"Set a goal. Work. Achieve."

Sport Kathryn Bertine is the cyclist who has led the campaign for an official women's Tour de France, a fight which is still ongoing.

  Her life has seen many obstacles and complications as this excellent piece from Bicycling magazine explains:

"She’s the powerhouse behind the women’s race at the Tour de France, the athlete who wrote three books, made a documentary, and clawed her way into the professional ranks of three sports. But walking away from a goal might have been her strongest move yet."

See also this Guardian piece about the forgotten story of ... Marianne Martin and the Tour de France Féminin, the first attempt at creating a women's race.

Potterhood.

Film Kristin Thompson's written a rather brilliant (and detailed!) comparative study of Boyhood and the Harry Potter film series:

"Of all the series mentioned above, “Harry Potter” is most pertinent to Boyhood. Their production periods overlapped considerably, and their directors faced similar major challenges. This despite the disparity in their finances. “Harry Potter” had a huge budget supplied by Warner Bros., ranging from the lowest at $100 million for Chamber of Secrets to the highest at $250 million for Half-Blood Prince. (These are the budgets as publicly acknowledged, taken from Box-Office Mojo, which has no figures for the last two films.) Boyhood had a lean budget of $200 thousand for each of the twelve years and totaling about $4 million with postproduction and other expenses added in. Still, as we shall see, the challenges really had nothing to do with the budgets."

Previously. I love the nugget that the the IFC Center in New York ran all eight Potter films in a row as a homage to Boyhood. Kristin makes a convincing case for the two to be somehow inextricably linked, and the appearance of the Potter books in Boyhood suggests it is something Linklater was clearly conscious of.

Bubbles!

Fashion In the ’60s, models floated through Paris in bubbles:

"There’s something about floating translucent bubbles that’s always seemed futuristic, from the ’60s right up to the present day. Photographer Melvin Sokolsky was on the, er, ball, then, when he shot his now iconic “Bubble” series for the Harpers Bazaar 1963 Spring Collection.

"The series is widely credited for launching the trend of bold, artistic visions within fashion photography. The bubble first takes off in color from beyond the New York City skyline, then lands on the Seine River in Paris, where it begins a surreal black-and-white tour of Parisian streets, alleys, and cafes. Designer clothes are on display in each shot, something that’s easily overlooked as model Simone d’Aillencourt cavorts in the plexiglass sphere, drawing a lot of attention (and even a few fireballs) from standers by."

Delpy's Road.

Film Julie Delpy's next directed film is a period drama which sounds really exciting:

"The film is based on a story by Delpy and Stephen Hamel. Hamel is producing through his Company Films banner along with “Her” producer Vincent Landay.

"The film is set the early days of silent films and the automobile industry and follows a family of Vaudeville performers embarking on a cross-country road trip from New York to Los Angeles while making a motion picture."

The exciting part is that lately we haven't had a decent period road movie as such because of the sheer cost of setting and resetting that many locations which is odd when you consider how much of a road movie, depending on the route taken, is in an open wilderness where the only elements you necessarily need are costumes and a vehicle.

It was a collaboration.

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke on Their 'Before' Trilogy from The Credits on Vimeo.

Film The usual chemistry in full effect and has the bonus of playing out the whole of Julie's A Waltz for a Night from Before Sunset at the end.  There's not an awful lot that's new year, but it's very good on the collaboration element in Sunrise which just underscores how incorrect it is that neither Julie or Ethan are credited, something which was corrected in the later films.

Oh, Vienna.

History As part of the BBC's World War One commemorations (is that the right word?), the news magazine is running a series of articles from correspondents throughout Europe about various cities, capturing the mood, that sort of thing. Bethany Bell is in Vienna:

"A few months ago, a Viennese friend frowned as he stirred his coffee. We were sitting in Cafe Griensteidl, in the centre of town.

"I'd just told him that, even after 15 years of living here, I'm still haunted by Vienna as it was just before the outbreak of World War One, before the defeat that led to the collapse of the rotting Austro-Hungarian Empire.

"But don't lots of periods of history feel close in Vienna?" he asked. "You've got Mozart and the Baroque, you've got the 19th Century and the Ringstrasse, you've even got the Flak towers of the World War Two… Why not focus on them?"

The Shadow Proclamation.

