Paris Je T’aime Movie Review

February 24, 2008

I hope to be able to visit Paris one day and this movie just about sums up every reason why! Directed by some of the best in today’s entertainment industry Paris, Je T’aime is a story of love lost and found in various different Parisian quarters. Each story is around 5 minutes long and features different cast and characters. Not only does this film manage to capture the beauty of Paris but it also shows us its darker sides, most notably in the segment directed by the Coen brothers which stars the brilliant Steve Buscemi as a tourist trying to come to grips which the French language and etiquette.

One of my all time favourite directors Wes Craven delivers a brilliant short starring Rufus Sewell. Although set in a graveyard it couldn’t be further from his horror roots and features the ghost of Oscar Wilde in a very random but striking scene which really stood out for me.

Adding a darker more sensual twist to the film was the segment starring Elijah Wood in which he is turned into a vampire. The beautiful scene is reminiscent of ‘Sin City’ and even features Wes Craven as an unsuspecting victim. Elijah looked born to play this role, and it’s definitely a far cry from his ‘Lord of the rings’ days!

Another stand out segment is ‘Bastille’ in which Miranda Richardson plays a dying wife whose husband had planned on leaving her. Upon finding out about her illness the couple rediscover their love and the very things that brought them together to begin with. Truly mesmerising.

One of the most simplistic but ultimately probably one of the best is the story of a woman visiting France after spending months learning the language. Her French is awful, but that’s what makes us warm to her and as she begins to fall in love with Paris the audience can’t help falling in love with the whole movie.

For me, the only weak story was the ‘Mime’ segment; I found it to be flat and dull. The mime’s themselves also resembled clowns… and clowns are scary and slightly disturbing.

In short, this movie plays out like the perfect tour guide leading you around Paris and showing you various different area’s of the city and those who inhabit it. We see Paris through the eyes of many different people, each one experiencing something different along the way. With a stunning array of actors and directors you cannot fail to find yourself captivated for most of the stories, and those that don’t live up to the standard are quickly forgotten and replaced by a different setting. Make sure you watch the special features on the Paris, Je T’aime DVD as it gives you some brilliant insights into the directors and their vision of what they were each trying to create.

The directors involved are:

Olivier Assayas (segment “Quartier des Enfants Rouges”)

Frédéric Auburtin (segment “Quartier Latin”) (transitions)

Emmanuel Benbihy (transitions)

Gurinder Chadha (segment “Quais de Seine”)

Sylvain Chomet (segment “Tour Eiffel”)

Ethan Coen (segment “Tuileries”)

Joel Coen (segment “Tuileries”)

Isabel Coixet (segment “Bastille”)

Wes Craven (segment “Père-Lachaise”)

Alfonso Cuarón (segment “Parc Monceau”)

Gérard Depardieu (segment “Quartier Latin”)