When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We made it known that we were trying to show the reality of France. People think of Paris as the city of love or the city of light, but where you got love you got hate, where you got light you got darkness.
I was praised in the U.S. and heavily, brutally criticized in France.
I remember how, when I lived in Paris, there was a McDonald's, and I'd always see Americans eating there and think, 'Why do they come all the way to Paris and eat at McDonald's?'
Whether you like it or not, Paris is the beating heart of Western civilisation. It's where it all began and ended.
The French are very bizarre. There is this collective depiction: 'We're in decline, we're being assailed, we must protect ourselves.'
I was as repelled by the French as I was attracted by their country.
When I look back now, it must have been like Paris was at the time of Le Sacre du Printemps.
When we played Paris, the English punks would come over, and they got to know the French punks. There was some nice scenes in the back alleys.
It was just this crazy craziness, and the fact that it was shot in Paris, and it had these incredible people in it. It was an easy thing to say yes to.
In the '60s when I was a student, there was this campaign to destroy 75 percent of the old buildings in Paris, replacing them with modern architecture. I realized this as a dangerous utopia. This modern vision did not understand the richness of the city. Thankfully, such destruction did not happen.
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