People Since the smoking ban in Paris, there's been a marked increase in the amount of noise on the streets. In an attempt to recreate some of the city's former atmosphere, city hall have recruited, and this either brilliant or terrifying depending on the kind of person you are, an army of mimes to walk the streets and suggest that people might want to socialise with less volume:

"Patrolling the city since March last year, this group of mute, sad-faced, black and white-clad mediators stalk the city’s busy bar strips on weekend nights, gently encouraging people to drink, smoke and chat at a lower volume. Usually never uttering a word (though followed by leaflet-distributing "mediatisers"), the Pierrots work under a slogan not easy to translate snappily: "Create atmosphere without turning up the volume." Their leader explained their intentions to Le Bonbon Nuit magazine thus:

"We want to offer a moment of poetry, of dreaming…many emotions happen, at times even people come to cry in our arms. The only condition is that our artists are silent: mimes, actors, breathers of poetry, circus artists or stilt-walkers."

Add this to the list entitled, "Just you try this here..."

Hemingway's Way.

History LIFE photographer says Ernest Hemingway wanted to liberate enter Paris before the army, until Patton stopped him:

"“Hemingway’s idea,” Morse recalls, “to get into Paris before U.S. troops headed in was scuttled because someone — maybe a reporter who wasn’t invited along? Who knows? — someone leaked the plan to Patton, and before we knew it, the press camp was surrounded by military police. Patton walks in and says, ‘If any of you make a move toward Paris before the troops do, I’ll court martial you!’ Anyway, we went in shortly afterward. It was a quick trip from the outskirts, because there were so few Germans left to stop us.”

Before the movie ...

Film A message from Celine and Jesse ...

Plaza of Nations.

Travel The New York Times publishes an article about Japanese culture in Paris. It's the perfect storm for this blog's city tags:

"Japan continues to fascinate the French, and after a while, you begin to see Japan almost everywhere you go in Paris. The spa Cinq Mondes near the Opera features “kobido,” a natural skin-lifting ritual once reserved for geishas. The Henri Le Roux chocolate shop makes a pea-green Yuzu Macha bar. Galerie Sentou, a design and furniture store, sells Noguchi lamps. Every Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris now seems to have a Japanese touch; some bistros, like L’Office, have even imported Japanese chefs. The Paris runways have come under the same spell. Just one example: Kim Jones, Louis Vuitton’s men’s-wear style director, has combined classic tailoring with kimono silks. Meanwhile, the high-fashion concept store Colette just unveiled “Bento,” a jewelry collection inspired by rice, jasmine flowers and wasabi beans."

See also: Paris syndrome.

Before Midnight. The Press Tour.

Film Last Tuesday, amongst other things, I managed to see Before Midnight at the Cornerhouse in Manchester with a nice quiet, tittery in the right places, audience. It's a difficult film to talk about without destroying through spoilers, except to say that it is peerless, that the duration went extremely quickly and as ever it was over before I wanted it to be.

Including the Waking Life cameo, this is the fourth appearance of these characters and although cinematically, it's right that perhaps we should wait another nine years to greet them again, should Ethan, Julie and Richard be in the mood, or feel that they have something else to say, good god I wish they'd be back sooner (he says as he reaches for Julie's "Two Days in..." films as placebos).

As is customary, on the road to release, the trio have been appearing here and there. Since shifting over to unlimited broadband, I found that pretty much every topic you can think of has been covered by lengthy interviews and lectures and press conferences and Before Midnight is no exception. Here's the are being interviewed at close quarters by Anne Thompson, who's keen to tell them how it affected her personally:



Then there's the relatively famous Berlin Film Festival media conference, which is at least worth watching for the press reaction to Ethan's hair as he drifts on stage:



Finally, here the very curious Film Society of Lincoln Center summer talk, in which a slightly nervy (it seems) Film Comment contributor Phillip Lopate isn't quite sure when the three of them are joking and keeps leaping to Julie's defence (as though she needs it). This is the weirdest, actually, because it looks like a Q&A after a screening, but none of the audience have seen it yet, so they can't really talk about the film properly because of the River Song problem.



What all three illustrate is that actually, for all the ways the characters are different to their creators, the chemistry is *really* similar. Oh and the fantastically cagy look on Ethan face at the Lincoln when they're asked if he and Julie ever kissed. The romantic in me has always wonders why Julie included the Waltz song on her first solo album way before they decided to make Before Sunset (the song which ultimately appeared in the film), retelling the plot of the film and name-checking Hawke's character with a smirking pause beforehand.

Gilgamesh.

Film Ethan Hawke spoke to Reddit the other day and I think surprised many users with his openness. Here's a sample answer about how he's perceived in public:

"I don't want to say. You know, the things that we want to change about our lives are things we don't want everybody to know, and one of the most difficult things for me was having to learn in front of the public that having a reputation is a double-edged sword. It prevents me from making a first impression. I feel like I haven't made a first impression on anyone in 20 years. There are many things about my life and my behavior that I wish I could change, situations I wish I could have handled better, relationships I could have healed, but unfortunately the earth seems to turn one way and all we can do is try to learn."

