A Paris Education (Mes provinciales)

Men travel in manifold paths

Whoso traces and compares these will find strange figures come to light

It rains a lot in Paris, and it’s always cloudy

So they say

Luckily, you don’t like the sun

Yes, I do

Just not as much as you

I’I| visit you anyway

You’I| meet me at the station with your umbrella.

Okay

You won’t be late?

You won’t leave me on the platform

Stop it

Who knows?

We see each other every day and then

Who knows what might happen?

Maybe you’I| forget about me

Yeah, right

I think I forgot something

What did he forget? His bag’s going to be too heavy

Come see us, okay? We’re usually here on Saturday

Yes, of course

Croissant? They’re fresh from the bakery at the traffic circle.

You walked all the way there? -lt’s good for my legs.

We’re going to miss Etienne

Where would you like us to drop you off on the way back?

At my parents’ house, thank you

Buy whatever you like with that

Thank you

Well, good-bye, Etienne

Bye

Good-bye, honey

Keep in touch, okay?

Enjoy yourself

Once I get settled, come visit. Okay?

Go on

I almost forgot. This is for you

WUTHERING HEIGHTS

Is it the right translation?

Yes, it is

So you’lI think of us

Of you

A PARIS EDUCATION

A Little Bohemian Castle

Hi. l’m Etienne Tinan

Are you OIivier’s replacement? -Yes.

Valentina

Come in, I guess

As you can see, this is the kitchen

This is the largest room in the castle

for parties, binges, and general madness

There’s one tonight if you’re interested

There’s even a piano

Why? Do you play? -I just started.

Cool

Is Olivier your friend?

He’s the son of an acquaintance of my mother

I hope you’re as nice as him

Me too

Don’t look in there. That’s my room. It’s awful

Come on. You’re over here

This is your room. Simple, clean, calm

So what are you doing here?

Film studies, at Paris 8

I heard that’s a good school

Yes, we don’t just learn theory. We make a lot of short films, too

Cool. l’m studying at the Beaux-Arts

Do you know anyone in Paris? -No.

I don’t know the city either

There’s not much going on here compared to New York and Berlin

People stick to themselves here But we have fun.

Do you like to have fun? -I think so.

You think? You seem like the serious type

Don’t worry. I like to have fun

I can’t stand your “I’m a feminist, but also conservative--”

Not at all

On a political level, I agree with these girls

I just question their methods

No, you can’t -Sure he can.

If you start taking a little here and a little there

These girls do it all: feminism, politics, performance, music

I think the real problem

is that Tolokonnikova promotes her supposedly revolutionary book

while modeling in Moscow

The real problem is, she pisses you off

Do you know Pussy Riot?

I heard about the punk prayer they performed in a church.

You like images. What do you think of their videos?

I like film, not images

Sorry

I just mean images and film aren’t necessarily the same thing

What’s the difference?

She’s free. That’s her feminism

Society is uncomfortable with her political ideas.

That’s true

She went to prison for a single action

Her previous actions are what made this one important

She didn’t go to prison for showing her breasts

I know someone at Paris 8

Mathias Valence

Mathias Valence? Yes. Brilliant guy.

The kind who will argue all night about something

Harsh, uncompromising. He has principles

I run into him at parties now and then

He likes me because I love Boris Barnet

You like Barnet?

Surprised, aren’t you? -Pleased as well.

Excuse me

Hi, Lucie. Can you hear me?

Yeah. Did I wake you?

I wasn’t sleeping. lt’s barely midnight

I felt like talking to you. How are you?

Good. The apartment is nice So is the room.

What’s that noise? Are you at a party?

No, my roommate, Valentina, invited some friends over.

Hello? Can you hear me?

Is it fun?

Yes, it’s fun

What are you drinking? Juice?

Do you think l’m going to change overnight?

Maybe not overnight

Don’t worry. lt’s going to be okay

I miss you already.

I miss you, too, very much

I think about you all the time

Four days before the primaries

today’s political news is Emmanuel Macron’s candidacy for president

which could distract from Sunday’s vote

ls his candidacy pointless

or is he a troublemaker who will disrupt

Yeah. Lucie

Where’s the film department? -I don’t know.

The registrar’s office? Is it past the escalator?

I have no idea. Sorry

I think it’s safe to say that between 1945 and 1975

Italian cinema was one of the most prolific in the world

Imagine you had Fellini Antonioni, Rossellini,

Ferreri, Visconti, and Pasolini

Carmelo Bene was more experimental

Risi, Comencini, and Monicelli were doing Italian-style comedy

Corbucci, Leone, and Solima were making Westerns.

Cottafavi and Freda were doing peplum

Mario Bava and Dario Argento were doing horror, and the list goes on

You see?

The entire breadth of cinematic creation was concentrated in a small area

achieving consistently high quality

How do you explain this?

Some say that Italy, traumatized by its actions during World War ll

found a way to rebuild its honor

that it was a kind of second Italian Renaissance

Consider how difficult it is to name a 19th-century Italian painter

after centuries of productivity

We’d be hard-pressed today to name a single Italian filmmaker

of the same caliber as those I’ve just cited in any genre.

Paolo Sorrentino?

I don’t see any connection with the masters I just mentioned

though he does try to imitate them sometimes.

Mario Martone?

Commendable, but nothing more

That brings us to our subject

Dario Argento

In the 1970s, he was the creator the Murnau if you will,

of a genre known as giallo

a combination of horror, crime, and erotica.

Can you think of other filmmakers who made gialli?

Go on, William

It seems to me like we only ever hear about Dario Argento.

We forget about great filmmakers like Umberto Lenzi,

who inspired Tarantino’s lnglourious Basterds

Aldo Lado or Sergio Martino

Their films contain incredible murder scenes

There’s an electricity, astounding visual effects

and a hypnotizing morbidity

that I don’t think has ever been equaled

not even by torture porn or rape-and-revenge films

Well, of course there’s Chainsaw Massacre and Angst

which I think are spectacular

What do you think?

He’s a childhood friend. We get along but we have different interests.

I like hearing all this stuff

I learn a lot. lt’s really not my thing at all

He might be your friend but the guy’s a loser.

He’s the very picture of modern mediocrity

one of those people who praise regressive stuff

and try to convince you that Z movies are as good as the rest

They have no problem selling out

He’s made a few gory short films that people have liked.

He’s going to do well -See?

But regression is everywhere

Last year, one of the schools held a Goldorak colloquium.

Yeah, it sucked

You’re going to get along with Mathias

You have a lot in common. He and William can’t stand each other

How long have you known Mathias? -Two years.

We’re different, but we champion the same kind of cinema

I met a guy who told me he’s very harsh

Harsh, but in a good way. And he’s harsh with himself

He’s his own worst enemy

What are his films like?

l’ve seen two. They’re very beautiful and very short