12 April 2007

Picture of the week.

Today was the first real warm day.


The scale is in degrees Celcius, btw.

11 April 2007

Paris, je t'aime.

Paris, the city of love, is divided into 20 arrondissements - 20 districts, of which 18 got each its individual story. Be it a grieving mother, who's been bereft of her son, a confused tourist caught in the game, two teenage lovers play on each other. 18 short epsiodes of people falling in and out of love or reigniting it.

This feature differs in more than one aspect from other collages of short films. Often - if there even is any one thing short films of one project have in common - they share a theme, an abstract thought. While doing the same here with the overall theme of love in all its variations, the shared setting, the scenery of the city and the very well integrated transitions between the episodes an the loose bond created by the very end of the feature, help to create something unique.

This isn't a pure series of short films, although, everyone will inevitably pick a favourite episode, which also makes it near to impossible to describe the picture as a whole more than I already did. Changing the district after 5 minutes of film also means changing to a different way of telling a story, to a different set of actors and premise. There is but one more thing I can say about the film in its entirety: it shows Paris, its citizens and visitors in a way I have never seen before. The people portrayed are down to earth, their relationships complicated and very real. They have their peculiarities, as have the quartiers, they were shot in. The stories range from two strangers falling in love on first sight, an old couple trying to reignite their love beyond the yelling part of their marriage, a proud father and grandfather, a vampire and her prey, a boy and a girl not allowed to be together, love on every sidewalk and on more than one occasion language blocks it.

Nobody will leave unsatisfied, everyone will find at least one episode to fall in love with.

To be honest, there was only one part I couldn't find access to. It was "Porte de Choisy" from Christopher Doyle, the rest was great and without repetition. Everyone, who's been in love or is in love at the moment or just wants to get a real good feeling, should watch this movie. It lightens up every heavy heart.

The film surely lives from the known faces that turn up in every story and I found myself enjoying the fact, that international stars and directors were very able to make this european metropolis the scenery of their stories.

Facts:

- episodic movie / comedy - France 2006
- FSK: 6 years and up
- Running Time: 120 min.
- German Publisher: Senator
- German Publish Date: 25.01.2007 still in cinemas