umbrellas of Cherbourg two years earlier, a huge success, and made an immediate star of Catherine Deneuve. I went to the film knowing nothing about it except that it starred CD. It also starred her real-life sister, Françoise Dorléac, George Chakiris (post West Side Story), and, as the beginning credits rolled, “with the participation of Gene Kelly.” By the time of the opening credits, it was clearly a song and dance musical comedy. I jumped to the conclusion (a favorite sport of mine) that Kelly had been instrumental in the choreography. Nope, he had a starring role, speaking French which was partly dubbed. I grew up on Kelly and Astaire musicals, mostly on TV. The first time I saw Gene Kelly’s face on a big screen was at an early TCM Classic Film Festival showing of Singing in the Rain. His face with that knock-dead gorgeous smile filled the entire screen and I understood why some people never want to see films on a TV screen. No small screen could possibly do justice to the impact of seeing Kelly’s face looking down at me.

Les Demoiselles, with it’s various love story plots, was cotton candy of the best variety. It was fun, everyone was beautiful, all the stories got wrapped up with a lovely bow at the end. If you can find it, go to see it. My iPhone says you can rent it on Prime Video. You will be smiling and feeling upbeat when the final credits rolls.

The next day, I took the metro to UGC Montparnasse to see Killers of the Flower Moon, a true story of terrifying evil perpetrated on the Osage Nation of Oklahoma when oil was discovered on Osage-owned land. It made millionaires of the Osage and put them right in the eye of white greed. I read the book seven years ago and had forgotten many details. The film brought this horrific chapter of American History to life. I knew that I could see it soon streaming on Apple TV+ as it was an Apple production. I wanted to see it on the big screen.

It is beyond my comprehension why I am constantly surprised at the evil man can do. Scorcese has been quoted as saying that he wanted to show the extent of White Male Entitlement in the US. Robert DeNiro is so slimy, so evil, that my skin crawled every time he was on screen. He is such a great actor that I found myself wanting to yell out and warn whoever was in the same room with him.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays his nephew, Ernest, a not very bright young man, who had just deployed from the Army after WWI and moved to Oklahoma. A friend of mine asked “how he could keep the turned-down mouth frown for so long?” I tried it but couldn’t hold it for more than thirty seconds. He falls under the spell of his uncle and becomes the accomplice for the crimes. Will this be Oscar number two? Lily Gladstone is a revelation. She is beautiful and her acting is subtly deeply moving as the wife of Ernest. Ms Gladstone was raised on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and has won many awards for her accomplished acting. This is the first time I’ve seen her but I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The murders taking place on Osage land was the first case handled by what became the FBI. At the time, it was simply the Bureau of Investigation run by a young J. Edgar Hoover. Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog) plays the agent sent to Oklahoma to solve the mystery of the many deaths.

This film has to be the best film Scorcese has made. Even at three and a half hours, the time flies. This is history every American should see. Yes, it is shocking. When the lights went on last Monday, the woman next to me was staring at the screen with her mouth open in stunned silence.

I bought tickets to West Side Story last July, the minute I saw it was coming to Paris. Until I sat down in my seat at the beautifully restored Théâtre du Châtelet, I never thought to ask if it was in English or in French. I didn’t ask a number of questions one should probably ask when a favorite show is in a country that speaks another language. Fortunately, it not only was in English, but the director, Lonny Price, a close friend of Alexander Bernstein, son of the great Leonard Bernstein who wrote the musical score for WSS, wanted to replicate the original 1957 production. And what a production it is (if you live in Paris, it is playing until December 31 )! I’m told that if a French audience gives a show a standing ovation, it is the highest honor a stage show can achieve. The last standing ovation I saw was in 2015 for An American in Paris.

There probably isn’t a person alive who doesn’t know the story of the two teenage gangs in the dilapidated streets of the upper West Side of 1950s Manhattan. Though it is sixty years old, the message of fear and hate, of ostracism of “other” is as potent today as it was then. The Jets are the poor white second generation delinquents led by Riff, a terrific performance by Taylor Harley . The Sharks, the Puerto Rican boys led by Bernardo-Antony Sanchez, are first generation. These two gangs are fighting for the right to “own” the streets of this neighbourhood.

The stage set is astounding. There is a main tenement building, two stories high, that opens up like a magic box. Both the inside and the outside of Doc’s Drug store, Maria’s bedroom, Anita’s bedroom, the dressmaking shop of the Puerto Rican women, and the fire escape where Tony (Jadon Webster) and Maria (Melanie Sierra) sing “Tonight”, were all tucked into this building. On each side of the stage, two other “buildings” sandwiched the streets and the area under the bridge where the rumble takes place. They each could turn 360o to show someone entering one door and leaving by another.

As a writer, what I find impressive and inspirational (not sure if that is the right word) is the ability of Martin Scorcese and the team of Bernstein, Sondheim, and Robbins, to create a piece of art that is not only a good story but also has a strong message, in both cases a message about living with others, a message of hate and fear leading only to death — in both of these masterpieces, many deaths. Yet, the message doesn’t overpower the story. One can go to both the film and the show and be tone deaf to the message and love the story. It’s a fine line of creativity that a writer like me can only aspire to.

Europe is getting cold. Stay warm and cozy. And remember, if you are in the US, Europe and the UK changed their clocks one hour back yesterday. The US will do the same next weekend. Meanwhile, for one week chaos ensues!!!!

A bientôt,

Sara