Comments on: The NEW New Wave

The NEW New Wave

biscotti — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 21:31:18 -0800

Underground French Cinema (literally) Three days later, when the police returned accompanied by experts from the French electricity board to see where the power was coming from, the phone and electricity lines had been cut and a note was lying in the middle of the floor: "Do not," it said, "try to find us." A secret underground cinema is found in the Catacombs of Paris, "You guys have no idea what's down there." Perhaps it's the work of a group of cataphiles called the "Perforating Mexicans".

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 21:50:48 -0800

Wow! Thanks, biscotti, news doesn't get cooler than that. For anyone who, like me, won't quite believe that this is a real story without seeing it in French: Un cinéma souterrain a été découvert.

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 21:57:01 -0800

...The Diggers believe," says Mikhailov, "that regardless of barriers one can pass unnoticed under the ground.....Beneath the city are passageways, chambers of torture, and about 150 underground riverbeds lined with bricks and white stone. Studying the masonry and brickwork, the researchers found marks left by old stonemasons; they could even date..... "

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 22:05:34 -0800

Oh, and wtf is "la Mexicaine de perforation" supposed to mean... "Eardrum-piercing Mexican chick"?

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 22:54:24 -0800

"Do not," it said, "try to find us." "By the hairless chin of Turkmenbashi," swore the bearded seaman, enervated. "Do you know what this means?" "WOAH," barked the white airedale, startled by the profanity into looking up from a shoe he was worrying. "Hello!" exclaimed the youth to his dog. "What's that you've found?"

By: taz

taz — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 00:34:46 -0800

biscotti, I kiss you!

By: BigCalm

BigCalm — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 01:09:08 -0800

Damnit, I came here to post the same thing! I love the note they found 3 days later (after the phone and electrics had been cut) which simply says "do not try to find us" in the centre of the floor. How many other hidden gems are there underneath Paris?

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 04:36:08 -0800

Wow. Fantasises about those troglodytes in Delicatessen.

By: smcniven

smcniven — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 05:33:11 -0800

Crap. I lived in the 16e for a couple of years when I was ten. Had I only know what treasure lay underneath I would never have wasted my time with mundane stuff like cops and robbers.

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 05:59:07 -0800

Excellent, excellent, excellent post. I especially like this part: »There exist, however, several secretive bands of so-called cataphiles, who gain access to the tunnels mainly after dark, through drains and ventilation shafts, and hold what in the popular imagination have become drunken orgies but are, by all accounts, innocent underground picnics.« I want in on these picnics. Seriously. I don't know how and I don't know when, but dammit. Maybe I'll have to found my own secret society, after all there are a few unused underground tunnels around my hometown.

By: toby\flat2

toby\flat2 — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 06:12:17 -0800

Here's another article about the Mikhailov character troutfishing linked to. This Disused stations on the London Underground thread is also cool. Great link biscotti. I hope we find out who built and who uses it.

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 08:29:00 -0800

Great link and very neat story, although (and I hate to ask this, but) are we sure there are societies down there, and it's not just a few geeky homeless hooligan dropout types looking to mess with people's heads? Because there's a few of those in New York. Or so I've heard.

By: stonerose

stonerose — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:04:50 -0800

Some cool urban adventure links: Jinx Magazine, Infiltration (here is their take on the catacombs). And here is a dusty old Salon story on a different kind of subway cinema.

By: toby\flat2

toby\flat2 — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:16:52 -0800

Those damn homeless hooligan dropouts with their underground lairs comprising of fully kitted out cinemas, bars, and security watch posts.

By: keswick

keswick — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:20:13 -0800

It's the Morlocks. Damn mutie scum.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:24:20 -0800

great link. haven't been in the catacombs for years. that theater is a great idea.

By: chicobangs

chicobangs — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:37:58 -0800

Hey, I never said they weren't real inventive, or probably a great bunch to hang and do subversive shit with. I was just asking if anyone knew if it was a real multilayered subterranean society or just a totally cool geeked-out dropout scene. I'm going to be dreaming about the concept tonight either way.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Wed, 08 Sep 2004 09:39:48 -0800

what in the popular imagination have become drunken orgies but are, by all accounts, innocent underground picnics I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty disappointed if I joined the Perforating Mexicans hoping for orgies and instead got picnics. I mean, picnics are all well and good, but they're not exactly orgies. What I'd really like to know is what was on the playbill at this theater, I envision it being things like Godard's Breathless or Truffaut's Jules et Jim, but what if it was more like The Nutty Professor? (and kudos for the link go to my friend Steve)