Paris Je T'aime (Paris I love you)

Paris Je t’aime is not your run-of-the-mill movie; it is more of a film version of a short stories book. And that’s perhaps the most alluring aspect of this film – watching not just one, but eighteen short brilliant vignettes from some of the most revered directors of the modern times – Gurinder Chadha, Coen brothers, Alfonso Cuaron, Gus Van Sant, Gerard Depardieu, Alexander Payne, to name a few. And that’s not all – the film brings together an ensemble cast including some of the best actors in the business. Now that’s what I call the icing on the cake. Does that sound enough to make any cinephile drool – the prospect of watching a film made with love about not one, but eighteen different stories on love in the “city of love and lovers”? I say, Aye!

Now, this is not a typical film review and lest we get lost (we are talking eighteen films here, after all!), perhaps it would be more apt to take up each story individually but succinctly, to provide a better appetizer of this mouth-watering film, but let’s keep that for the end.

The two-hour film is set in different Arrondissements (municipalities) of Paris. Each story tackles a different aspect of identity, love and relationships between two or more characters, but chooses its own subject and method to convey the underlying message. If Gurindher Chadha underscores the questions about tradition, modernity and racial identity as discussed between a two young individuals, Sylvain Chomel chooses to show us an adorable story of two mimes finding each other rather innovatively. Arguably the best piece, Coixet’s Bastille is a tragic piece of a man’s second journey of love with his wife after he finds out that she’s dying (in the preceding moment, he’s about to tell her that he’s leaving her). There will be debates over whether it’s a love rekindled by sympathy or loss, but that still doesn’t affect how we feel about it. Another tragic piece is Place des fetes – a piece about a dying immigrant trying to remind a girl he fell for how he met her earlier in the day.

While some pieces adopt serious tones, others take the humor route. Take for instance, Tuileries by Coen brothers – a rib-tickler about the involvement (and roughing-up) of an innocent bystander in a couple’s argument. Then there are those just about reflections like Quartier Latin about an old couple’s reflections on life before they finally part, and 14ème Arrondissement – a postal worker’s monologue in an Americanized French. Wes Craven’s Pere Lachaise is another amazing piece about the conflict between a dull man and a sensitive woman, and how Oscar Wilde’s ghost manages to save their relationship.

Even though most of the films in the anthology are multi-layered, multi-dimensional vignettes with their own distinct flavor, they seem to blend in with each other seamlessly, despite the fact that they don’t have any connection between them. In fact, it takes a while to figure out that Paris Je t’aime is an anthology, and not a film in itself, as one keeps waiting for these separate threads to merge sometime.

Paris Je t’aime is simply each director’s own rendition of how he/she sees Paris as a city with a soul. It is like a wine-tasting session where you get one flavor after another and can’t quite make up your mind which one you like best because all are so good. It doesn’t matter anyway – All go down well.

If I continue with the analogy, then the actors would be the loveliest cheese to go with the wines. Steve Buscemi’s popping eyes and contorted expressions throw you into a fit, even though you feel sympathetic towards him. Juliette Binoche plays the part of a mother grieving her son’s death surreally well. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood and Gerard Depardieu do a commendable job as well, as do the relatively lesser known actors from other pieces.

Paris Je t’aime is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air in ways more than one. One can’t help but wonder what perspectives other directors like Wong Kar Wai, Quentin Tarantino, Park Chan Wook or let’s say Steven Spielberg would have brought to the table, but it would have been interesting to find out, had they been involved. There absence notwithstanding, it is a real masterpiece nevertheless. Paris Je t’aime is truly a passionate and lovely endeavor for the city of passion and love.

We love you too, Paris.

A brief description of each piece:

Paris Je t'aime: A Trailer of this stunning Anthology: