Parisians angry as trees in famous cinema's
Japanese garden cut down
Property magnate Charles Cohen’s €8m renovation of La
Pagode branded a ‘massacre’
Kim
Willsher
Published
onFri 22 May 2020 05.00 BST
When the property
magnate Charles Cohen bought the La Pagode cinema in Paris, complete with its
celebrated Japanese garden, three years ago, he announced that as an American
in Paris he wanted “everyone to be happy”.
The
cinema-loving Francophile promised to “restore and preserve” the magnificent
listed building and pledged he would “not disappoint” with his €8m facelift.
But locals
in the 7th arrondissement near the celebrated cinema are far from happy,
claiming the historic site has been partly destroyed. They describe the sawing
down of a ginkgo biloba tree, a large horse chestnut and a weeping beech –
unexpectedly razed on the day France’s strict lockdown ended – as a chainsaw
“massacre”.
“We had
hoped to be rejoicing in a new life for La Pagode, in the belief that its
purchaser had at heart the idea of refining this exceptional site and
protecting its spirit,” the organisation France Nature Environment wrote in an
open letter to Cohen.
The letter
said the organisation was “stunned by this unimaginable massacre”, adding:
“Reading the plans for this project reveals it shows the opposite of respect
for the site, that we thought was a given.”.
It said
that the plans which included developing a neighbouring building to create a
“cinema city” were “interesting … but will destroy the magical and miraculous
character of the site”.
The
organisation pointed out that the building, garden and surrounding walls were
all protected by heritage listing: “This project undermines the system of
protection of French monuments. The supposed restoration hides a real
distortion.”
Outside La
Pagode on Thursday a message had been written on the planning notice which
read: “Shame on you for chopping down the gingko and the weeping beech. This
garden was magnificent; you have turned it into a wasteland.”
When it
closed in 2015 after a bitter dispute between the owner and the tenants, then a
small independent cinema chain, it appeared the curtain had come down on La
Pagode for good. The building with its peaceful Japanese tea garden and Salle
Japonaise needed extensive renovation.
The ornate
replica of a pagoda was commissioned in 1895 by François-Émile Morin as a
wedding gift to his wife at a time when Japanese style was à la mode in Europe.
Morin, the owner of the nearby department store Le Bon Marché, had some of the
building’s most lavish parts, including delicately sculpted wooden beams and
panels, brought over from Japan.
Despite his
grand gesture, the marriage did not last. Before La Pagode was finished, his
wife had fallen in love with his best friend.
La Pagode
was first used to host high-class Parisian soirées and receptions but was closed
in 1927. Four years later it was turned into a cinema and immediately forged a
reputation for screening avant garde films. The premiere of Jean Cocteau’s last
film, Testament d’Orphée, was held at La Pagode in 1960 and during the decade
it became a place of high cinematic art, promoting the classics of the New Wave
generation including François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Éric Rohmer.
Despite
housing only two relatively small cinemas, it attracted more than 100,000
film-goers a year before its closure in 2015, and hosted movie masterclasses,
festivals and evenings with visiting directors in the original Salle Japonaise,
which featured red velvet seats and oriental snake light fittings.
Cohen,
president of the Cohen Media Group, an independent distribution and production
company, was hailed as a saviour when he bought the cinema in 2017 and
announced his grand plans. These included adding two extra screening halls
underground as well as a bar and restaurant. Earlier this year, he acquired the
lease on a large neighbouring building, previously the seat of the regional
council, and obtained permission to develop the site into a centre for the
“creation, training, research and innovation” in cinema. La Pagode was due to
reopen this year.
Matthew
Fraser, a professor at the American University of Paris, said locals were
“outraged” by the felling of La Pagode’s trees. “It’s a mythical place whose
history goes back to the Belle Epoch. I used to go there back in the 1980s and
I remember it was a cool place where you often met actors. Now the trees are
completely gone. Did Charles Cohen even know about this? Maybe it was the
architects who oversee work on historic buildings who said they had to come
down. We just don’t know,” he said.
Paris Pagodas: The Remarkable Story of La Pagode in
the 7th
By Dorothy
Garabedian - Apr 9, 2019 7249 3 Print Print Email Email
Paris has
two remarkable and unusual pagodas. Curiously, neither was built as a sanctuary
or shrine. On the outside, one is bold and conspicuous while the other is
discreet and hidden in a thick bamboo and gingko garden. A closer look reveals
that both have unconventional architecture and sumptuous interior design. Their
histories are engrossing, sprinkled with a little mystery.
In the
first installment of a two-article series, I will share the story of La Pagode,
a delicate, Japanese-style pagoda situated in the prestigious 7th
arrondissement. It was built in 1896 by a prominent man as a birthday gift for
his wife. Later, it became a fabled cinema. The exquisite architectural jewel
and enchanting bamboo garden are historical monuments. Today, La Pagode’s
situation is in a state of… suspense.
