Paris, Je T'aime
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Paris, Je T'aime
Like Children of Men, this is probably one of those movies that I missed in the theaters without knowing that I missed it altogether. There are movies out there I miss intentionally - like the third part of the Matrix series as well as the Pirates series - simply because they were not worth my money. Then there are the movies I missed in the past because of unforeseen circumstances. Seldom do I allow movies to pass me by like that, to slip by my attention and hit the shelves of various record stores for me to find only months later after its release. Paris Je T'aime is such a film that I missed in the theaters somehow.
It was released in the States in the early days of May, and was released here in February. That must have been why I missed it in the first place I suppose. I'm usually in tune with Hollywood, and not so much for European films such as this one. European films tend to take a longer time to reach the shores of America, as do most foreign films around the world as well. Which is why by the time I learned about the film through American websites, they've already shown it in my country and probably forgotten by most viewers altogether. However, due to the wonders of the internet, I was able get the film - through various means that shouldn't be publicized so blatantly. And I must say, that this is the kind of film that we need in the film industry today.
The film is not exactly one film, but the compilation of eighteen different short films, directed by twenty-one different directors. These directors aren't just any other directors fresh out of a film school, but the ones who already have their reputations in the world of cinema. Wes Craven(Scream, Music of the Heart), the Coen Brothers(Fargo, The Big Lebowski), Alfonso Cuarón(Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Alexander Payne(About Schmidt, Sideways), and so many other directors from all around the world. It was interesting how all the different directors came together, and told eighteen different stories with the same theme: Love. It is perhaps the most overused theme in all movies, with elements of it injected into every genre out there possible. We see romance in thriller, horror, action, and comedies as well. Even films about 'love' have been cliche as of late, with the same old storyline told over and over again - with different characters in a different city.
This time, the directors elected the way to focus in one intimate relationships that lasts for no more than six minutes on screen. It was interesting to see various characters falling in love, falling out of love, falling back into love all within a short span of six minutes in a dozen different storyline. Like I said before, this film is truly a breath of fresh air in the film industry, exactly the kind of film that we need in this mediocre society as of late. With eighteen movies, you would expect yourself to be emotionally detached from the characters initially. After all, the route that conventional movies take would be to take you into the lives of the characters one minute at a time, until you begin to get involved with the plot yourself. With six minutes for each storyline, it is hard to imagine yourself being emotionally invested in any of them at all. However, that is not the case for Paris Je T'aime at all - at least not for me, anyway.
I cannot say that all eighteen movies appealed to me. While some were incredibly outstanding, others were just plain weird altogether. In particular, Vincenzo Natali's piece with the vampires was just as strange as it can possibly get. The thick style of classic horror films is evident in this part, but I didn't exactly like the supernatural element that he added to the story itself. That is not to mention Christopher Doyle's piece at the Chinese barber shop. He is probably another reason why I dislike a lot of Asian arthouse films. They almost always tries too hard to be artsy, tries too hard to be unconventional. The end result is probably something like the segment by Christopher Doyle, which makes no sense at all. It just seemed really out of place in the whole film, which slowed down the plot a lot.
However, the rest of the segments were enjoyable to say the least. I think the fact that the stories come in short segments, really forces you to dive into the story fast and get involved faster. And the stories themselves are not difficult to excess too, and it is easy to relate to all the characters. Whichever stage you are in a relationship right now, you are bound to be able to relate to most of the stories, because you see them laid out in the most elemental and raw form possible.
Unlike the conventional films about romance, this film is straight to the point and short on the bullshit that comes along with it. Very much like the film "Love, Actually", this film explores the different aspects of love very thoroughly. Be it the love between a father and his daughter, the love between lovers, the love for a stranger, a passerby, a broken love, everything is examined within those short six minutes. I liked how it felt like a giant vitamin pill of sorts, as if by watching the film you are going to know all there is to know about love. Of course, love is much more than those fabricated storyline along the streets of Paris, but at least it brought smiles to my face as I watched those films, and how some of the scenes reminded me of myself, merely a few months ago.
