Paris, Mon Amour
Perry Miller Adato shows Paris at its Peak
A theatre full of impatient Paris lovers waited for the premier of Perry Miller Adato’s documentary Paris, The Luminous Years as part of the FIFA festival. The film is the latest from four-time Directors Guild of America Award winner, Miller Adato, who was also the first female to be awarded the prize.
The acclaimed documentary producer is understandably proud of her achievements.
Carefully elaborated and well documented, Miller Adato’s film reveals why Paris came to be the cradle of art; a city “where the 20th century was,” in the words of Gertrude Stein.
“Art is very global now, it’s not so much in one geographical area, though New York would probably be on the list,” said Adato about artistic expression in the 21st century.
Picasso, Van Gogh, Lautrec, Degas, Stein, Hemingway, Diaghilev, Nijinsky and Korsakov among others gathered in Parisian’s society. What then drew the national and international avant-garde to choose Paris?
Rebels of the 20th century concentrated around Montmartre’s bohemian atmosphere. Paris developed a “café culture,” where artists met, painted and talked about art – circumventing restrictions that otherwise would not allow large gatherings without a permit.
The film highlights how American artists, stifled in the prohibition era, fled to Europe to dream and explore in a more open artistic community. Paris nurtured and stimulated free expression in a time where elsewhere it would be scandalized and condemned.
Adato sat at the back of the theatre with her husband, observing the crowd’s reaction. After the film a little crowd began forming around her until a woman asked, “Why are you sitting with unimportant people?” to which Perry answered with a silent, graceful smile.
“My priority now is Mr. Adato, my husband and companion for the last 55 years. Professionally, I am not interested in nothing major, perhaps short films on subjects I like. Funding in these days is challenging to find,” said Adato.
Maybe a film on Canada’s cultural centre will surface in Adato’s golden years of film making.
“It’s not my first time in town,” said Adato. “We often came here to romance… I love the francophone culture. Montreal is vibrant and young.”