The second
article will tell the tale of the Pagoda Paris (or the Red Pagoda), an
imposing, Chinese-style pagoda located in the upper-class 8th arrondissement.
The year is
1896 – the height of the flamboyant Belle Epoque era – and François Emil Morin,
a director of the grand department store Le Bon Marché, is trying to think of a
unique birthday present to give his wife, Suzanne Kelson – a woman with an
impulsive personality. She is known as “Amandine,” meaning “much loved,” and
Monsieur Morin is wholly infatuated with her. He is so eager to please her that
every evening he brings a little gift from the store to coax squeals of
pleasure from her. This birthday present should be something that really takes
her breath away; something that would be the envy of tout Paris.
Japonisme
is all the rage and he finds inspiration in that. He would build her a
beautiful pagoda!
Monsieur
Morin sets out to buy the property at 57, rue de Babylone (a short walk from Le
Bon Marché). He hires top architect, Alexandre Marcel, who coincidentally is
also fascinated with Japonisme. Monsieur Marcel orders panels, paints, frescos
and statuary directly from Japan. He incorporates these and adds special French
touches, non-existent in Japan at the time, like art nouveau stained glass
windows and, for the interior, lots of gold-leaf Asian baroque ornamentation,
fanciful furnishings and a lovely stage. Despite delivery delays and workers
not showing up for work, the pagoda is completed on the day of Madame Morin’s
birthday.
A crowd on
the street watches as Amandine, escorted by her ebullient husband, arrives at
the pagoda in a carriage, her eyes covered with a silk scarf. He dramatically
whisks the scarf away and for a long moment Amandine is indeed frozen
breathless. When she recovers, she shrieks enthusiastically, showers kisses on
her husband, then runs toward the Pagoda to discover and take charge of her new
playhouse. Monsieur Morin couldn’t be happier.
From then
on Amandine plunges into organizing lavish banquets, balls, thematic evenings,
concerts, and plays. One after the other. La Pagode becomes the focal point of
Paris’ upper class, crazy social life and Amandine reigns over these
extravaganzas dressed in elaborate Japanese costume as Empress of the Rising
Sun.
One day,
only a few months later, a dark cloud appears over Monsieur Morin. At one of
her festivities Madame is introduced to a good-looking, suave young man named
Joseph Plassard. Amandine, falls madly in love with him right away.
Poor
Monsieur Morin. He not only loses his beloved Amandine to a much younger man
but he happens to be the son of his co-director at Le Bon Marché, Jules
Plassard. Quelle humiliation!
They
divorce; the goodhearted M. Morin gives her La Pagode; and Amandine and her
new, 15 years-younger husband sail off for the New World. A saddened but
resigned Monsieur Morin is left to his reveries of happier times. Apparently,
however, the lavish parties continued with Amandine’s best friend assuming the
role of Empress of the Rising Sun.
Amandine
dies in 1917 and La Pagode becomes part of the estate of Joseph Plassard. He
remarries. With his new wife, Antoinette Mougel, they buy up the mansions
surrounding La Pagode. The parties continued. In a short documentary on La
Pagode, a woman recalls attending one of these famous parties. “Stepping
through the gate into the garden was like entering a fairyland with candles
flickering everywhere,” she said. The orchestra was in black tie and she danced
the night away in the opulent hall. “It was unforgettable.”
This
extraordinary era in La Pagode’s history continued until 1927 when the hosts
could no longer carry on. The property was put up for sale. However, due to the
unusual architecture, offers were not pouring in. For a few years La Pagode
languished idly… until… a Chinese diplomatic delegation showed up. They were in
search of a building for their embassy. They thought La Pagode’s architecture
was perfectly suitable.
Who could
have dreamt of anything better?
Everything
was going smoothly until the diplomats decided to have a closer inspection of
the building. They didn’t like what they saw and promptly terminated the lease.
What
happened?
The panels
and frescos the architect had ordered from Japan depicted battle scenes of the
Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 where the Japanese were the valiant victors.
La Pagode
closed. Then, in 1931, its doors reopened and voila! La Pagode had reincarnated
into a cinema! The only cinema ever in the distinguished 7th arrondissement.
The program catered to serious cinéphiles showing quality avant-garde films.
During
World War II when Paris was under Nazi occupation, the theater closed again;
yet the place still buzzed with activity. Secret activity. French Resistance
members were using the underground passages that connected La Pagode to
neighboring mansions to move people around.
After the
war La Pagode showed mostly American films before going back to being a
pantheon for art and independent films. A new group of filmmakers had emerged
forming a movement called New Wave (Nouvelle Vague). These included Ingmar
Bergman, Sergey Eisenstein, Louis Malle, Agnès Varda, Francois Truffaut and
others. It was director Louis Malle who, in 1972, took charge of La Pagode. He
transformed the theater, brought the bamboo garden back to life and set up the
tea concession in the garden. (In 1983 the bamboo garden was declared a
historic monument.)
