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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. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
In these types of anthology films, which are directed by several different directors, the most common problem is the different quality of individual stories. In the case of Paris, I Love You, this critical point is even stronger because there was a whole army of directors and the space for their expression was therefore very limited. Not everyone was able to create a meaningful story with a point in such a small space. Some creators did not offer the viewer more information about their characters than what they could learn from the presented photograph. Several of the stories were really nice, whether they were filmed anecdotes like vampire stories or the story of the unfortunate Steve Buscemi, who was properly tormented by his friend Joel Coen. The strength of the film is definitely the cast, which is luxurious, but it is a pity that the individual actors did not have the opportunity to show more in their performances. The only thing that connects this chaos of micro-stories is Paris, but even that does not play the main role because most of the stories could take place almost anywhere. Overall impression: 65%.
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A film filled to the brim with my most beloved city and full of different approaches to love, romance, and especially Paris. And it is precisely in the alternating styles and moods that the film has both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. While I was shaking my head at Christopher Doyle's patchwork or at why Alfonso Cuarón's piece is only interesting because it is shot in one continuous take, others would not stomach what I consider the best stories. The tenderness and cuteness of Gurinder Chadha's romantic bonding, the perfectly fitting dark humor of Joel and Ethan Coen, the heartrending sincerity of Nobuhiro Suwa and the perfect Juliette Binoche, the fascinating outer-worldly imagination of Sylvain Chomet, and Tom Tykwer's visual study of love, relationships, differences, and problems. Some pieces of this bonbon did not suit my tastes, so the film as a whole will not receive the highest rating, but not only this group of names will remain in me forever. Beyond any assessable boundaries.
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I don’t think it would be right to call this a film. It was more of a collection of shorts on the same theme, and I didn’t exactly fit the target audience, I’m afraid. Most of the shorts didn't really appeal to me and I even found some of them boring. There were a few exceptions (namely four) that resonated with me. Oddly enough, they were those I would least expect to relate to. I should also point out that while I strongly disagree with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I'm not going to change my opinion of Olga Kurylenko's acting skills. I haven't become a fan of hers, thus clearly demonstrating my boorishness and inability to recognize real art even if it spat in my face. I guess that's just the way I am. / Lesson learned: Feel like hanging out with famous artists in the quiet of a cemetery? Go to Paris.
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I did some rigorous math – an average – and I got what I gave it. I liked the 4th and 6th stories the least, the beginning was kind of weak in general, but then the mimes came in and it gave me hope for a better ending. After that, my enthusiasm cooled down – two stories that I would probably have given something like 2 stars. But the 12th story charmed me; and I'd give that one the highest rating on its own. And after that? Nothing came along that was worse than average, so the final level was very nice, orderly, melancholic. The last short story brings it to a beautiful close, just like the person at the center of the story, even I came away feeling it, and everything just clicked. It's definitely worth taking a tour of Paris – in both senses. It starts weak, but finishes with verve.
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These short story collages on the subject of capital cities are always problematic. After all, Paris after the year 2000 cannot be such a flat city of stories that fail to engage on their own and fit together as a whole. If I didn't take notes, after a few days I wouldn't even remember Tykwer's rather daring romance with Portman and the lovely ending of Payne, in which such a sweetly earthy American woman bade farewell to the city of all cities. Gérard Depardieu was a complete disappointment and what Natali made was absolute crap. 18 fragments are really too much for one film.
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