Eighteen slices of Parisian pie

What happens when a group of eighteen well known film directors are asked to each make a short story based in one of the Paris neighbourhoods with a cast of international stars? Paris, Je T'aime happens.

Following the success of the British "Love Actually" the French seem to have responded with Paris Je T'aime, a series of vignettes about love life in Paris, albeit not linked with a plot line like the Brit film. What we have is a glossy compilation of varying love stories set in the city of romance, the touching, the humourous, and the offbeat. The directors include Walter Salles, Isabelle Coixet, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, and the Coen Brothers; while the cast offers Natalie Portman, Fanny Ardant, Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Gerard Depardieu, Elijah Wood, Juliette Binoche, and other notables.

Here the directors from around the world have done their own thing with the bevy of international stars setting each segment in a particular part of Paris, and interspersed with spectacular touristy shots of the beautiful city. The film is not entirely even, there are some dull sections here and there but it does have a lot of Parisian charm, and because many of the directors are not from France we see aspects of the city perhaps a local director would have passed by. It's certainly like visiting afresh.

My favourites were the Coen Brothers "Tuileries" featuring Steve Buscemi who gives a memorable performance as the unfortunate subway tourist involved in a hilariously deteriorating situation underground, its dead pan humour makes it the most entertaining short, and helps you get into the movie. "Faubourg Saint-Denis" directed by Tom Tykwer is a touching story of a blind lad whose girlfriend Natalie Portman rings him to break up their relationship. Typically in the Tykwer visual style. Vincenzo Natali's "Quartier de la Madaleine" is the most gothic tale, Elijah Wood is a lost tourist who stumbles across a vampire on a lonely dark street and falls madly in love with her. Monochromatic colour with splashes of red blood make it the most strikingly visual sequence in the collection.

Surprisingly restrained but effective is the offering from Wes Craven "Pere-Lachaise" a vignette of two arguing newly weds walking in the ancient cemetery shadowed by the ghost of Oscar Wilde. "Place de Victoires" a sad little sequence with grieving mother Julliette Binoche waking to hear her dead child, a cowboy tells her she can say one last goodbye, impressively photographed with a memorable image of the cowboy on horseback in the Paris Square.

"Quais de Seine" has a Muslim girl trip over in front of three teenage lads who have been trying to pick up local girls by the river. One of the lads comes to her aid. A gentle comment on racial relationships. While in Walter Salles "Loin du 16e" an Hispanic woman drops her child off early in the morning to take care of a rich families baby. "Quartier Latin" written by Gena Rowlands and featuring her and Ben Gazzara in Gerard Depardieu's café coming to terms with their divorce. A bitter comedy of a failed relationship.

You probably get the pattern, there are a number of other excellent stories and some less satisfying ones. Space doesn't allow a discussion of all the stories, overall the good ones certainly win out. As there is no plot holding the vignettes together it is episodic and your interest may waver, however as each segment is relatively short you can take a couple of extra scoops of popcorn and not get bored. It should have much appeal to those lovers of a romantic Paris and its fascinating inhabitants.

John Bale

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Paris, Je T'aime

Our rating:

Directors: (Include) Walter Salles,
Isabelle Coixet, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, and the Coen
Brothers.
Cast: Natalie Portman, Fanny Ardant, Nick Nolte, Steve Buscemi, Gerard Depardieu, Elijah Wood, and Juliette Binoche
Release: 19 April 2007
Rated: M

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