Paris Je T’Aime

FLICK If you like attending shorts programs at film festivals, or have a little ADD, Paris Je T’Aime is sure to satisfy. The charming melange consists of 18 films by 20 internationally known filmmakers, which are approximately five minutes long and each set in a different area of the City of Light. The films in this mosaic appear unconnected but they actually create a portrait of a city with many perspectives. The shorts contain a variety of tones, with some having universal themes and others distinctly French, such as The Triplets of Belleville animator Sylvain Chomet’s live-action romance with two mimes.
There is a potpourri of well-known names turning in stellar performances, like American actors Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gena Rowlands Elijah Wood and Willem Dafoe, and French actors Fanny Ardant, Gaspard Ulliel and Juliette Binoche. Directors are as varied too, like Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven, and, pulling double duty, actor Gérard Depardieu. Some films are more successful than others like the Coen brother’s comedy featuring Steve Buscemi as an unlucky tourist waiting for a train in a Paris Metro station. Alexander Payne presents Margo Martindale (currently seen in FX’s "The Riches") as a Denver letter carrier narrating the experiences of her life-altering vacation in French with a typically American accent. Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) uses tricky speed photography to convey the mistaken romantic outcome of a blind student (Melchior Beslon) and his girlfriend (Natalie Portman). Craven sets Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer in a cemetery with the ghost of Oscar Wilde. And Gurinder Chadha comments on perception as a teen boy looks beyond religious and racial stereotyping. There are also scenes depicting a divorced couple, a drug deal and vampires. One dud was Alfonso Cuarón’s baffling story featuring Ludivine Sagnier and an almost unintelligible Nick Nolte. Overall, the film is charming and creates enough emotional highs to say Paris, I love you! My Score: 8.5 out of 10.