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Paris, Je T'Aime (Paris, I Love You) 
Actors : Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Catalina Sandino Moreno
Director : Alexander Payne, Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Tom Tykwer, Vincenzo Natali
Studio : First Look Pictures
by First Look Pictures
Release Date : 2007-11-13
Publisher : First Look Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 0687797116291
UPC : 687797116291
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 75 reviews)
List Price : $19.98
Our Price : $11.45
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Americancivilwar.com |
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Even with the impressive talent involved, Paris, je t'aime could've ended up like a fallen soufflé. Though all 18 films aren't equally successful, they hit the mark more often than not. Romantics anticipating happy love stories set amongst the City of Lights may be disappointed to find that many are quite sad and that some parts of Paris are less inviting than others (each takes place in a different district). Further, the shorts aren't all en Français, since the actors and directors hail from around the world, but their outsider perspectives lend the project depth. The strongest entries are provided by Gurinder Chadha (Quais De Seine), Gus Van Sant (Le Marais), Oliver Schmitz (Place des Fêtes), and Alexander Payne (14ème Arrondissement), but all find interesting ways to explore cultural misunderstandings. In Joel and Ethan Coen's tragic-comic Tuileries, tourist Steve Buscemi angers a couple simply by making eye contact. Like Miranda Richardson in Isabelle Coixet's heartbreaking Bastille, he does all his acting with his expressive face. And while Maggie Gyllenhaal speaks the language adroitly in Olivier Assayas's intriguing Quartier des Enfants Rouges, Nick Nolte (purposefully) mangles it in Alfonso Cuarón's surprisingly weak Parc Monceau. The anthology ends with Payne's audio-postcard, in which Margo Martindale's postal carrier narrates her vacation in awkward, but endearing French. Instead of another person, she falls in love with Paris, simply for allowing her to be herself. It's the perfect finish to a poignant repast, like strawberries dipped in chocolate--sweet, but not cloyingly so. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
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Description |
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In PARIS, JE T'AIME, celebrated directors from around the world, including the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Gurinder Chadha, Wes Craven, Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas, have come together to portray Paris in a way never before imagined. Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators' backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in oe of the city's neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the 'postcard' view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen. Racial tensions stand next to paranoid visions of the city seen from the perspective of an American tourist. A young foreign worker moves from her own domestic situation into her employer's bourgeois environs. An American starlet finds escape as she is shooting a movie. A man is torn between his wife and his lover. A young man working in a print shop sees and desires another young man. A father grapples with his complex relationship with his daughter. A couple tries to add spice to their sex life. These are but a few of the witty and serendipitous narratives that make up PARIS, JE T'AIME. |
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Too many Americans in Paris ... |
This movie started out very well, very touching and absolutely riveting. The opening stories had my complete attention and even if they seemed `well-acted' they had a ring of sincerity and honesty about them. The story about the woman fainting and then getting a ride from the nervous and always single bachelor to the woman who sings to her child with love and then moments later sings the same song to a different child in complete apathy was heart-wrenching and a little hard to watch.
But then, somewhere along the way, someone thought it was a good idea to start to bloat the screen with bloated, train-wreck television Americans and other over-exposed celebs. Leading the assault with Nick Nolte looking and sounding like he did the night he got pulled over in Malibu.
Then we have to endure a coke addled Maggie Gyllenhaal in her most ridiculous appearance on film yet. Yes ... playing herself as a drug addled American Film Actress abroad. Good lord, people can it get anymore mundane than Maggie Gyllenhaal not only acting flat, but being her usual flat performing self? She's made a few gems along the way with Secretary and Donnie Darko, but the bulk of her work is forgettable. What next ... a two hour movie with her sleeping, shot with a green night-vision camera? I wouldn't be surprised if someone is trying to pitch that project right now. And then roll out a few more celebs like Elijah Wood, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Gena Rowlands, Rufus Sewell, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Gyllenhaal, ad infinitum ad naseum. The end result being that whatever integrity this film had and whatever level of sincerity about love that there was in the beginning gets completely flushed down the toilet and wiped off the coke mirror laying on the trailer make-up counter.
