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“Paris Je T’Aime” can be described simply as a film consisting of eighteen miniatures, each depicting a different part of the city of Paris. The movie is a two hour long collage of miniature films in Paris, making the viewers feel satiated but also leaving them slightly unsatisfied due to lack of a main course.
This movie serves the audiences basic needs, showcasing the Eiffel tower sparkling and the banks of the river Seine being beautiful and totally breathtaking as always. Nature is always in full bloom and the parks are fresh. However, this beautification of Paris has a limit, as serving the viewers a taste of reality is equally concerning.`
This compilation of short films is directed by several directors from around the globe. These include the obvious France where heavyweights Olivier Assayas and Sylvain Comet held the reins. Alongside them we had Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas bringing in Brazil, while Isabel Coixet representing Spain. And Nobuhiro Suwa comes in from Japan, and Mexico with Alfonso Cuarón along with Tom Tykwer from Germany. And lastly, we have heavy hitters from The United States like Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, The Coen Brothers, Richard LaGravenese and Wes Craven completing the list.
Among the international cast serving the delicacies are Matthew Portman, Fanny Ardant, Nick Nolte, Gena Rowlands, and Steve Buscemi. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, Bob Hoskins, Gerald Depardieu and Ben Gazzara.
In the Coen brother’s ‘Tuileries’, Buscemi, the American tourist, is advised to avoid eye contact while waiting in the Paris Metro station. But as another couple does make eye contact, Buscemi gets harassed during an argument, follows, and is utterly embarrassed. He masterfully does not speak a word and only uses his big eyes and elastic balloon like face to express discomfort.
In “Loin du 16ème,” written and directed by Mr. Salles and Ms. Thomas, we follow the life of a poor immigrant mother who heads into the heart of Paris, leaving her baby boy in a nursery, To become a nanny for a wealthy family. She calms the fretful child in her charge by singing the same words to her own child a few hours ago.
In Ms. Coixet’s “Bastille”, which regards caregiving as an act of love, a husband (Sergio Castellitto) is about to ponder divorcing his wife of many years (Miranda Richardson), when she, out of the blue, says she wants to cry and that she is dying of leukemia. In Oliver Schmitz’s “Place des Fetes,” a young paramedic (A Princess Maïga) meets profoundly with an immigrant (Seydou Boro) from Lagos that she would later learn is dying on a street after being stabbed by a thug. Mr. Craven’s “Pere-Lachaise” follows a couple who, upon visiting Oscar Wilde’s grave, put their fighting on pause to imagine what life would be like if they were married, only to find out that they break up and make up with a little assistance from Wilde’s ghost.
In “Quartier Latin,” Ms. Rowland and Mr. Gazzara portray a couple at the brink of divorce, engaging in witty banter that masks deeper feelings of anger. In it, Ms. Rowlands, directed by Frédéric Auburtin and Depardieu, who plays a cameo as a restaurant owner, showcases superb complexity of emotions and is multi-layered in the acting.
In the beautiful final segment “14e Arrondissement,” directed by Mr. Payne, Margo Martindale features as a middle-aged postal employee from Denver on holiday in Paris. With her voiceover, which features humorous French accented by an American monotone and is described as sad happy epiphany, Martindale recounts her memories.
Such stories are the most interesting ones of the whole anthology. Most of the other selections fail so miserably to be creative in their work. “Porte de Choisy” by Christopher Doyle where a salesman of hair products traveling to chinese beauty salon is an elaborate though confusing take on martial art and television commercials. Mr. Chomet’s “Tour Eiffel” and Mr. Suwa’s “Place des Victoire’s” are both supernatural amateur cowboy fantasy featuring a dazed Willem Dafoe riding a horse. The romance horror fantasy, “Quartier de la Madeleine” by Vincenzo Natali, is simply starring a lovesick vampire wrapped around the head of Elijah Wood. It does look muted in color but such is the beauty for blood.
Vincenzo’s work is undoubtedly the most lacking. Stated above, the multi movie Paris Je T’Aime does indeed have a higher target then that of two out of three shots. Still none are home runs, but rather a mix of singles, shy bunts and over eager doubles.
R. That is the rating for Paris Je T’Aime, meaning people under 17 will require an adult for viewing. There are sexual parts intermingled throughout the movie.
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