Review of Paris, Je T'aime

Plot
Paris, the world-renowned city of love. Paris, Je T�Aime brings together 18 short films by a host of international directors who offer their reflections on passion and romance, as felt in the hearts of different generations, races and genders.

Ah, l’amour. you can smell it in the air, along with freshly baked croissants and uncorked vin rouge, every time you walk down the streets of Paris... or so the tourist ads tell us. But Paris’ faith in itself as the city of love is more than just a selling-point for weekend breaks. It is somehow bound up in the spirit of the place. When Paris comes to the movies — in Amélie, Moulin Rouge!, Before Sunset, À Bout De Souffle, Subway and even The Aristocats — the heart always rules the head.

Each of the five-minute meditations that form this cinematic love letter to Paris approaches its subject from a different angle, using a different district of the city as its starting point. Where else would Gus Van Sant set a gay encounter but in Le Marais? Why would Bob Hoskins search anywhere other than the neon porn shops of Pigalle to spice up his relationship with Fanny Ardant? And yet the city’s most recognisable tourist attractions aren’t central to the stories — they’re relegated to background glimpses or postcard-pretty shots which act as buffers between the individual shorts. The love theme concentrates on people rather than places.

The various casts and crews are as internationally diverse as the multi-ethnic city they are depicting. Also, unlike regular three-or-four-section portmanteau movies, there’s enough variation in tone to hold the audience’s attention over a two-hour period. The frivolity of a mime artist in love sits next to the heartache of a mother who lost a child. Just when it seems a bit talky, along come the Coen brothers with a touch of comedy, as Steve Buscemi becomes the unwitting man-in-the-middle of a lovers’ tiff in the Tuileries métro station. Christopher Doyle’s glide through the Asian beauty salons of Porte de Choisy and Vincenzo Natali’s hyper-real vampire tale in Quartier De La Madeleine (starring an easily seduced Elijah Wood) are weak in terms of narrative but add a visual beauty to the whole.

If there’s a drawback to the 18-segment structure, it’s that it risks yanking the audience out of a story just as it gets going. Fortunately, the cumulative effect of the piece is strong enough to overcome any stumbles. Indeed, a handful of these films don’t require a single additional frame. In Loin Du 16ème, Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas follow a young immigrant (Catalina Sandino Moreno) as she leaves her baby behind in the scruffy suburbs to cross the city and work as a nanny for a faceless career woman. Urban geography and social class are bridged by a simple lullaby.

Quartier Latin, meanwhile, is a masterclass in undemonstrative acting by Cassavetes veterans Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, who play an elderly, soon-to-divorce couple discussing their younger lovers. Although directed by Gérard Depardieu and Frédéric Auburtin, this short’s plaudits belong to Rowlands as screenwriter, as she compresses entire lives into a few brief lines of dialogue. It sits comfortably in the penultimate slot, its reflective mood drawing a succession of slices of life towards closure. Inevitably some of these segments are more rewarding than others, but the film as a whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Verdict
Love is here in all of its many guises, brought together with a touch of subtitled sophistication.

Reviewer: Alan Morrison

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Tres Bien

a wonderfull film with lots of mini stories which will charm, delight and leave you wanting more. the cast is excellent as are the directors. i must admit that some of the stories are... well not as good but nonetheless a beautiful film that i would recomend to see. ... Read More

danfacey711 About me
09:03, 28 October 2008 \| Report This Post




Little Masterpieces in Paris

Well for some films there's a feature we can call as "impossible to describe".Je'taime Paris is exactly in that way.Normally We watch a film on one storyline(even it's not in that way we see connection between all characters)and this makes film easy to understand and watch.But Je'taime Paris is like a little stories book.Of course if you can see Paris as a whole and if you can see little connection you digest film more easily.Despite this hardship,film's creating this touch and using i... Read More

ilovecinema About me
17:24, 25 September 2008 \| Report This Post




loved this

a stunning work and one which yields great rewards. My favourites were th Coens (of Course) Depardius (An Acting masterclass in 5 minutes) TomTwykers (love at full speed) and Alexander Paynes which is simply fantastic. Some of the others feel at bit pretentious but as a whole this is great stuff 10/10 ... Read More

filmburner30 About me
15:40, 17 March 2008 \| Report This Post






I loved the film, by the end my heart was aching. Brilliant and beautiful. ... Read More

adambt About me
16:31, 19 October 2007 \| Report This Post




Paris Je T'aime

A beautiful film. I very much look forward to watching this with repeated viewings. ... Read More

mafyou About me
00:53, 16 October 2007 \| Report This Post




Paris Je T'aime

I said to my friend before I went in to see Paris Je T'aime: "I haven't seen a film that I've absolutely loved in ages". Well, the wait was just about over. Paris Je T'aime is stunning. So heartbreaking, beautiful, sad, happy, funny and everything else you want to experience from a film. With a film made up of so many shorts there is always the danger of it becoming stale really easily but this doesn't happen. Naturally, some episodes are better than others but with some reflection aft... Read More

eoin81 About me
15:12, 08 September 2007 \| Report This Post




Paris Je T'aime

I said to my friend before I went in to see Paris Je T'aime: "I haven't seen a film that I've absolutely loved in ages". Well, the wait was just about over. Paris Je T'aime is stunning. So heartbreaking, beautiful, sad, happy, funny and everything else you want to experience from a film. With a film made up of so many shorts there is always the danger of it becoming stale really easily but this doesn't happen. Naturally, some episodes are better than others but with some reflection aft... Read More

eoin81 About me
15:12, 08 September 2007 \| Report This Post




RE: Paris Je T'aime
i saw this at the glasgow film festival and loved it. it was so good to see something a bit original and samples of work from the great range of directors and actors. no matter what ure into, go see it, theres something for everyone. ... Read More

stargirl About me
20:28, 14 July 2007 \| Report This Post




RE: Paris Je T'aime
The odd section didn't work but overall I thought this was a magical film, my favourite piece being the final segment (Alexander Payne). This is what good cinema is about, hours of unexpected gems. ... Read More

Charliebois About me
20:39, 13 July 2007 \| Report This Post




RE: Paris Je T'aime

This is a stunning collection of masterpieces. I loved every second of this movie. Granted there are some that particularly stand out. But the overall experience was suberb. It does seem such a shame that it seems to be getting very limited showings. I live in Southampton and used a day trip to London to see it, because I very much doubt it will appear down here. For anybody who has ever been to Paris and been caught by its magic, you will understand and no doubt love this film. It encapsulat... Read More

Mighty_Booshy About me
01:38, 06 July 2007 \| Report This Post




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