Majestic inactivity

In this screen fantasy, as also in life, the strange new circumstances put human nature to the test

To be stranded on the Eiffel Tower is still to be stranded. In the 1923 silent film Paris Qui Dort (Sleeping Paris), six characters find themselves stuck atop the 19th-century architectural marvel after the world below is affected by a mysterious ray at 3.25 am that has frozen everyone in its reach. French filmmaker René Clair dreamt up his debut feature close to 100 years ago but it is freshly apposite now as we stay indoors and isolated to ward off the novel virus. In this screen fantasy, as also in life, the strange new circumstances put human nature to