Perhaps if they would've left the A-list / B-list people alone after Steve Buscemi, who was actually good in this, it would've been a lot better.
If the film had a lot less `cameo appearances' of these over-paid and over-exposed celebrities and more stories of everyday people in Paris, this movie would've ended up being one of the great classic films of this age. If they thought that star-power and name recognition was a good addition to this, they were wrong. I found more interest in watching Winged Migration. If you want to see a really good film about falling in love in France - try 37°2 Le Matin, or Betty Blue as it was titled for English speakers.
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Great human taste |
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It is an amazing point of view of what we are, the humans. I think not only in Paris but indeed it is the city which underlines all the people life sensations. |
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Great tour of Paris life |
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The stories were sometimes mediocre, some were very good. They all told a story in a way as if your livings bits of your life in Paris rather than being on a tour. I enjoyed it. |
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Left with a feeling of bewilderment |
While Paris, Je T'aime includes an all-star cast of famous actresses and actors along with many great directors, the films didn't necessarily relay the message within the title. Yes, they were set in Paris, however all the short films were very loose in structure.
It is inevitable that some of the short films were going to be better than the others, so I would not rush out to buy this, but it will not be a waste of time if you're curious to watch it. |
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Solid, but lacking in some parts... 3 1/2 Stars |
We picked this up a Blockbuster one night, not really knowing what it was about, but I love indie films and it looked interesting. The movie is 18 vignettes about love in the different neighborhoods of Paris.
I gave this movie 3 1/2 stars because the vignettes are sort of hit a or miss. Some of them are really beautiful, touching and thought provoking. Unfortunately, on some of them, I felt that the directors where trying a little too hard to be advant guard, and in turn made some of the stories a little too hard to understand on first viewing. Here is a breakdown of the vignettes, and my rating for each:
Montmartre- 3 stars - I thought it was a sweet opening to the movie, but I had a hard time feeling the chemistry between the two actors.
Quais de Seine - 5 stars - My bf and I both loved this one. The girl was unbelievably beautiful, and her monologue about her faith and what makes someone beautiful was touching without being preachy.
Le Marais - 2.5 - This one was only okay. I kind of figured out the little "twist" and so it was a bit of a let down.
Tuileries - 3 - This is one a the few funny bits of the film. Steve Buscemi doesn't have to much in order to be funny, and this was showcased in this story.
Loin du 16e - 4 - I loved the simplicity of this story. We just see her mostly commuting, but the final scene when she is singing to the other child and looks out the window, is a little heartbreaking.
Porte de Choisy - 2 - I've watched this one many times, and though I sort of understand it, I just don't like it very much. This is one of the ones where I felt the director was trying to hard to stand out.
Bastille - 5 - This was a brilliant display of the old saying "love is a choice." Again, this story was so simple, but so beautiful and heartbreaking in the end.
Place des Victoires - 5+ - IMHO this is the best vignette of the movie. The acting was impeccable and the scene where she sees her son is so touching.
Tour Eiffel - 4 - This is one of the stories where the advant guard style really works. It's a very sweet story and the kid is hilarious.
Parc Monceau - 3 - I would have liked this a little better if I could have heard Nick Nolte a little better. I felt like the sound was off, but there was a nice twist at the end.
Quartier des Enfants Rouges - 2 - I just wasn't feeling this one that much - nuff said.
Place des fêtes - 4 - This was one of the stronger stories.
Pigalle - 3 - I loved the music in the scene and thought it was very cute and funny.
Quartier de la Madeleine - 2.5 - Kind of strange...
Père-Lachaise - 2.5 - This one was okay. I thought it was funny, and I liked the end, but it lacked something.
Faubourg Saint-Denis - 5 - I loved this story. I loved the filming technique that was used as they were standing in the train station, and Natalie Portman was perfectly cast as the free spirited girlfriend.
Quartier Latin - 3 - Funny, funny, funny. These two veteran actors are great together.
14e arrondissement - 5 - Margo Matrindale as Carol was perfect. I loved how she feel in love with Paris and Paris fell in love with her. This was the perfect ending to a solid movie.
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