Paris Je’taime
Paris, Je t’aime, which screened in Cannes three months ago and will show again at the Toronto Film Festival, is a lot more than interesting. It’s an anthology film with serious rhyme, reason, poetry and nocturnal fairy dust. It drags only once or twice, and is otherwise a cut or two above anything I’ve ever seen in this vein. It moves right along and is well-sprung and yet, surprisingly, it found no distributor out of Cannes. (John Sloss‘s Cinetic Media was handling sales before and will do so again in Toronto.)
Margo Martindale in Alexander Payne’s “14th arronsidment” segment in ,em>Paris Je’taime; and an exuberant Paris metro moment from Tom Tykwer’s “Faubourg Saint-Denis” segment with Natalie Portman.
The idea is that each arrondisement in Paris gets its own short film, so there are 20 altogether. And the very best short, titled “14th arrondisement”, is directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways). It’s about an American tourist (Margo Martindale) visiting Paris all alone, and not having the greatest time with her poor command of French and tedious American accent and no one to talk to. But her Parisian sojourn suddenly kicks in at the end while she’s sitting in a park — suddenly she “gets it” — and we’re left with one of the more affecting spiritual residues that any film has shared in recent memory.
The other 19 directors are Olivier Assayas (“Quartier des Enfants Rouges”), Frederic Auburtin (“Quartier Latin”), Gurinder Chadha (“Quais de Seine”), Sylvain Chomet (“Tour Eiffel”), Joel and Ethan Coen (“Tuileries”), Isabel Coixet (“Bastille”), Wes Craven (“Pere-Lachaise”), Alfonso Cuaron (“Parc Monceau”), Gerard Depardieu (“Quartier Latin”), Christopher Doyle (“Porte de Choisy”), Richard LaGravenese (“Pigalle”), Vincenzo Natali (“Quartier de la Madeleine”), Bruno Podalydes (“Montmartre”), Walter Salles (“Loin du 16eme”), Oliver Schmitz (“Place des Fetes”), Nobuhiro Suwa (“Place des Victoires”), Daniel Thomas (“Loin du 16eme”) and Tom Tykwer (“Faubourg Saint-Denis”).
The second and third best shorts, I feel, are Tom Tykwer’s “Faubourg Saint-Denis” with Natalie Portman and Kathy Li’s “Porte de Choisy” with director Barbet Schroeder. A guy in Cannes told me that the Coen brothers segment is one of the best also but I don’t agree — it’s just okay. And watch for Mr. Payne’s cameo performance in Wes Craven‘s short. (I won’t say who or what he plays.)
Can’t wait to see this movie. Also must say Idlewild is so far the best movie of the year….so far.
Yikes. As someone who has a viscerally horrible reaction to anything French, this movie would be a nightmare. I’d rather watch a short about a French tourist who goes to rural Alabama, and starts talking in that tedious, repugnant French whine. Just to see what would happen.
That would be fun.
The French would travel to rural Alabama as tourists with about the same likelihood as some gas-bag from NYC making the trip. You’re like a parody of the right-wing. Go choke on some Freedom Fries already.
French men certainly wouldn’t travel there, because they’d be ashamed to find real men.
Yeah and what’s up with Jerry Lewis!!!!!!!! AM I RIGHT FOLKS????!?!?!?!?!
And what ISSSSS up with not taking a bath? I mean, join the 20th century, for Chris’sakes!
Goodnight, folks, I’m outta here! Enjoy Eddie Money.
NYCBusybody, having more than fulfilled his dumbass quotient for the day, calls it a night.
He’s proven himself in this thread to be a patriotic Stakhanovite over-achiever of dumbassery, breaking all previous records of labor productivity in the manufacture of dumbass comments, with extra points for patriotic content.
Cue Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA” as NYCBusybody rides off into the sunset after a job well done.
*cue that loud record-stopping-playing-scratching noise*
I’m back! And I prefer Johnny Ramone to Lee Greenwood as a conservative musician, thank you so very much, indeedy!
Wells to NYC Busybody: As you know I’m all for flair and attitude and personality, but you’re overdoing it, man. A lot of what you’re writing is about yourself and all that self-aggrandizing froth around your mouth. I’m asking politely that you try to stick to issues, thoughts, arguments and whatnot and leave the personality/attitude crap to yours truly.
Oh, pish. I’ll begone, certainly; I know when I’m not wanted.
But singling me out when people like D.Z. post nonsense seems rather…authoritarian? Could it possibly be because my opinions are not the view of the management? But I’ll respect the hammer, and skedaddle.
NYCBusybody down!
Wells to NYC Busybody: I didn’t ask you to skedaddle. I asked you to please chill on the personality-attitude foam-at-the-mouth stuff.
No, no, I understand, but ’tis best I do go, because the damn tone around here gets under my skin, and I can’t help but be a temperamental ne’er-do-well, and I’m aware it can get grating. I have too much respect for the site to continue that, so I’ll take a voluntary sabbatical.
I believe the HE community will be 183 to 1/2 in favor of that. You won’t have ol’ Busybody to kick around anymore!
I traveled in and out of Lausanne, Switzerland a few days ago and was surprised to see some flyers for the film. Apparently it’s getting some small art house type of distribution there. But as I flipped the flyer over it seemed like it was very connected to (and possibly sponsored by) a travel agent dedicated to French tours. Which kind of makes sense considering the serenading of the different “arrondisements”.
I traveled in and out of Lausanne, Switzerland a few days ago and was surprised to see some flyers for the film. Apparently it’s getting some small art house type of distribution there. But as I flipped the flyer over it seemed like it was very connected to (and possibly sponsored by) a travel agent dedicated to French tours. Which kind of makes sense considering the serenading of the different “arrondisements”.
Pleased to see that Martindale has a chance to do good work. Have been a fan since Twilight. She deserves a break after the humiliation of Million Dollar Baby. 300 lbs indeed.
“You won’t have ol’ Busybody to kick around anymore!”
Promises, promises.
I wonder who the gorgeous blonde standing to the right of Margo is. I keep coming back and looking at that picture and it’s her piercing blue eyes that I focus on first.
It’ll be weird seeing Margo in anything else, since I’ve got her etched in my brain as Maggie’s mom in Million Dollar Baby.