An American in Paris: 9 Lessons From Moviegoing in the City of Light

Despite the fact that I do not speak French, I moved to Paris a little over two months ago to stay with my girlfriend while she earns a Master's degree in the language. I started taking classes of my own last month, and remain nowhere near mastering it myself. In the meantime, my main refuge for the English language and American culture has been the movie theater. I've since learned that even going to the movies here requires some cultural adaptation. And so, in grand Movieline tradition, I present nine lessons learned thus far about seeing movies in the City of Light.

1. The French still love American movies.

While they may have a reputation for not loving Americans, Parisians still cherish old American movies as much as the French New Wave filmmakers did. Like New York, Paris has a vibrant and diverse selection of repertory films, but here, more than 3/4 of what's shown are American movies. I feel like I may well see every screwball comedy and film noir ever made by the end of this year.

2. You will discover amazing American movies that America barely acknowledges.

Since you can throw a rock here and hit a theater playing an old American movie, I sometimes just wander to theaters in the Latin Quarter and see whatever is screening. I've discovered some amazing forgotten gems this way. Case in point: Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, an incredibly well-made, subversive Cary Grant comedy directed by some guy named H.C. Potter who I've never heard mentioned in the same breath as Capra or Hawks, though I swear his filmmaking was just as strong. Actually I've never heard him mentioned in any breath. Leave it to the French.

3. The French stand by any director who was once considered great, regardless of their recent output.

While Francis Ford Coppola's last film Tetro was all but ignored in America, a print screens every Saturday at 11:00 am in Paris. Seriously, every week since I've arrived. French programmers also love Brian De Palma -- and not just Scarface and Carrie. I've had the opportunity so far to see Blow Out, Dressed to Kill, and Femme Fatale... twice. No Black Dahlia yet, but I'm betting it will pop up before I leave.

4. Well, maybe only French programmers stand by those directors.

When I went to see Tetro a while back, the only other person in the theater was one old man who didn't know the title of the movie and just kept repeating the name "Coppola." (Tetro will still screen again this Saturday at 11:00 a.m.) When I went to Blow Out at 5:00pm on a Tuesday afternoon (!), the man at the ticket window gave me and my girlfriend a peculiar smile, like he really appreciated us. When I arrived in the theater, I got it: No one else was seeing the movie. Then, about 15 minutes into the film, an old guy who looked a lot like John Lithgow staggered in. He fell asleep halfway through.

5. New American movies all make it to Europe... sometime.

As I left New York, I had just started to consider that I might want to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. When I arrived in France, I saw posters everywhere for Michael Cera's last movie, Youth in Revolt... which wasn't opening here for another two weeks. On the other hand, I've already seen Gregg Araki's fantastic new film Kaboom! before anyone in the States! Since there's no discernible pattern to France's release schedule of American movies, I just take them as they come. Goodbye, hype!

6. Not all American movies are in English.

You know that huge portion of America that doesn't want to read subtitles when they go to see a movie? France has that, too! At least half of the screenings of all American movies here are dubbed into French. I almost found this out the hard way when I went to buy a ticket to The Social Network. Like everyone else in the city, the woman at the ticket window immediately realized that my girlfriend and I were not French and double checked that we really wanted to see this version. If not for her, I would have found out how Aaron Sorkin's razor-sharp, quick dialogue flowed when dubbed into French.

7. Bringing a friend to translate French subtitles: Not the best idea.

After seeing nothing but American movies for a month and a half, I decided to bite the bullet and see Palm d'Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul's latest film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives in Thai with French subtitles. My plan: Bring my French-speaking girlfriend to translate the important parts. I quickly found out that dialogue scenes seem much longer when someone is whispering translations in your ear. And after a few turned heads, I also realized that maybe it was annoying to hear whispers in English during every dialogue scene. I braved the second half of the film armed only with my knowledge of Latin root words.

8. American humor doesn't always translate into French.

When I saw Miller's Crossing here, I thought it was much funnier the second time around. Halfway through, however, I realized that I was only person in the mostly-full theater laughing. I sounded like a jerk. Apparently, the movie's vernacular -- e.g. "Are you giving me the high hat?" -- does not translate into French subtitles.

9. The Cinémathèque Française isn't what it used to be... but it's still good.

While I'm not usually nostalgic for times I wasn't alive for, I have to admit that when I first came to Paris, I was a bit giddy about seeing the historic Cinémathèque Française at Trocadero. Had I done any research besides watching The Dreamers, I'd have found out that the Cinémathèque has since been moved and rebuilt... as a sleek, modern, and pretty bland building in one of the least exciting parts of the city. Apologies to Frank Gehry, but it wasn't what I imagined. That said, the auditoriums are nice, the programming is still stellar, and there are still always old people reading or sleeping in the seats who may or may not hey live there. Also, my friend saw Luc Moullet there the other night. I suppose I'll suck it up.