Seeing a movie in Paris
 

We're thinking about seeing the French film Jacquou le Croquant while in Paris in February.

I know there are theaters on the Champs Elysées but are there others, and do they ever show films with English subtitles?

Is it easy to get a ticket, by waiting until shortly before the show and buying from the ticket window?

A French movie is not likely to be shown with English subtitles unless it is a special screening.

Is it really popular? Cinemas fill up, like elsewhere, at popular times like Friday night if they are blockbusters, no different. Go late, or during the day.

In France French movies are shown in French. English language movies will be dubbed into French in neighborhood theaters. But in many of the larger theaters in tourist areas they will be shown in English with French subtitles.

So you can see as many English language movies as you want (either new hits or - frequently film festivals - esp in the Latin Quarter. We spent one awfully chilly, rainy evening in a Marx Brothers fetival that was hilarious.)

Thanks. We'll see it in French then, and understand as much as we can:) Just going will be a new experience for us.

Where in Paris are there theaters showing new films besides on the Champs Elysées?

A 40 centimes copy of Pariscope is all you need. It will have a listing of all the movies with mentionned of VO or VF, times, prices and cinemas address. I usually go to the Bastille area for French movies.

Are you to Paris just to see that movie? What is so special?

There are theaters all over Paris, except I think there's only one in the 7th arr. LuckyLuc is right, just buy a weekly entertainment guide (Pariscope or l'Officiel des Spectacles) which lists all theaters and films showing by arrondisement.

no, they never show a French movie with English subtitles.

Areas with a lot of theaters showing first-run films are the Champs-Elysees, St Germain and Montparnasse.

Paris is a wonderful place to see a movie. The first time I went to see Blade Runner was in the Latin Quarter. I also saw Diva there in a little theatre that had been showing it for almost a year.
My husband and I had a great time when we walked from the Ave. Bourdonnais all the way down to Balard to see the movie Jusqu'au Bout du Monde (until the end of the world), a perfect movie to watch while traveling.

When we go to movies in Paris, we like to look for flicks with lots of atmosphere rather than blockbusters.

No different than at home, theaters everywhere. I went to see a movie (Prete-moi ta main, #1 movie in France at the time - Nov 06) on a Saturday night, 9 euros. Paris shows movies in French. If you want to see an english movie, look for the movie name of the movie (in English) and get VO, which will mean shown Version Originalle, or in its original language, with french sub-titles.

One of the delights of my trip last May was seeing Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola's version) at the theater on the Champs-Elysees...a day after going to Versailles. :-)

I know you mentioned new films, but there's a movie theater on the Rue des Ecoles (sorry, I don't know the number address) that shows classic English language films. Singin' in the Rain was playing during my trip.

Here's a link to a wonderful articles on seeing movies in Paris..

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-...la-home-travel

Wasn't it Beatchick that posted a trip report about david Sedaris and movies..I can't find it! MAry are you out there???

one of my daughter's favorite memories is seeing "the corpse bride" at a montparnasse movie theatre. it was a last minute decision, but we had the pariscope and mappy.com helped us find our way. it was in english (v.o.) with french subtitles.

there is a large concentration of movie theatres in montparnasse. we went into at least three before finding the right one!

What a great article Jody! Thanks so much. No we're not going to Paris just to see a movie:) It's just something we've wanted to do there, but haven't had time before. We love watching French films here at home, so we thought it be great fun seeing one while we're in Paris in February.

As for the film, I don't know what kind of reviews it's had, but it's a new release that sounded interesting to me and the previews look great!

Curious, do they concessions stands with popcorn, candy and soda?

My post is an answer to the last post. Concessions are extremely different! We saw a movie in Paris (a terrible Tom Cruise flick) because, being two months pregnant, I was craving movie theatre popcorn. They sold popcorn, but it was the weird, stale, prepopped bleh stuff. Not that wonderful, greasey buttery stuff I was craving. The other interesting thing was they did sell ice cream treats, row by row, like at a sports stadium in the states. Having said that, I thought it was a really fun experience. I love to experiencing familiar things with another culture's spin.

I was going to see Little Miss Sunshine in Paris and I SO regret not going.

When I returned to the states I saw it with friends and I was dying, I was laughing so hard. But I would have loved to have been with a French audience to see that film -- to get a sense of their reaction to U.S. popular culture, a Proust academic, wondering if they would know what the MacArthur award is, etc.

BKP - that's not what we experienced in a theatre in the 12th last June. There was a concession stand in the lobby and the popcorn was fresh and hot; and there was no one selling ice cream row by row. Must vary by theatre.

DejaVu, the movie theatre on Rue des Ecoles is around the 31 street block, about a block down from the Hotel St. Germaine. I saw "Ninotchka" with Greta Garbo there. It was English with French subtitles; one of my favorite memories of my Paris trip. Old school style cinema with deep seats. Images2, if you go, don't forget to tip the attendant taking your ticket.

One thing I noticed when seeing movies with Paris was that the audience was much more polite than in America. No getting up and down, no coming in late, no noise, no cell phones. If people were eating popcorn (and they must have been), you couldn't even tell, no smacking and crackling of paper. It was like seeing the movie all by yourself, it was so quiet. Heavenly!

whoops -- "IN" Paris not "WITH" Paris-- I didn't go see movies with Paris Hilton! (thank goodness!)

