Paris, Je T"aime

Paris je T'aime

"Paris, je t'aime is about the plurality of cinema in one mythic location: Paris, the City of Love. Eighteen filmmakers have five minutes each; the audience must weave a single narrative out of eighteen moments. Each transition begins with the last shot of the previous film and ends with the first shot of the following film, extending the enchantment and the emotion of the previous segment, preparing the audience for a surprise, and providing a cohesive atmosphere. There's a reappearing mysterious character who is a witness to the Parisian life. A common theme of Paris and love fuses all."

5 Stars

Paris je T'aime is the first in a series of movies produced by (Tristan Carne). They all follow the similar format of being a collection of short films rather than one long, cohesive film. However, the one unifying theme is love. I recently reviewed New York I Love You, which is the second film in the series. Now, I hate to sound like an old man on this one, but the first one was the best and, unfortunately, I really can’t explain why.

The format in this film is similar to NY I Love you, but instead of compromising of ten 8 minute segments, this version contains eighteen 5 minute segments. And it’s very possible that this format change is the reason why I liked this film so much more. Since each short is directed by a different person, the film is inherently very eclectic. This serves a dual purpose. If you are not really getting drawn into the current vignette, you really don’t have time to get bored with it because once you start to, it’s on to the next one. By the same measure, several of these films draw you in very quickly so, when it ends it just leaves you wanting more. One would think that this paradigm would not work when you first conceptualize it on paper, but once it translates to the screen the results are brilliant.

Obviously because this film has 16 separate parts, I am not going to try and review each segment like I did with NYILY. All I can say is that, after seeing this film, I can see why so many people in other countries have tried to emulate it. It may range from the sweet to the intriguing to the weird, but then again so does Love.