The
highpoint of La Pagode’s cinematic life was during the 1960-70s. During this
era it became a preeminent magnet for the city’s artistic and intellectual
community. So many people have connections to the place, with stories, memories
and experiences. One projectionist, for example, recalls a particularly slow
day running the scheduled 2pm showing. Only one person showed up. She sat alone
in the hall watching a Louis Malle film. It was Jackie Kennedy.
In 1985 the
(Gibault-Plassard) family put the property up for sale again. It was purchased
by a prominent real estate developer, Èlisabeth Dauchy, head of Compagnie
Rembrandt Investments. That didn’t stop peculiar offers from coming in. One
reported proposal was to turn the lower level of La Pagode into a car park.
In 1990 the
beautiful pagoda was further spared an excruciating degradation. The American
fast food chain with the golden arches and a philosophy of “location, location,
location” was eyeing La Pagode as a place to set up business. This horrified so
many people that Jack Lang, then Minister of Culture, pushed to have the
delicate architectural gem classified as a historic monument.
From 1997
to 2000 La Pagode was closed so that some renovations could be made. At some
point the management of the cinema changed from Gaumont Cinémas to Ètoile
Cinémas, a company operating several other successful cinemas in the city. Some
renovations were made again, but it was clear that a major overhaul was going
to be necessary. The elaborate ceiling had to be removed for fear of ceiling
collapse and the walls needed scaffolding to keep them up.
Ètoile
operated La Pagode for 15 years bringing the attendance to over 100,000 per
year. Cinema-oriented events enhanced the cinephile experience. A few years ago
the relationship between the owner and the management company began to sour and
continued to deteriorate from tense to caustic.
In the
final outcome, the case was adjudicated in favor of the owner and Ètoile had to
vacate. La Pagode closed its doors in November 2015 “for renovations.”
Friends,
fans and devotees of La Pagode have been devastated ever since and not very
optimistic about its future due to the indefinite term of the closure. Will it
open again as a cinema? Will it ever reopen? If so, as what?
On February
23, 2016 La Pagode opened for one more day – a sad one – when the
non-historical furnishings and equipment, like the red velvet chairs and
projection equipment, were stripped away and sold off in an auction. Some items
went for practically nothing. A cinema company in the south of France took
possession of most of the inventory.
La Pagode
looks sad and forlorn these days. More than three years have passed since its
closure. It seems like we’ve seen this movie before. But La Pagode is a
mythical place and seems to have a mysterious hand guiding its destiny because…
La Pagode
has a new owner now.
In 2017 a
New York billionaire real estate developer heard about La Pagode. Without
having seen it personally, he tracked down the owner and convinced her to sell
it to him. She sold. Before you think, uh oh, this doesn’t look good; it may be
the most perfect match ever.
What made
Madame Dauchy decide to sell off La Pagode to a New York real estate developer?
Charles S.
Cohen, La Pagode’s new owner, heads one of America’s leading commercial and
private real estate companies. He has worked on many grand projects with top
architects and designers. His other interests include wine, fashion, design and
much more. Three years ago be bought an award-winning winery in Provence. He’s
a kind of renaissance man. His reputation is excellent, his taste impeccable
and he is deeply involved in the arts, especially the art of cinema. And that
is what makes him so interesting for La Pagode.
Cohen, in
his words, is a “born cinéphile” and has been since the age of 14. Parallel to
his real estate business he produces and distributes independent and arthouse
films throughout North America. His Cohen Media Group is today the largest
American distributor of French films in the U.S. Besides producing films he is
sometimes a director. His first attempt at that was at 16 and his film won a
Kodak prize. Some of the films his company has produced received Academy Award
nominations or awards. One is the 2017 Academy Award winning film, The
Salesman, for Best Foreign Language Film. His accomplishments are too numerous
to list in a few words.
For a
passionate cinéphile like Charles Cohen, restoring a cinema that is an
exquisite cultural landmark for Paris is a dream project.
Working
with the French government’s Office of Historic Monuments on plans for the
restoration, however, can be a tortuous process. He most certainly will
encounter bumpy roads, and sharp twists and turns as he navigates the thorny
mine field of tight restrictions on what can and cannot be done to historic
structures. One should not count the chickens before they’ve hatched. Anything
can happen. But Mr. Cohen seems optimistic and certainly has a lot of
experience behind him to see the project through. According to the chief
architect of historic monuments, Benjamin Mouton, he visualizes “a renovated
venue that could also play host to a wealth of events and gatherings while
remaining true to its heritage.”
It is clear
now why Madame Dauchy chose to turn over La Pagode to Monsieur Cohen. She notes
that he is a passionate cinéphile, loves French wine, loves French cinema, has
the means and the will.
“Who could
have dreamt of anything better?”
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