Paris, je t'aime (2006)

[fizz]

Paris, je t'aime:

The first segment in 'Paris, je t'aime', an anthology of short films of and about love in different forms found in Paris, seems to be about nothing in particular. It features a man who discovers a new kind of affection for his wife after she collapses on the street due to low sugar, close to where he is waiting for her in his car. The themes in the film gradually make their mark. Though it is obvious to us that they are all set in Paris and probably about love, it refines itself as it goes along – we get parental love, in a segment directed by Alfonso Cuaron, where Nick Nolte visits his French daughter and tries to connect with her again; unrequited love, in a touching, almost heartbreaking story about a Nigerian immigrant who fancies a coffee with a woman from his hometown; blind love (in the literal sense) between a struggling American actress (Natalie Portman) and the young blind man she meets in a manic piece directed in only the way Tom Tykwer can make possible and also the blood lust of vampires, as seen in the amusing arc with Elijah Wood walking the dark corners of the city of love (Directed by Vincenzo Natali, of ‘Cube’ fame).

Read complete review here

Rating: 4/5

[shariqq]

Neat Stuff!! I'm looking forward to this ensemble piece, especially the one-shot portion by Cuaron, and the ones by Wes Craven (the vampire one, I'm guessing).

DIFF schedule - 13th Dec, 18:15...

[kaytee]

DIFF schedule - 13th Dec, 18:15...

Ditto. C u there.

[fizz]

The one shot by Cuaron is rather tame...Wes Craven didn't do the vampire one, though he would have been the obvious one, though the short that he DID do is pretty impressive. It also features guest appearance by one of the other directors from 'Paris, je t'aime'. Cracking stuff.

[fizz]

Received this through email today from the distributors of the film in the Gulf:

Dear All,

Hope this finds you well.

It is with immense pleasure that I write to you this mail as yesterday was the "premiere" of PARIS JE T'AIME. The film was screened at Mall of The Emirates in a theatre with a capacity of 500 seats. Over 550 people showed up and ended sitting on the floor in front of the screen.

People reacted very well to the film and in two occasions there was immense clapping in the middle of the film.

Producer Claudie Ossard attended the opening where she spoke of the film. By the time the film ended, PARIS JE T'AIME received at least 4 mins of applause from the public and a standing ovation from most of the audience.

The audience applauded even more when we announced it's Middle East release in theatres.... Valentine's Day along with the US!

Claudie stayed after the film finished for another 45 minutes where she indulged passionately answering all sorts of questions from the public. Claudie was proud and her eyes glittered seeing people's reaction to the film...

Claudie produced award winning gems such as Delicatessen and Amelie.

[kaytee]

I loved this film or should I say shorts. Almost all the shorts were really good. The one that I felt was really good and touched me was Oliver Schmitz's segment Place des Fêtes about a Nigerian man trying to hit on a Nigerian nurse when he is hurt and about to die on the streets of Paris. The short from Alexander Payne was also hilarious and as was the last one with Gérard Depardieu and Frédéric Auburtin directing, it had a very classy humour, not crude but a great undertone of comedy.

Come to think of it the only story that left me wanting more was Walter Salles segment Loin du 16ème. It was very dry and offered very little hope like the others did.

An easy 4.5/5

p.s. Loved Ethan and Joel Coen's segment Tuileries with Steve Buscemi.

[shariqq]

Yup, highly rated by me too - really liked most of the segments. Especially the ones with the Mimes (Tour Eiffel by the director of The Illusionist), and the Gérard Depardieu one. The vampire short with Frodo was so much Robert Rodriguez like, and so obviously I liked it. But the Natalie Portman segment was a little off, and so was the Nick Nolte one (by Cuaron.

A 4/5 from me.

[madali]

Paris, I Love You [Paris, je t'aime] (Various, 2006)
IMDB Link

Short films are like short stories. If they are very short, they usually are not that good. And if you read a novel full of short stories, like each story being a few pages long, than it is going to be annoying. Well, annoying for me, I don’t know how long those Chicken Soup books are, but they used to be a big fad back in the day.

And I guess, since that book was popular, it is not a surprise that a movie like “Paris, I Love You”. The movie is around two hours, and has 18 short films directed by 18 directors, all set in Paris, and all about love. After the first few, I stopped giving a shit about love and even less about Paris.

Maybe the idea would have been more interesting if the films were longer or the idea more interesting. I found “11'9"01 September 11” an interesting idea, because it was 11 directors, from all around the world, each about the incident, and all films being exactly 11 minutes, 9 seconds, and one frame. It was interesting to see how directors from different regions viewed the incident.

The directors from “Paris, I Love You”  are mainly western directors. French, American, and Canadian, with a Mexican, German, Brazilian, and Japanese. It is not that varied.

A few had interesting ideas, but for the most part, it is trite and it is annoying to know that already two more similar concepts are planned, “New York, I Love You” and “Shanghai, I Love You”

2/5

[madali]

It sucks that none of you agree with me on this

[kaytee]

Well we dont agree with you coz we all have a heart and coz some of the stories were actually pretty good like the Tom Tywker short and the ones with Gerard Depardieu and the Coens Bros.

[fizz]

Mad, you've based your views of this film on your general dislike of short stories. I actually enjoy short stories a lot. Some of them, like Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of maladies or even some of Stephen King's own work are fantastic. Short films, just like short stories, are always a mixed bag. Some are very good, others bad. Did you really dislike the last segment by Alexander Payne? or even the funny (albeit cliched) one by the Coens? Overall, it was pretty good.

[madali]

I love short stories if they are 20 pages long, not 3 pages.

[shariqq]

I, Robot is a collection of Short Stories. The only King story I've ever liked is a short story.