Paris, je t'aime (Various, 2006)

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David Ehrenstein · #26 Post by **David Ehrenstein** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:14 pm

adored the Gus and I hope we see a lot more of Elias McConnell

Elias was the student photographer in Elephant. He may well be Gus' new River.

miless · #27 Post by **miless** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:25 pm

David Ehrenstein wrote:
adored the Gus and I hope we see a lot more of Elias McConnell
Elias was the student photographer in Elephant. He may well be Gus' new River.

without the talent. (at least judging from Elephant)

David Ehrenstein · #28 Post by **David Ehrenstein** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 6:36 pm

Here's another Gus-ette in a seated position.

miless · #29 Post by **miless** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 1:31 am

davidhare wrote:I mentioned somewhere last year how much McConnell reminded me of Gary Cooper in the way he moves slowly and lightly but with such gravity.

I don't know about Gary Cooper... I see him as more of a James Stewart or Anthony Perkins (although probably not as awkward as the latter)

Antoine Doinel · #30 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Tue May 22, 2007 9:48 pm

Here's the North American trailer.

Antoine Doinel · #31 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:34 pm

Caught it this afternoon and I'll break down my thoughts into brief little reviews:

The Good:

Gurinder Chadha "Quais de Seine" - Light, cute and very effective take on cultural differences/love.

Isabel Coixet "Bastille" - A nice look at man trying to do right with a woman he's not sure he's in love with. The narration is fantastic.

Alfonso Cuaron "Parc Monceau" - Reminded me that Nick Nolte is a really underutilized actor and it had a nice little twist at the end. Again, love Nolte.

Gerard Depardieu & Frederic Auburtin "Quartier Latin" - one of the best of the lot. Great, charming performances by Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands as a couple finalizing the details of their divorce. Beautiful.

Alexander Payne "14th arrondissement" - Amazing. Really captured the essence of the entire project and is a beautiful postcard of Paris.

Walter Salles & Daniela Thoams "Loin du 16ème" - One of the shortest, but one of the most powerful. Takes a nursery rhyme and allows it bookend the film in intriguing ways.

Nobuhiro Suwa "Place des Victoires" - Wonderful. Another "twist", but drawn out effectively.

Tom Tykwer "Faubourg Saint-Denis" - Uses the same kind of "Run Lola Run" energy and editing, but it's still a blast.

Gus Van Sant "Le Marais" - Van Sant loves his subjects and in any other hands the joke at the end would have really lame, but he pulls it off. Great stuff.

The Bad:

Christopher Doyle "Porte de Choisy" - A big exercise in "what the fuck", with no payoff. Dull, dull, dull.

Vincenzo Natali "Quartier de la Madeleine" - Felt like a parody of a big expensive perfume commercial.

Wes Craven "Père-Lachaise" - An ode to Oscar Wilde? To new love? I'm not sure. Poorly conceived and executed.

As for the rest, they didn't leave an impression either way but there is much to enjoy. I wished I liked the Coen entry more than I did and the Sylain Chomet film really only shines in the last couple of minutes.

DrewReiber · #32 Post by **DrewReiber** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:11 pm

I'm going to try to catch this tomorrow.

foggy eyes · #33 Post by **foggy eyes** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:55 pm

davidhare wrote:The endings are "twists" in the sense that those three episodes are more interested in formal arrangement and mise-en-scene than they are in "narrative". Thus the van Sant is done in three setups and about half a dozen shots and is clearly in a line with his most recent features formally.

Interesting - I counted twenty-seven shots in the VS segment, a considerably higher cutting rate than his recent features (few set-ups though). The framing of Ulliel from behind and then in the (comparatively) extended take when talking to Elias does indeed beautifully recall Gus's observational techniques in Elephant and Last Days. Le Marais was easily my favourite of the bunch. Assayas's was impressive too (great use of editing to condense the narrative without losing character minutia), and Doyle's segment endearingly bonkers. The less said about much of the rest the better...

Michael · #34 Post by **Michael** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:00 am

Paris, Je T'aime's standouts:

Van Sant: the shot of the two boys peeking at each other through dusty glass made my heart quiver.

Tykwer: I can't believe how much is packed in those 5 minutes. Very moving.

Assayas: Maggie carries this little piece very beautifully and I love the unexpected shift to the costume drama. I cracked up a bit thinking maybe Assayas had Coppola's Marie Antoinette in mind. Just imagine Assayas tackling this big project.

Salles & Thoams: Simply amazing and powerful. I love the directors' move to blur the white baby in the crib. So much said in silence.

Michael · #35 Post by **Michael** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:12 pm

Yeah, the Payne piece is really poignant and lovely. I was touched. I laughed so hard at the photo of her adorable pups sitting on the hotel night table. Do you bring pics of your dogs whereever you travel, david? I hope Margot will get the chance to work with Payne again, not Eastwood after that dreadful white-trash ma she played in Million Dollar Baby.

Also a perfect piece to wrap up this cinematic tapestry of Paris.

DeprongMori · #36 Post by **DeprongMori** » Fri Feb 05, 2016 10:57 pm

A technical caution on the US BluRay: The only English subtitling available is "English SDH".

Not sure how that slipped by the QA process.

Paris, je t'aime (Various, 2006)

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