Paris, Je T'Aime (Paris, I Love You)

Love can be weird. It can be hard to understand. It can come in many different forms. It doesn't always have a happy ending.

In a series of 18 vignettes--all taking place on different streets of Paris--"Paris Je T'Aime" explores every aspect of love. This film feels less like a romantic comedy and more like a documentary tour of Paris and collection of short stories about the people who are lucky enough to live there. All of these stories have their own attitudes and depictions of what love is. Love between mother and child, a person and a country, a human and a vampire.

Some of these films make you laugh, others make you cry. On Tuileries, a hapless tourist (Steve Buscemi) gets seduced and then humiliated by a French woman and her mercurial boyfriend. On Loin Du 16E, a struggling single mother (Catalina Moreno) must work late as a nanny while her own baby waits in daycare.
Some stories depict exactly what you imagine true love to be. On Feubourg Saint-Denis, an up-and-coming actress (Natalie Portman) and a blind boy (Melchoir Beslon) have an unconventional, roller-coaster romance.

On Bastille, an adulterous husband (Sergio Castillito) changes his ways to make the last months of her life as wonderful as possible.

However, other films took a darker turn. They didn't portray sugar-coated love stories. They were the complicated and strange sides of love. This is true for the two immigrants in Place Des Fetes, whose sweet flirtations take a heart-breaking twist. Two mimes find love on Tour Eiffel, and Oscar Wilde gives one couple some love advice on Pére-Lachaise. On the Quartier De La Madeline, a deadly and destructive love affair between a vampiress (Olga Kurylenko) and a human (Elijah Wood) beats Twilight hands-down.



"Paris, Je T'aime" premiered at the 2006 Toronto and Cannes Film Festivals. It recieved the "Golden Trailer" award for 2008. Other actors in the film include the wonderful Juliette Binoche, as well as Maggie Gyllenhhal, Rufus Sewell Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, and Emily Montimer.

Since "Paris, Je T'Aime" was a collection of separately directed short films, 22 directors were all able to bring very different visions to life. The directors are:

Bruno Podalydès ("Montmartre")
Gurinder Chadha ("Quais de Seine")
Gus Van Sant("Le Marais")
Ethan and Joel Coen ("Tuileries")
Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas ("Loin du 16e")
Christopher Doyle("Porte de Choisy")
Isabel Coixet ("Bastille")
Nobuhiro Suwa ("Place des Victoires")
Sylvain Chomet ("Tour Eiffel")
Alfonso Cuarón("Parc Monceau")
Olivier Assayas and Emmanuel Benbihy ("Quartier des Enfants Rouges")
Wes Craven("Pére-Lachaise")
Oliver Schmitz ("Place des Fetes")
Richard LaGravenese ("Pigalle")
Vincenzo Natali ("Quartier de la Madeleine")
Tom Tykwer("Faubourg Saint-Denis")
Gérard Depardieu and Frédéric Auburtin ("Quartier Latin")
Alexander Payne ("14e arrondissement")

Did you like the film? Why or why not?
I loved it. That is, most of it. The stories, the scenery, and the treasure trove of actors were all wonderful to behold. Still, I didn't really care for "Tour Eiffel" or "Porte de Choisy". Both seemed overdone, and somehow unrelated to the "point" of the movie, which was to show true love in all its forms. Those films seemed to be mockeries of love.

Was the film aesthtically beautiful? If yes, how so? If not, then why not?
Yes. "Paris, Je T'aime" was filled with swoon-worthy overhead shots of Paris (which is always breathtaking), and the cinematography in "Faubourg Saint-Denis" and "Quartier de la Madeleine" was epecially fantastic. Even "Tour Eiffel" and "Porte de Choisy" had interesting aethetics, such as the bringing to life of the mime's actions and the brightness of the nail salon.

How does the film compare to an American film of a similar genre? How is it different?
"Paris, Je T'Aime" reminded me very much of a mix between "Love Actually" and "Annie Hall". Both films are romantic comedies, but had stories with real depth and understanding of love. Like "Paris, Je T'aime", "Love Actually" features multiple couples, all in different stages of love. "Annie Hall" was one of the first films to break the conventional, happy-ending romance cookie cutter. "Paris, Je T'Aime" was filled with new and unromanticized approaches to love. However, "Paris, Je T'Aime" had an almost documentary-like feeling to it which is rare in American films. Lots of romantic comedies seem unrealistic, or have recyled plots. "Paris, Je T'Aime" definitely didn't suffer from this.

What does this film show about French culture? Be specific!
The French are known for being exceedingly polite and courteous. But this doesn't mean they are afraid of exploring taboo topics. I think the French are known for romance for a reason. They are never taught to shy away from love, whether that's a love of food, art, work, or a person. This film showed every kind of love and every stage of it. It showed happy and sad endings, and those in between. I think most of all, that "Paris, Je T'Aime" shows the wonderful ability to communicate and connect deeply with others which is sometimes lost in American culture.