Which feeds somewhat back into the link I posted yesterday from Lis. Many of us are in Hawke's position. Our online selves create a particular impression good or bad which means we do meet people who've previously met us online, what they have isn't a first impression, they already have some idea of what we'll be like, just as most of us might think that Hawke is probably pretty similar to Jesse from the walking and talking films.  But we never are.  We can't be.

Updated! Hawke's also given a superb interview to The Observer. Here's his James Franco story:

"I ask Hawke how well he knows James Franco. I've always liked to imagine him as a mentor to the younger actor – two writers and polymaths, both seeking some sort of inner truth of themselves and the world around them. "I had a very surreal experience once," Hawke replies. "I was walking on Sunset Boulevard under this giant billboard of James Franco – it was like this Calvin Klein ad or something – and then he walked out from underneath it. And I thought: man this fucking guy is everywhere." It was, Hawke says, the only time the two have ever met; he adds, unexpectedly: "He seems much more confident than I ever was."

Wes Anderson's new film.

Film Post-modern noodling perhaps, but this new creation from the Anderson/Copolla axis is richer and more involving than some major motion pictures. There's also something comforting about still being able identify some film directors by their style even in the commercials work, that auteur theory isn't dead.

Before Midnight. Trailer.

Film This happened ...



... which only makes me even more excited, surprised and elated than before.

Après-ski Montmartre.

WHO 50: 1979: City of Death.

TV The last time I went abroad was to Paris, just over ten years ago.

Now, I could sit here and type a list of reasons why I wanted to go, but in reality it’s probably for the same reason plenty of Doctor Who fans visit Paris.

City of Death.

Tom and Lalla falling in love off screen as they rush around Paris on screen fighting the might Scaroth. It was my favourite story. Still is.

So when I became a fan again, I knew there was one place I wanted to go in the world that I could broadly speaking afford and I designed my trip to pretty much go everywhere the TARDIS team do, to see the Mona Lisa, travel on the metro, a café, though not it has to be said, a dungeon in a château though Le Defence was roughly the same thing.

The younger version of me has already written about the trip on this blog and the original posts are still here.

Above all I wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower and stand in the same place as Tom and Lalla and look out across Paris.

As I explain in the original post, the process of visiting the tower was everything I expected, with the queues, the tourists and the tourists kissing in the queues.

What I hadn’t expected was my rare moment of spontaneity. The night before I’d actually watched City of Death and transcribed the Eiffel Tower scene so I could include it on a surprise postcard home having not told friends I was going.

Standing in that spot, looking out the same view they had, I decided that there was only one thing I had to do. So I fished the transcribed scene from my pocket, opened it out, and began to read.

Out loud.

THE DOCTOR and his companion ROMANA stand on the top of the Eifel Tower in Paris looking down at view below.

Doctor : Nice isn't it?
Romana : Yes, marvellous.
Doctor : Marvellous, absolutely.
Romana : Absolutely marvellous.
Doctor : Well I think it's marvellous.
Romana : So do I. Though it's not quite as you described it.
Doctor : Really? How did I describe it?
Romana : You said it was nice!
Doctor : It's the only place in the world where one can relax entirely.
Romana : Mmm! That bouquet!
Doctor : What Paris has... It has an ethos. It has a life. A.....
Romana : A bouquet?
Doctor : A spirit all of its own. Like a white wine, it has...
Romana : A bouquet?
Doctor : It has a bouquet. Yes. Like a good wine. You'd have to choose one of vintage years of course.
Romana : What year is this?
Doctor : Ah well, yes. It's 1979 actually. More of a table wine shall we say? Hah! The randomiser’s a useful device but it lacks true discrimination. Should we sip it and see?
Romana : Ooh! I'd be delighted. Shall we take the lift or fly?
Doctor : Lets not be ostentatious.
Romana : Alright. Lets fly then.
Doctor : That would look silly. We'll take the lift. Come on.

Cut to ...

My Tom Baker impression was only serviceable; Jon Culshaw with a cold. My Lalla Ward was non-existent. I didn't read it that loudly, mostly due to embarrassment.

 Now, I think I would have gone right at it, a full on, scarf wearing performance.

But I was meek, then, but still loud enough that when I’d finished, an American bloke turned to me, later he tells me his name is Bob, and asked me what I'd been doing.

“Were you sermonizing?” Bob asked.
“No.” I said.
“What was that?”
“Erm … did you ever see Doctor Who?”