The segment called Quais de Seine was beautiful in a familiar sort of way. This story tells of a teenage boy who hangs out with his horny friends all day, until he meets a Muslim girl on the streets and fell in love with her right away. I mean, how many times have I blogged about random strangers on the streets who have had great impressions on me? So many of them gave me the very same emotions that ran through the head of the character, as he picks her up from the ground and tries to put back her Tudong. It was the kind of blind love for a stranger that attracted me to the story I guess, the kind that strikes you in a split second; the kind that forces you to do crazy and stupid things at the very moment in time. I like the simplicity in this piece, the innocence involved in the kind of love that is forbidden due to a person's religion. Despite that however, the boy still ran head on into things - something that I admire very much.
Then there is the segment called Place des Fêtes, which is probably the most heartbreaking piece in the entire film - which has a rather optimistic view as a whole. It begins with the main character - whose name I missed - lying with his back against a pillar, talking about a mosquito bite he sustained. Before him was a girl whom he has met a long time ago, and fell in love with at first sight. Initially, we have no idea what the man is talking about. But then we get to see how he met the girl, and how he ended up wounded by a 'mosquito bite'. It doesn't have a happy ending, but it was beautiful to say the least. Like before, it was the kind of love for a stranger that attracted me as well. Despite everything, the main character fought his way through the odds, and that touched me - really.
Next we have Faubourg Saint-Denis, the bit in the film with Natalie Portman. This one is probably one of the best in the film, in my opinion. It tells the story of a young actress in Paris, falling in love with a blind French student. This clip alone, singlehandedly took all the best lines in the film, combined and weaved them into this little story amongst all the others. I have never heard of the director before watching this, but he has definitely left a mark in my books. I loved the way he portrayed the evolution of the relationship in a forwarded fashion, and we got to see the slow degradation of the relationship as the time passed. The clip begins with a break up phone call from Natalie's character, Francine. We get to see how the couple drifted apart throughout the six minutes of film, mainly because of the fact that Francine was always busy with her acting job, and he was always busy with his school work. I'm not going to spoil the last line of the clip for you guys, but it is probably one of the most beautiful - though abstract - lines ever. The writers really left a lot of space for interpretations, and to me it just seemed that the blind student realized her true identity through the phone conversation.
My favorite part of the entire film, was by Alexander Payne called 14th Arrondissement. I've admired his work with About Schmidt - which brought me to tears - and Sideways - which brought me to tears for other reasons. His style is so evident in this clip, that is becomes impossible to ignore. It tells of the story of a middle-aged American, wandering the streets of Paris very much alone. Along the way, she talks about how much she loved Paris, and how she wanted to travel by foot since she works at as a mailman. As a person who is very much single right now, I was able to relate to Carol's emotions, as she sat there in the park and teared to her loneliness. Like she mentions in the film, it wasn't a terrible sadness that overwhelmed her then, but a sort of joy and sadness mingled together at the same time. It was the realization that she was alive then, despite being alone, that brought her to tears. And that is something that I can relate to very well in this life of mine, right now. It is the sense of being alive, being surrounded by the rest of the world and not bound by anything at all, whatsoever. Being away from the familiarities and plunged into a foreign city, that is exactly the kind of feeling you get. Alexander Payne captured that aspect of singehood so well that I applauded in front of my computer at the very end.
There are other clips in the movie as well, but I don't suppose that I should mention the other fourteen clips. You just have to check out the film yourself to find out what kind of brilliance you have been missing in the theaters. I don't think the current audience are satisfied with the conventional kind of love story that involves a boy falling for a girl, a girl falling for a guy and happily ever after. Things do not work that way anymore, and people are just more difficult to satisfy these days - at least I am. So with a film like that, there seems to be a small glimmer of hope after all. The faith and hope in films has been reignited, and I am off to watch the film all over again. Paris, Je T'aime indeed.
