Why We’ll Always Have Paris

By Stephen B. Hunt

Some locations lure filmmakers with promises of kickbacks, or flash their devalued currency and gorgeous scenery like so much fiscal thigh. Others, like Paris, don't have to do much of anything to attract movie crews except continue to be one of the world's most beautiful cities.

Business has never been better in the City of Lights. This spring in Paris, if you were lucky you might have run into Sofia Coppola, in town shooting Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman, or Ron Howard, shooting The Da Vinci Code with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Jean Reno.

Talk about a top-shelf town. What is it about Paris?

Blame it on Vincente Minnelli, for one. He directed An American in Paris, and gave the world "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" in Gigi. Funny Face, a musical spoof of the world of high fashion and haute bohemia, shot in 1957, was one of the first films shot in Technicolor, and it showed Paris to full-spectrum advantage. On the other hand, the black-and-white Paris of Godard's Breathless felt young, sexy and dangerous. Bernardo Bertolucci and Marlon Brando visited a museum showing the paintings of Francis Bacon prior to shooting Last Tango in Paris in 1972, and immediately assimilated Bacon's dark imagery into the look of the film. For reasons that are unclear, Bertolucci's Paris films, from Tango to The Dreamers, have always had the coolest apartments in the movie world.

The past decade or so has seen no shortage of Paris-centric films: French Kiss, Le Divorce, Forget Paris, The Bourne Identity, The Truth About Charlie (Jonathan Demme's remake of Charade), Interview with the Vampire, Before Sunset and Killing Zoe have all exploited Parisian streetscapes and unforgettably beautiful architecture by shooting on location there.

Kate Hudson shot Le Divorce with Naomi Watts, but it was hardly her first visit: That had come at the ripe old age of two, with mom Goldie Hawn, who was dating a French guy at the time. "Paris was incredible for me," Hudson told an interviewer from the Internet site ivillage. "Everything about it - from spending hours eating, drinking and talking to walking through the streets - I got to experience firsthand."

Where does the industry hang out in Paris? At one time, the hotel of choice for Hollywood was a place like the Ritz - big, formal, elegant and classy. These days, however, industry folks are just as likely to bunk down at one of Paris's many boutique hotels, which are far more intimate, tech-friendly and not out to impress with their Old Europe self-importance.

The Bel Ami, a 115-room Left Bank hotel located in an 18^th Century printing plant, is a good example. It's low-key and hip, and has free Internet in the lobby along with big, comfy couches and a bar. The Bel Ami's rooms are large, comfortable - marble floors in the bathroom, terrycloth robes and towel warmers - and some even have orange walls that could be left over from the set of Funny Face.

In the Marais, which has been transformed into perhaps Paris's most tres chic quarter, Pavilion de la Reine is an ivy-colored four-star boutique hotel that's a bit of a throwback to the days of Marie Antoinette - but in a very unassuming, Sofia Coppola kind of way.

Around the corner from Pavilion de la Reine, Chez Janou is the sort of Parisian bistro that is packed with French and American industry types, smoking, talking, drinking and occasionally eating delicious things like grilled scallops St. Jacques served on a bed of mushroom risotto.

After dinner, try Bar du Marche, located in the Left Bank around the corner from the Bel Ami. Sitting in Bar du Marche is like climbing into the screen showing Breathless: You are almost certain a young Jean-Paul Belmondo will be sitting at the table next to yours, smoking a filter-less Gitane and staring impudently at your date. Needless to say, you can also find jazz and martinis here.

Fond memories almost guaranteed.

See companion pieces: The Real Thing and Timeless Timepieces