Legend has it that the friendship between Manet and Degas began in the Louvre, where the two geniuses – the first already famous, the second still unknown – regularly go to copy the masters of the Italian Renaissance. An admirable draughtsman, Degas conceived a fascination for his two-year-old eldest, whom he sketched several times seated, staring into space. He also painted him at home, slumped on a sofa while he listened to his wife, Suzanne, play the piano. This painting from 1868 – from the Kitakyushu museum in Japan – causes a falling out when Degas discovers that his friend cut out the part of the painting where his wife’s profile appeared…
Manet strikes back: his Madame Manet au piano, where Suzanne appears in the same position and in the same salon, is a well-felt response to his colleague. The friendship resumes, still volcanic: Degas would like Manet to join the Impressionist movement, Manet remains faithful to the official salons. The themes respond to each other: racetracks, naked cocottes, beach scenes… At the Musée d’Orsay, the masterful exhibition “Manet-Degas” leads us from wonder to wonder while making us discover the history of this complex friendship. , where emulation and rivalry merge.
“Manet-Degas”, until July 23 at the Musée d’Orsay.
They did not choose their name out of nationalism, but because it meant nothing. The five members of The National were looking for a simple, neutral name, like their music, an elegant soft pop with folk and rock accents. Since then, the indie rock band (they’ve never signed to a major label) from the Midwest (Cincinatti, Ohio), formed in 1999 in Brooklyn and won Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammy Awards for Sleep Well Beast in 2018 has never ceased to rock us in almost twenty-five years of career. On their ninth album, the deep baryon voice and melancholy lyrics of Matt Berninger blend subtly with the compositions of the Dessner brothers, the most prolific twins in contemporary music.
Because if The National sang with Taylor Swift on his fabulous record Evermore, it’s because their guitarist Aaron Dessner is the pop star’s producer (as well as that of Ben Howard, Local Natives, Adia Victoria…). His brother and accomplice Bryce Dessner, who also lives in Paris with his wife, singer Mina Tindle, also composes for philharmonic orchestras and Philip Glass, Sufjan Stevens, Steve Reich, Paul Simon… Finally, bassist Scott Devendorf and his brother Bryan, drummer, formed a group, LNZNDRF, with musicians from the group Beirut. With this address book, we were expecting dream featurings… And we indeed meet Taylor Swift, Sufjan Stevens and Phoebe Bridgers. Classy!
First Two Pages of Frankenstein (released on 4AD April 28).
Wonderful ! In one hour of show, intense and full of fantasy, the whole poetic universe of Marcel Aymé comes to life. Remember this story from Tales of the perched cat, “The Dog”, which may have amused you as a child: Delphine and Marinette take in a blind and generous dog on the farm who is immediately adored by everyone. The Cat, in particular, is so overwhelmed by the kindness of his new companion that he offers him, a little out of friendship, a lot out of guilt, to go blind in his place. From then on, this blindness which is so disabling goes, a bit like an epidemic, to circulate from one to the other, subtly questioning the limits of love, friendship, consent and voluntary enslavement.
But evidenced by the furious bursts of laughter from the children and adults present last Sunday at the Studio Théâtre, the staging by Véronique Vella and Raphaëlle Saudinos fortunately relies less on the moral of the story than on its humor and its charm. As for the actors who embody the animals, Véronique Vella as a Mouse, Nicolas Lormeau as a Dog and Jean Chevalier as a Cat, they are frankly prodigious. With big ones or with little ones, run there!
The Dog, every Sunday, at 6:30 p.m., until May 7, 2023, at the Studio Théâtre de la Comédie-Française.
The first American film from Argentinian director Damian Szifron, this deceptively classic thriller begins as a tale of a mass killer – a sniper randomly gunning down passers-by on New Year’s Eve in Baltimore – and evolves into a psychological descent into hell and the portrait pessimism of an America plagued by its gun culture. Shailene Woodley, also a producer, plays a cop in uniform haunted by her own demons, whose federal agent camped by the formidable Ben Mendelsohn intends to use to better track the killer with the rifle. Pulsating in its first part, a little more laborious thereafter, Misanthrope nevertheless reveals the know-how of its director and haunts by its darkness and its elegance the memory of the spectator long after the projection. Even if it doesn’t always aim right, the suspense detonates enough to be worth the detour.
Misanthrope, by Damian Szifron (1:59). National release on April 26.
You dream of a rhythmic, muscular and tense detective series, stop by Canal which draws B.R.I every Monday evening. The encrypted channel even manages to renew the genre. With a cast to match, mixing young actors carried with conviction by Sofian Khammes in the role of a determined and upright chef, and charismatic guests, such as Emmanuelle Devos, Vincent Elbaz or Bruno Todeschini. Spinning and raids, unspoken and nervous briefs, the series produced by Jérémie Guez (screenwriter of Black Box with Pierre Niney) plays on all the springs of the genre. And it works ! Nostalgic for Gears or The Bureau of Legends, dive in!
B.R.I, sur Canal .