Now remember, this was 2002, three whole years before the show returned to television and ten years before it arguably broke into the US in any kind of meaningful way. But I remember Bob knowing what Doctor Who was, unless he was just humouring me

I ended up telling him the whole story. About Tom and Lalla. About how it was filmed just where he was standing. He asked for a photo. I got one to.

Then he tottered off, his wife close behind, leaving me to take in, yes, the bouquet, and realising that over the next three days I would be sampling the rest too.

Later in the cafe (tick) I enjoyed a coffee and chocolate waffle and wrote some postcards, dabbing it in my messy chocolate drips on the table in an attempt to send some taste of Paris home.  There was a post office on the tower and I posted them there. A Euro for the two. In all I probably spent about two and a half hours up there, but it seemed like years.

The experience was not unlike Christmas Afternoon.  All of that build up and it's over in minutes.

As I queued for the lift down, I heared a familiar voice behind me.

‘Oooh look Mary – it’s Doctor Who….’

Mickey Mouse.

Film In a surprising move, Disney have begun releasing Mickey Mouse short cartoons, nineteen for broadcast across its media properties, the first since 1953.



As you can see, this isn't just a follow on from those sixty year old shorts; it absorbs some of the dna of what's come between especially the slightly chaotic animation style of Ren & Stimpy's John Kricfalusi as well as the Mickey comic strips. Plus, Paris. Paris. Ah Paris. Best add some croissant to the shopping list ...

The Optical of Delpy.

Film One of the aspects of Richard Linklater's Before ... film series, now that it is a series, is in capturing how the actors and so therefore the characters have changed across time. Jessie's wiriness, Celine's curves. Like the figures in Michael Apted's 7 up series. Like us all. Unless you live in the head of the person who airbrushed a publicity shot which appeared in Vanity Fair recently, spotted by Nadine Jolie:

"In the first photo I came across of Julie Delpy, I thought: She still looks great! (And, for the record, Ethan Hawke still looks crazy hot. I’d roll around with him while “All I Want Is You” blares in the background anytime.) But in the second photo, I immediately noticed that Julie looked slimmed–dramatically so. Cue some retroactive searching and comparison of the two photos and, yes indeed: somebody is trying to give 43-year-old Julie Delpy the body of 23-year-old Julie Delpy…"

Having already seen the photo around, for a while it was the only photo available of the film, I wouldn't have noticed, and didn't until I really scrutinised both photos myself. But it's true. The photoshopper has added extra architecture between Julie's arm and her waist.

As Nadine notes, we don't know who would have taken the decision, the film company or Vanity Fair.  My guess is that whoever did it, does this sort of thing as part of a process or house style.  But the bottom line is, people should be allowed to be who they want to be.

Rothschild Mansion in Paris.

Architecture Messy Nessy has some atmospheric images of the rotting Rothschild Mansion in Paris:

"The ne0-Louis XIV castle has been abandoned since the Second World War when the Rothschild family fled to England before the arrival of the Germans, who would later inhabit and plunder the house during the four-year Nazi occupation of Paris. After the city’s liberation, the U.S. army were the next self-service tenants at the Chateau Rothschild– their stay didn’t do the residence any favours either. The Rothschilds never returned to their home and over the decades it has been left to deteriorate while serving as a playground for graffiti artists and vandals."

Renovation is important, but sometimes, like second hand books, it's useful to keep houses in their ongoing state so that they reflect the life they've led.

The Heated Terraces of Paris Are Safe. For Now.

Travel One of the more atmospheric elements of Paris in film of late, is the proliferation of gas heaters with their orange and red glow providing a romantic backdrop to illicit or tragic meetings in terraces.

But Jacques Boutault, mayor of the 2nd Arrondissement and a member of EELV, the French Green Party, has been campaigning to have them banned for their obvious environmental issues, the sheer extravagance of heating the outside in winter.

A ban was due to be brought in on the 1st June, but the the Paris Administrative Court have overturned the decision in favour of the cafe owner's complaints. The Atlantic explains:

"In its January ruling, a tribunal from the Paris Administrative Court ruled the city had not sufficiently justified why gas and not electric heaters had been banned, writing the city conducted “no serious study” showing gas heaters pollute more than electric ones. While electric heaters do not emit carbon dioxide as gas heaters do, they cause more than double the carbon-dioxide emissions of gas heaters during the production and distribution of electricity, according to a 2007 study by RTE, France’s Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity, and ADEME, France’s Agency for the Environment and Energy Management, which the tribunal cited. The city maintains that gas heaters are worse because they dirty the air those near the heaters breathe."

In the comments, we're told that Germany has a different option. Blankets.