So, it has been a while since my last post, but with the summer weather has been far more difficult to find time for write! But I am going to be dedicated to trying to post more regularly in the future. So for my first foray in the world of film blogging in this painfully close summer of ours, I am going to be looking at an ensemble piece called Paris, Je'taime.
Now I must admit, that when I picked up this film from the shelves of the my local HMV, I didn't really know about it. I saw Natalie Portman on the back cover, and thought I would give it a go. I'm a Port Fan, don't judge. But when I began watching I found the content to be a lot more diverse that I anticipated. Expecting some kind of Love, Actually type of affair, based in France's capital with all the cliches that come along with it, I was happily surprised to find that the film was actually a collaborative piece of work, comprising of 20 segments to be set in the varying districts of Paris. All of which hold the central theme of love, in all it wondrously complicated dimensions.
Rather than run through all the segments piece by piece, I thought it best to highlight some of my favourite pieces, and show a bit of the diversity of the shorts that are on display. One of the opening shorts called "Quais de Seine", was the first to show me the levels to which this film as a whole was pandering. It was not going to be about superficial or stereotyped movie romance, but about the barriers, complexities and surprising nature of it. This particular short focuses on three young Parisian boys, ogling women by the Siene and shouting out come ons that would make a builder blush. After some time watching their adolescent antics, we follow a young Muslim girl who has been overhearing their musings, who falls to the ground as she walks away. while two of the boys laugh it up a her expense, one (the most emotionally developed of the trio I imagine) rushes to her aide to help her up. Palms all scuffed with stones, the young girl cannot reassemble her head scarf, an so he clumsily yet tenderly helps her. He later then goes to the local mosque where he knows she will be to see her again, only to be interrupted by her grandfather. After a moment of uncertainty, they walk away together discussing the history of Paris. Although this may seem like a standard setting for boy-meets-girl romance, the conflict of race between the two star struck lovers, shows how these boundaries are not insurmountable in the face of love. And being directed by British director Gurinder Chadha, you can see that she wanted to represent the more modern people of France, as a place where national identity has overcome things such as skin colour or belief, but surpassed this to being about people who love where they are, and who they are.
For the segment "Tuileries", we are welcomed into a piece directed by the Cohen brothers. As enjoyable in a 5 minute short as they are in feature length films, the brothers manage to portray a lonely and confused tourist waiting for a train come to life with this energetic and melodramatic tale. The man, played to mute comic perfection by Steve Buscemi, is waiting for the Metro, while flicking through his travel guide to Paris. Mistakenly catching the eye of a woman across the tracks in the middle of an embrace with her beau, leave him the pawn in their ever increasing battle of the sexes to enrage the other. Buscemi's silent confusion whilst frantically flipping through his guide book for answer in order to avoid this catastrophe, uniquely highlights the confusion that an outsider has to this strange world of romance and lovers. And only by having himself involved with this young couples argument, can he begin to feel the passion of the city, more than he could through a guide book. but he is ultimately left on the floor covered in Mona Lisa postcard, with little or no more understanding of what has happened. Only that knowing smile of the portrait to make him aware that he just felt some of it.
Rather than ramble on about the many other fantastic shorts that this film comprises with, I will close with just one more. The segment entitled "FaubourgPortman, but I feel that her role is more of a catalyst for the director to show this perception of love through the experiences of this young Parisian man.
As I said above, there are far more shorts that are noteworthy, but I do not have space for here. But other highlights include a film noir take on a vampire story, climaxing with two vampires feeding off each other, showing the symbiotic nurturing and devastating effects of intense passion. And some far lighter shorts that show how two miserable mime artists find each other and fall in love. The film as a whole manages to comprise a broad and varied representation of what it is to love, whether it is through discovery, loss, lust or an accumulation of experience. For someone looking to watch a romantic film with a bit more depth, that focuses more on the different faces of romance rather that swooning women and chivalrous men, I would recommend this as one to watch.
Happy viewing...
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