Paris (2008)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Cédric Klapisch

Writer:

Cédric Klapisch (writer)

Release Date:

20 February 2008 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Pierre, a professional dancer, suffers from a serious heart disease. While he is waiting for a transplant which may (or may not) save his life...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Balcony | Dancer | Dancing | Heart Disease

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Juliette Binoche	...	Élise
Romain Duris	...	Pierre
Fabrice Luchini	...	Roland Verneuil
Albert Dupontel	...	Jean
François Cluzet	...	Philippe Verneuil
Karin Viard	...	La boulangère
Gilles Lellouche	...	Franky
Mélanie Laurent	...	Laetitia
Zinedine Soualem	...	Mourad
Julie Ferrier	...	Caroline
Olivia Bonamy	...	Diane
Maurice Bénichou	...	Le psy
Annelise Hesme	...	Victoire
Audrey Marnay	...	Marjolaine
Xavier Robic	...	Arthur Delamare - le présentateur télé

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual references.

Runtime:

France:130 min | Argentina:130 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Australia:M | UK:15 | USA:R | New Zealand:M | Taiwan:PG-12 | Argentina:13 | Sweden:7 | South Korea:12 | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, Montmartre, Paris 18, Paris, France

Company:

Ce Qui Me Meut Motion Pictures

Goofs:

Continuity: When the shop-owner of the bakery sell a baguette she asks for 80 cent, doesn't register it in the till, which has the figures 0,00 than it changes to 0,78 than back to 0,00 again.

Quotes:

Élise: [in French] You're all alone here? What do you do all day?
Pierre: [in French] Watch other people live. Wonder who they are, where they go? They become hereoes in my little stories.

Soundtrack:

Gnossienne no 1

Simply beautiful...

The movie is mostly made of vignettes following several characters, loosely interconnected in the city of Paris. Sounds familiar. To be honest, I've grown tired of the many dramas borrowing that formula. It's become an epidemic, especially since Magnolia. And so, I did not expect to enjoy Paris all that much. But I loved it and it moved me by its stripped down, sincere approach.

Director and writer Cédric Klapisch, unlike several of his contemporaries, did not feel the need to employ convoluted means to link these characters, or end the movie on some sort of unifying, highly artificial bang. Klapish wisely elects to concentrate on building strong characters. He succeeds, so much so that it becomes easy for him to create simple, believable story lines for them. The real link between them? They are fallible, restless, tentative, longing... in other words, they are human.

There's a large cast here and Klepish mostly concentrates on a few of them. Many of the smaller parts are actually as intriguing as the bigger roles and I caught myself wondering what would happen to those characters. But Klapisch stays the course and ends the movie much like it began. A lot is left unresolved, much like life. No Hollywood ending here but I could certainly have followed those characters for another hour if need be.

A beautiful, stripped down story but enough subtext and genuine quality to make for a great and lasting movie experience.