Introduction by Geant-Vert
During the summer holidays not everyone wants to go to the beach for a sun tan while their shrimp is out to lunch (?!). Instead I decided to walk the Parisian streets and find where Julien Temple filmed Sid in Paris, April 1978, for The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle..
Back in 1978 Temple shot most of the scenes in a variety of locations, ranging from the highly touristy Rue de Rivoli, to quieter lower class areas.
As a filmmaker Temple enjoyed filming his actors in real 'rough' places and ancient Paris was full of weird streets looking unchanged since the XIXth century.
Finding most of the original shooting places was not an easy job because the city has suffered heavy remodelling and some places now look very different with a new bourgeois style.
Despite numerous street plates on almost every scene in the film, not a single one is readable because of the original low quality film image. It was often a real puzzle to find the exact location. For example the scene with the hooker and Sid shows a Hotel plate (Hôtel du Lion d’Or) but the real hotel is not here but on the opposite side of the street. I suppose Temple used the plate as an accessory or the hotel moved years before.
The location of the “My Way” filming was the Théâtre de l’Empire on Avenue de Wagram, close to the Champs-Elysées. The theatre was destroyed in a big explosion on 13th February 2005, and razed to the ground. Shortly afterwards a five star hotel took was built on the site and the manager denied me permission to take pictures inside because too many famous people stay here…
Shooting scenes in Paris with an actor wearing a swastika shirt wasn’t allowed and is still not allowed; the same for an actor dressed up like a policeman. Filming needs official authorization and even if the Swindle footage may look like it was shot 'on thr run', Julien Temple had to get official permission for filming.
The many tales about the filming taking place in the Jewish area of the city is simply not true. Nothing was filmed in the Jewish area of Paris. |