Quais de Seine
Place des Fêtes
Faubourg Saint-Denis
14th Arrondissement
Like Children of Men, this is probably one of those movies that I missed in the theaters without knowing that I missed it altogether. There are movies out there I miss intentionally - like the third part of the Matrix series as well as the Pirates series - simply because they were not worth my money. Then there are the movies I missed in the past because of unforeseen circumstances. Seldom do I allow movies to pass me by like that, to slip by my attention and hit the shelves of various record stores for me to find only months later after its release. Paris Je T'aime is such a film that I missed in the theaters somehow.
It was released in the States in the early days of May, and was released here in February. That must have been why I missed it in the first place I suppose. I'm usually in tune with Hollywood, and not so much for European films such as this one. European films tend to take a longer time to reach the shores of America, as do most foreign films around the world as well. Which is why by the time I learned about the film through American websites, they've already shown it in my country and probably forgotten by most viewers altogether. However, due to the wonders of the internet, I was able get the film - through various means that shouldn't be publicized so blatantly. And I must say, that this is the kind of film that we need in the film industry today.
The film is not exactly one film, but the compilation of eighteen different short films, directed by twenty-one different directors. These directors aren't just any other directors fresh out of a film school, but the ones who already have their reputations in the world of cinema. Wes Craven(Scream, Music of the Heart), the Coen Brothers(Fargo, The Big Lebowski), Alfonso Cuarón(Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), Alexander Payne(About Schmidt, Sideways), and so many other directors from all around the world. It was interesting how all the different directors came together, and told eighteen different stories with the same theme: Love. It is perhaps the most overused theme in all movies, with elements of it injected into every genre out there possible. We see romance in thriller, horror, action, and comedies as well. Even films about 'love' have been cliche as of late, with the same old storyline told over and over again - with different characters in a different city.
This time, the directors elected the way to focus in one intimate relationships that lasts for no more than six minutes on screen. It was interesting to see various characters falling in love, falling out of love, falling back into love all within a short span of six minutes in a dozen different storyline. Like I said before, this film is truly a breath of fresh air in the film industry, exactly the kind of film that we need in this mediocre society as of late. With eighteen movies, you would expect yourself to be emotionally detached from the characters initially. After all, the route that conventional movies take would be to take you into the lives of the characters one minute at a time, until you begin to get involved with the plot yourself. With six minutes for each storyline, it is hard to imagine yourself being emotionally invested in any of them at all. However, that is not the case for Paris Je T'aime at all - at least not for me, anyway.
I cannot say that all eighteen movies appealed to me. While some were incredibly outstanding, others were just plain weird altogether. In particular, Vincenzo Natali's piece with the vampires was just as strange as it can possibly get. The thick style of classic horror films is evident in this part, but I didn't exactly like the supernatural element that he added to the story itself. That is not to mention Christopher Doyle's piece at the Chinese barber shop. He is probably another reason why I dislike a lot of Asian arthouse films. They almost always tries too hard to be artsy, tries too hard to be unconventional. The end result is probably something like the segment by Christopher Doyle, which makes no sense at all. It just seemed really out of place in the whole film, which slowed down the plot a lot.
However, the rest of the segments were enjoyable to say the least. I think the fact that the stories come in short segments, really forces you to dive into the story fast and get involved faster. And the stories themselves are not difficult to excess too, and it is easy to relate to all the characters. Whichever stage you are in a relationship right now, you are bound to be able to relate to most of the stories, because you see them laid out in the most elemental and raw form possible.
Unlike the conventional films about romance, this film is straight to the point and short on the bullshit that comes along with it. Very much like the film "Love, Actually", this film explores the different aspects of love very thoroughly. Be it the love between a father and his daughter, the love between lovers, the love for a stranger, a passerby, a broken love, everything is examined within those short six minutes. I liked how it felt like a giant vitamin pill of sorts, as if by watching the film you are going to know all there is to know about love. Of course, love is much more than those fabricated storyline along the streets of Paris, but at least it brought smiles to my face as I watched those films, and how some of the scenes reminded me of myself, merely a few months ago.
