Paris, je t'aime: A movie review. "It's the pictures that got small."

I have been anticipating the DVD release of Paris, je t'aime, a collection of short films about Paris.

I can still remember being shown Six In Paris long ago and not only being intrigued by the city of Paris as a character in each of those short films, but falling in love with the French New Wave cinema as well.

Here are my short reviews of this collection of short films: We are working on a PASS/FAIL system here.

Montmarte: Some people know how to make a short film and some don't. This an an example of the latter. This is an opening scene of a feature. I learn more about parking a car than I do about Paris. FAIL

Quais de Seine: Probably the best storytelling in the collection. This is how a short film should play out. All the action takes place in 5 minutes and young people fall in love. It also showed us the neighborhood in Paris of the title. PASS

Le Marais: If you have Marianne Faithful in your 5 minute movie, why send her away for 4 and a half minutes of it? And if you just want to see a short film with two cute boys, go to YouTube. FAIL

Tuileries: This REALLY sucked, typical Coen Brothers. Add Paris to the things they must hate. Above them are the gardens Marie Antoinette once frolicked in. They choose to go into the subway and make a despicable little film full of hate, which they translate as cool.  FAIL

Loin Du 16e: Too predictable. What does this have to do with Paris? The lesson, don't have kids you can't afford? FAIL

Porte De Choisy: WTF? With six you get egg roll. FAIL

Bastille: Too much story for a short. A love story, good acting, but you can't introduce us to someone, tell us she is dying of cancer in a short film. We just won't care. Montage is cheating. You have 5 minutes. PASS

Place Des Victoires: Now everything done wrong with Bastille is done right here. Juliette Binoche is awesome in this short, breathtaking. This might be my favorite. There is more packed in this short film than most feature length movies. And it does deal with death, well grief, and it does it in 5 minutes! And you get to see the neighborhood. PASS

Tour Eiffel: Made mime watchable. But dude, look in the mirror with that spandex on. PASS

Parc Montceau: I couldn't see anything, including the actors' faces. Bad cinematography. I thought these films were about Paris, this was a wide tracking shot, at night, all dialog, one dark street.  FAIL

Quarter des Enfants Rouges: There is a pattern in these movies of Americans behaving badly in Paris. This is the worst of the bunch. I was hoping it ended in death, I was disappointed. FAIL

Place des fetes: Very good short film making. Paris comes off badly, I'm beginning to think modern filmmakers do not know how to cover a scene. PASS

Pigalle: A strange little film. Cute. I'm not saying anything bad about Fanny Ardant. PASS

Quartier de la Madeleine: Okay, I guess. Frodo vs Vampires. A lot of these movies are shot at night and you don't get to see Paris. PASS

Pere-Lachaise: Missed opportunity, missed by a lot. This is all a horror movie director can think of doing in the most famous cemetery in the world?  FAIL

Faubourg Saint-Denis: Cool idea, kind of cheated with all the stop motion. Tried to fit too much story into five minutes. Should have stopped with the blind shortcut through Paris. PASS

Quartier Latin: What are these two ancient people talking about? Fucking? Are they lying to each other? This is hard to watch... Both of these great actors are too old to be talking about sex with 20-somethings. The Latin Quarter is outside! FAIL

14e Arrondissement: Very nice. She loves Paris! Finally. And we see someone enjoying seeing Paris. PASS

Overall...disappointing as a group. Where was Paris? Where was the love of Paris. Most of these directors seem to be afraid of or incapable of shooting the city of Paris as a character in their movie.

I guess film making is another one of those things that won't survive deep into the the 21st century. I'm not sure yet what will replace it, but concepts like the auteur theory are obviously a thing of the past.

Film replaced the novel last century as the place where we exchanged ideas, and interactive entertainment will replace the film this century...just a guess. But we lose something without the internal voice of the novelist, that perspective, and we will lose something more with the instant gratification and celebrity marketing of our entertainment. The pictures just keep getting smaller and smaller.

Comments

[Grace]

My favorite was the one with Juliette Binochoe. It made me cry. And I hope I look as good as Fanny Ardant when I get older.

[Tom Wallin]

They're literally getting smaller. We're supposed to watch them on our cellphones.

Jim, how do you find the time and wit to write all this lengthy great stuff?

[Fallenmonk]

I almost picked it up at the videp store this weekend and then opted for "We Are Marshall" instead. It was kind of disappointing as well. Thanks for the review. I might still watch it knowing so much if it not too good. Thanks for the review.