Thanks for the tip on tipping! I do remember hearing that once, so it's still the norm. How much of a tip is expected?

Sounds like a great experience!

bookmarking

Actually, David Sedaris mentioned (tipping the attendant) it to me after one of his shows. I don't remember the exact amount, but I remember him saying 1 euro was too much of a tip. Maybe 1/2 that?

There was no tipping of any attendant at my last visit to a theater, nor the previous. Not sure where this idea comes from..

French in Action Book 2, lesson 37:

Mireille: Tu as les tickets? Elle te les a rendus?

Robert: Oui...mais tu as entendu comme elle a dit "merci"? Son ton n'était pas très aimable...D'ailleurs, pourquoi m'a-t-elle remercié? Je ne lui ai rien donné!

Mireille: Mais justement, c'est pour ça! Elle s'attendait à ce que nous lui donnions un pourboire!

Robert: Ah, bon? Il faut donner un pourboire aux ouvreuses?

Mireille: Ben, oui, c'est l'habitude.

Well, I guess it's Pierre Capretz from Yale that's teaching Americans to tip in French theaters!

interesting. I know there was a person taking tickets, but I there was no one in front of me tipping that person. I was in the 16th, at a local cinema.

Tipping the ushers in the cinema stopped more than 10 years ago in France.

The two best multiplexes with programs in v.o. in Paris are UGC CinéCité Bercy at metro Cour Saint Emilion in the 12th and MK2 Bibliothèque at metro Bibliothèque in the 13th -- both of them are on line 14 of the metro.

Haha, Images2: I actually remember that episode!

I didn't see any tipping when I went to the movies...

French in Action is only about 20 years old:) I do love it though!

Wow, another new release I'd love to see. La môme, about the life of Edith Piaf.

I haven't seen an usher in a French cinema in a very long time, many years. The person taking the tickets is usually at the front at the door or something, and you wouldn't tip them for taking your ticket.

Of course it varies by cinema as to whether they sell food and how, and what it is.

check out the ugc website ugc.fr they show all their cinemas '(they have a lot)Personally I think the ones on the champs are some of the worst. My favorite one is cine cite les halles, it has big screens and a lot of choice.
You can also reserve with your credit card on their site, and pick up your ticket at the distributing machine next to the ticket office just before. avoids waiting on line
...

The two UGC multiplexes at Les Halles and Bercy draw a predominantly suburban clientele. I do prefer the MK2 multiplexes, the one at Bibliothèque with its "love seats", and the cute twin ones (Quai de Seine and Quai de Loire) with their attached bobo restaurants on either side of the canal de l'Ourcq, métro Jaurès, that are linked by a boat crossing the canal. Talk about "romantic"... (and yet no American tourist in sight over there, it's sooo far away from their beloved 6th & 7th, which seems to be the alpha and omega of Paris)

Thanks so very much for the cinema tips and the good advise about staying away from the champs.

Be fair about American tourist's though, I think most of us enjoy all of Paris, not just the 6th and 7th. We enjoy all of France in fact!

OK, Images, I'll give you credit for your sense of "adventure"! But you are quite a lone voice on this forum!

Arty, Me too.

I'm finding that matching a film with a theater isn't to easy. We want to see Jacquou le Croquant and La môme, between February 17-24. I found Allocine.fr where you can search for the film you want. UGC is showing Jacquou le Croquant only in the suburbs I think, and La môme at 9 p.m. and I'm not giving up dinner for a film:)

Gaumont is showing Jacquou le Croquant at the following theaters:

Parnasse, Opera, Convention, Champs-Elysées-Marignan and Aquaboulevard.

Which would be the best to see a film in?

Thanks for helping me figure this out before we arrive in Paris!

I'm hoping La môme willing be offered more that week, and the schedules just aren't out yet, since it's a new release next week.

Ok, let's proceed by elimination:
- Champs-Elysées: no way, by definition
- Parnasse: cramped
- Aquaboulevard: will you have flown all the way to Paris to watch a movie in a swimming pool?
- Opéra: why not, it's central enough.
- Convention is located on a nice little square in the 15th, feels like the provinces.

But anyway, given the high turnover of movies in Paris and the fact that Jacquou le Croquant's reviews are dismal, I would bet that half of these theaters won't be showing it from the 14th onwards. As for la Môme, it will be the tsunami of French cinema this winter, so you'd better go see it in the afternoon. The 21h function will be pretty much standard, given the length of the movie.

Jacquou le Croquant reviews are dismal, I don't want to hear that! Oh well, since I'll only understand half of it anyhow, I'd still like to try and catch it. It looked interesting to me. By the way, it's 2 1/2 hours also.

Hopefully they'll expand La môme. We do have tickets to see Piaf une vie en rose et noir at Theatre Marigny one evening. Tickets are 1/2 price the first week or so! That we can fit in before dinner.

Thanks for all your help Art!

I would never eliminate the Champs-Elysees if a movie I want to see is on certain screens there -- notably the main screen of the UGC Normandie which is the best screen in Paris since the Gaumont Grand Ecran closed -- or else the main screen of the Publicis or the Gaumont Champs Elysees Ambassade.

Hi JOdy!

Thanks for the mention. I wrote about it on my trip report (which still isn't finished):
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34760108