JOHNNIE TO & JOHNNY HALLYDAY OUT OF THE DIRT (THANKS TO MY DENTIST)

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Founded in 1949, Paris-Match is still one of the most famous weekly French magazines today. It’s supposed to be a news magazine (political subjects, culture, entertainment...) but I think it can also be considered as a “people magazine” (talking about the life of celebrities etc.). I personally bought only one issue in my life (when Barack Obama was elected) but I usually find and read this mag in the waiting room of the doctor or the dentist. This morning, I had an appointment with my dentist and was starting to read an issue of Paris-Match that was in the waiting room when - OMG! - I discovered a big 6-page article about the new Johnnie To 杜琪峰 & Wai Ka-fai韋家輝movie Vengeance 復仇!!! So many pages about a HK movie in Paris-Match, that’s very unusual (it might have never happened before). The reason is this article is mainly focused on Johnny Hallyday, one of the most popular singer in France for the last 50 years or something, who’s the lead actor in this movie. Seeing Johnny Hallyday side by side with Johnnie To regular actors like Anthony Wong 黃秋生, Lam Suet 林雪or Gordon Lam Ka-tung 林家棟felt totally surreal    

But before I could finish the article it was unfortunately my turn to go on the dentist table. While he was working on my teeth, I kept thinking “ I have to buy this issue !”. 15 minutes later, my consultation was over and I asked him where I could find the magazine around his place. Very generously he told me that he could cut the Johnnie To article and give it to me. Great I thought! But surprise, when I went back to the waiting room, the Paris-Match issue was gone and replaced by a new one. My dentist assistant had thrown it in the garbage and as my dentist said “ That’s bad luck. One minute ago, you could have it”. Grrrr. I immediately went out of his office, and ran to the nearest shop but they didn’t have the issue either. The shop owner told me he could try to order it, but wasn’t sure if he would receive it. Damn it! What should I do?? Would  I dare to call my dentist and ask him to look for the magazine in the garbage? Well that’s what I did in the end. And he did agree (I was his last client) so we went to the dark cellar of his building with a torch and I found the issue in the trashcan. It was a bit messy but the Johnnie To article was safe. Hooray!

Eh, don’t say I’m a nerd, I just had to do it! Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to see those scans...    

Frédéric Ambroisine (Dec. 29 th, 2008)