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Property magnate Charles Cohen\u2019s \u20ac8m renovation of La Pagode cinema in Paris with its celebrated Japanese garden has been branded a \u2018massacre\u2019.<\/h3>\nProperty magnate Charles Cohen\u2019s \u20ac8m renovation of La Pagode cinema in Paris with its celebrated Japanese garden has been branded a \u2018massacre\u2019.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
The Guardian<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Paris<\/a>\u00a0he wanted \u201ceveryone to be happy\u201d.<\/p>\n The cinema-loving Francophile promised to \u201crestore and preserve\u201d the magnificent listed building and pledged he would \u201cnot disappoint\u201d with his \u20ac8m facelift.<\/p>\n 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 \u2013 unexpectedly razed on the day France\u2019s strict lockdown ended \u2013 as a chainsaw \u201cmassacre\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d the organisation\u00a0France<\/a>\u00a0Nature Environment wrote in an open letter to Cohen.<\/p>\n The letter said the organisation was \u201cstunned by this unimaginable massacre\u201d, adding: \u201cReading the plans for this project reveals it shows the opposite of respect for the site, that we thought was a given.\u201d.<\/p>\n It said that the plans which included developing a neighbouring building to create a \u201ccinema city\u201d were \u201cinteresting \u2026 but will destroy the magical and miraculous character of the site\u201d.<\/p>\n The organisation pointed out that the building, garden and surrounding walls were all protected by heritage listing: \u201cThis project undermines the system of protection of French monuments. The supposed restoration hides a real distortion.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside La Pagode on Thursday a message had been written on the planning notice which read: \u201cShame on you for chopping down the gingko and the weeping beech. This garden was magnificent; you have turned it into a wasteland.\u201d<\/p>\n When it closed in 2015<\/a>\u00a0after 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\u00a0Salle Japonaise<\/em>\u00a0needed extensive renovation.<\/p>\n The ornate replica of a pagoda was commissioned in 1895 by Fran\u00e7ois-\u00c9mile Morin as a wedding gift to his wife at a time when Japanese style was \u00e0 la mode in\u00a0Europe<\/a>. Morin, the owner of the nearby department store Le Bon March\u00e9, had some of the building\u2019s most lavish parts, including delicately sculpted wooden beams and panels, brought over from Japan.<\/p>\n Despite his grand gesture, the marriage did not last. Before La Pagode was finished, his wife had fallen in love with his best friend.<\/p>\n La Pagode was first used to host high-class Parisian soir\u00e9es 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\u2019s last film,\u00a0Testament d\u2019Orph\u00e9e<\/a>, 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 Fran\u00e7ois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and \u00c9ric Rohmer.<\/p>\n 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\u00a0Salle Japonaise<\/em>, which featured red velvet seats and oriental snake light fittings….<\/p>\n La Pagode was due to reopen this year….<\/p>\n