What a romantic title, an eye catching approach to a delicate subject, a cemetery in Paris.
I went to Paris, to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. After looking for housing I stepped inside its gates because I was in the vicinity. I thought an hour or so and I would be back on the streets looking for a place to stay.
But cemeteries, even Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn New York were not designed for only the no longer living in this world. They were formerly Parks, places to bring your picnic basket and partake of a family Sunday afternoon meal.
Perre Lachaise kept my interest for the entire day and to see this experience duplicated/preserved through the eyes of a master documentary maker is a rare and precious experience.
This film captures both the emotional moments of those who join in the celebration of life past and those who cherish the quiet world sans cars, where maps to find particular sites are a requisite in this beautiful, emotionally gripping retreat.
I have not been back to Paris in years and years but the sculptural creations in celebrated remembrance of each Nazi Concentration camp lingers in my mind, revisited in memory because they are what the best of Art is all about. To take what is and elevate it to a new configuration, a new memory stacked one upon the other.
That is the genius of Heddy Honigmann. She knows how to take a place, a moment, draw upon her ability to capture the essence as she sees it and create a work of Art with layer upon layer of meaning. The impact is as riveting as the Cemetery itself.
A necessary addition to our human experience.
Forever.
Grave sites of Note:
Jim Morrison
Oscar Wilde
Frederic Chopin
Marcel Proust
Maria Callas
, Guillaume Apollinaire,
Amadeo Modigliani,
Jean-Auguste Ingres,
Georges Méliès,
Yves Montand
Simone Signoret
And
their music,
their art,
their written words
preserved!
APRIL 21st
HOME-VIDEO RELEASE FROM ICARUS FILMS (DVD)
LindaZises
WBAI Women Collective
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