The segment called Quais de Seine was beautiful in a familiar sort of way. This story tells of a teenage boy who hangs out with his horny friends all day, until he meets a Muslim girl on the streets and fell in love with her right away. I mean, how many times have I blogged about random strangers on the streets who have had great impressions on me? So many of them gave me the very same emotions that ran through the head of the character, as he picks her up from the ground and tries to put back her Tudong. It was the kind of blind love for a stranger that attracted me to the story I guess, the kind that strikes you in a split second; the kind that forces you to do crazy and stupid things at the very moment in time. I like the simplicity in this piece, the innocence involved in the kind of love that is forbidden due to a person's religion. Despite that however, the boy still ran head on into things - something that I admire very much.
Then there is the segment called Place des Fêtes, which is probably the most heartbreaking piece in the entire film - which has a rather optimistic view as a whole. It begins with the main character - whose name I missed - lying with his back against a pillar, talking about a mosquito bite he sustained. Before him was a girl whom he has met a long time ago, and fell in love with at first sight. Initially, we have no idea what the man is talking about. But then we get to see how he met the girl, and how he ended up wounded by a 'mosquito bite'. It doesn't have a happy ending, but it was beautiful to say the least. Like before, it was the kind of love for a stranger that attracted me as well. Despite everything, the main character fought his way through the odds, and that touched me - really.
Next we have Faubourg Saint-Denis, the bit in the film with Natalie Portman. This one is probably one of the best in the film, in my opinion. It tells the story of a young actress in Paris, falling in love with a blind French student. This clip alone, singlehandedly took all the best lines in the film, combined and weaved them into this little story amongst all the others. I have never heard of the director before watching this, but he has definitely left a mark in my books. I loved the way he portrayed the evolution of the relationship in a forwarded fashion, and we got to see the slow degradation of the relationship as the time passed. The clip begins with a break up phone call from Natalie's character, Francine. We get to see how the couple drifted apart throughout the six minutes of film, mainly because of the fact that Francine was always busy with her acting job, and he was always busy with his school work. I'm not going to spoil the last line of the clip for you guys, but it is probably one of the most beautiful - though abstract - lines ever. The writers really left a lot of space for interpretations, and to me it just seemed that the blind student realized her true identity through the phone conversation.
My favorite part of the entire film, was by Alexander Payne called 14th Arrondissement. I've admired his work with About Schmidt - which brought me to tears - and Sideways - which brought me to tears for other reasons. His style is so evident in this clip, that is becomes impossible to ignore. It tells of the story of a middle-aged American, wandering the streets of Paris very much alone. Along the way, she talks about how much she loved Paris, and how she wanted to travel by foot since she works at as a mailman. As a person who is very much single right now, I was able to relate to Carol's emotions, as she sat there in the park and teared to her loneliness. Like she mentions in the film, it wasn't a terrible sadness that overwhelmed her then, but a sort of joy and sadness mingled together at the same time. It was the realization that she was alive then, despite being alone, that brought her to tears. And that is something that I can relate to very well in this life of mine, right now. It is the sense of being alive, being surrounded by the rest of the world and not bound by anything at all, whatsoever. Being away from the familiarities and plunged into a foreign city, that is exactly the kind of feeling you get. Alexander Payne captured that aspect of singehood so well that I applauded in front of my computer at the very end.
There are other clips in the movie as well, but I don't suppose that I should mention the other fourteen clips. You just have to check out the film yourself to find out what kind of brilliance you have been missing in the theaters. I don't think the current audience are satisfied with the conventional kind of love story that involves a boy falling for a girl, a girl falling for a guy and happily ever after. Things do not work that way anymore, and people are just more difficult to satisfy these days - at least I am. So with a film like that, there seems to be a small glimmer of hope after all. The faith and hope in films has been reignited, and I am off to watch the film all over again. Paris, Je T'aime indeed.
Quais de Seine
Place des Fêtes
Faubourg Saint-Denis
14th Arrondissement
*
Francine," Thomas Listen. Listen. There are times when life calls out for a change. A transition. Like the seasons. Our spring was wonderful, but summer is over now and we missed out on autumn. And now all of a sudden, it's cold, so cold that everything is freezing over. Our love fell asleep, and the snow took it by surprise. But if you fall asleep in the snow, you don't feel death coming. Take care."
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on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 12:50 AM.
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