Paris, Je T'aime/ Paris, I Love You (Movie Review)

Foreign Film (France)

Rating: 5/5 ADORED IT! :)

Age R: pretty much for all ages but it's Rated-R for language and limited drug use. There's also this scene where a couple is making out, some might find that pg-13-ish

Release Date: 2006 in France and 2007 in the U.S

Directors:
Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel and Ethan Coen, Gerard Depardieu, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Nobuhiro Suwa, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Walter Salles and Gus Van Sant.

Synopsis:
The whole movie is composed of 21 different pieces of stories. They're all directed by different people and are super awesome! Some more than others. I'll talk more about that under "thoughts."

• Montmartre (XVIIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Bruno Podalydès. A man (played by Podalydès himself) parks his car on a Montmartre street and muses about how the women passing by his car all seem to be "taken". Then a woman passerby (Florence Muller) faints near his car, and he comes to her aid.

• Quais de Seine (Ve arrondissement) — made by the husband-and-wife team of American screenwriter Paul Mayeda Berges and Indian-British director Gurinder Chadha. A young man (Cyril Descours), hanging out with two friends who taunt all women who walk by, strikes up a friendship with a young Muslim woman (Leïla Bekhti).

• Le Marais (IVe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Gus Van Sant. A young male customer (Gaspard Ulliel) finds himself attracted to a young printshop worker (Elias McConnell) and tries to explain that he believes the man to be his soulmate, not realizing an important fact. Marianne Faithfull also appears briefly in the film.

• Tuileries (Ier arrondissement) — by American writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen. A comic film in which an American tourist (Steve Buscemi) waiting at the Tuileries station becomes involved in the conflict between a young couple (Axel Kiener and Julie Bataille) after he breaks the cardinal rule of avoiding eye contact with people on the Paris Metro.

• Loin du 16e (XVIe arrondissement; literally: "far from the 16th") — by Brazilian writer-directors Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas. A young woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) sings a Spanish lullaby ("Qué Linda Manito") to her baby before leaving it in a daycare. She then takes an extremely long commute to the home of her wealthy employer (whose face is not seen).
  

• Porte de Choisy (XIIIe arrondissement) — directed by Australian director Christopher Doyle and written by Doyle with Gabrielle Keng and Kathy Li. A comic film in which a beauty products salesman (Barbet Schroeder) makes a call on a Chinatown salon run by a woman (Li Xin) who proves to be a tough customer.

• Bastille (XIIe arrondissement) — by Spanish writer-director Isabel Coixet. Prepared to leave his marriage (Leonor Watling), a man (Sergio Castellitto) speaks to his wife (Miranda Richardson)
  

• Place des Victoires (IIe arrondissement) — by Japanese writer-director Nobuhiro Suwa. A mother (Juliette Binoche), grieving over the death of her little boy (Martin Combes), is comforted by a magical cowboy (Willem Dafoe) <--loved him on The Boondock Saints my favorite movie!!!

• Tour Eiffel (VIIe arrondissement) — written and directed by French animator Sylvain Chomet. A boy tells how his parents, both mime artists (Paul Putner and Yolande Moreau), meet in prison and fall in love.

• Parc Monceau (XVIIe arrondissement) — by Mexican writer-director Alfonso Cuarón. An older man (Nick Nolte) and younger woman (Ludivine Sagnier) meet for an arrangement that a third person ('Gaspard'), who is close to the woman, may not approve of. The film was shot in a single continuous shot. When the characters walk by a video store, several posters of movies by the other directors of Paris, je t'aime are visible in the window.

• Quartier des Enfants Rouges (IIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Olivier Assayas. An American actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) procures some exceptionally strong hashish from a dealer (Lionel Dray).
  

• Place des fêtes (XIXe arrondissement) — by South African writer-director Oliver Schmitz. A Nigerian man (Seydou Boro) is in the Place des fêtes. He asks a woman who comes up to him (Aïssa Maïga) for a cup of coffee.
  

• Pigalle (IXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Richard LaGravenese. An aging couple (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) act out a fantasy argument for a prostitute in order to keep the spark in their relationship.

• Quartier de la Madeleine (VIIIe arrondissement) — by Canadian writer-director Vincenzo Natali. A young backpacker tourist (Elijah Wood) encounters a vampiress (Olga Kurylenko).

• Père-Lachaise (XXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Wes Craven. While visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery, a young woman (Emily Mortimer) and her fiancé (Rufus Sewell) are on their honeymoon, they have an argument and Oscar Wilde plays a part here hehe (Alexander Payne).

• Faubourg Saint-Denis (Xe arrondissement) — by German writer-director Tom Tykwer. About a blind man (Melchior Beslon) who makes a mistake dealing with his girlfriend, a struggling actress (Natalie Portman), this causes him to think back on their relationship.

• Quartier Latin (VIe arrondissement) — written by American actress Gena Rowlands, directed by French actor Gérard Depardieu and French director Frédéric Auburtin. A separated couple (Ben Gazzara and Rowlands) meet at a bar (run by Depardieu) for a drink before something happens. I won't tell you what.
  

• 14e arrondissement (XIVe arrondissement) — written and directed by Alexander Payne. Carol (Margo Martindale), a letter carrier from Denver, Colorado on her first European holiday, recites in rough French what she loves about Paris.

I got those from wikipedia I changed them as much as I could without spoiling it for you like they do.

Thoughts:

Tour Eiffel is my absolute favorite! I love it so much!! You'll fall in love with the adorable bespectacled boy with the too big backpack speaking about how his mime parents met and fell in love. The story is heartwarming and will leave you smiling for quite a while.

Montmartre This one is quite funny but I didn't love it too much.

Quais de Seine This one is quite cute. The clumsy girl (thinks these crude guys are a-holes for good reason) and the cute nice guy (friend of the dork crude guys) meet.

Le Marais A really cute guy (hehe) speaks to another who he finds interesting and attractive (he is) about love and soulmates but there's a little problem. So awesome the ending though!

Tuileries SO FUNNY!! Really sad too though.

Loin du 16e Gosh this one is heartwarming too and sad. I have got to memorize that song though which won't be too hard since I'm fluent in Spanish hehe

Porte de Choisy This one was pretty amusing but I didn't love it too much.

Bastille Tsk tsk to the man and awww for the end.

Place des Victoires Loved this one too!! And gosh SO sad. I was seriously about to cry at some point.

Parc Monceau This one was nice but eh...

Quartier des Enfants Rouges Entertaining I suppose but not much happens. Not as much as I would like anyway.

Place des fêtes Another favorite!! So sad and incredibly lovely! :)

Pigalle Interesting very interesting. People should try this. Maybe not in the same way but smart idea hehe

Quartier de la Madeleine Oh gosh!! The way this one was directed and the special effects...wow! Loved it!! Kinda funny too hehehe

Père-Lachaise This one's a cute one.

Faubourg Saint-Denis This one was really good!! I'm a huge Natalie Portman fan so maybe I'm being biased. No, no I'm not, it really was good. :)

Quartier Latin Made me sad. :(

14e arrondissement Gosh I wanted to cry and be her best friend even if I'm younger than her and that does not usually happen for some ridiculous reason!

Sorry I can't tell you more but I really don't want to give too much away.

Trailer:


Soundtrack:

1.	La Même Histoire (03:39) Composed by Elizabeth Anaïs / Christophe Montieux, performed by Leslie Feist
2.	Les Lumières De Paris (01:31) Composed by Pierre Adenot
3.	Gogol (02:02) Composed by Jason Beck, performed by Gogol
4.	Run To The Mosque / Resolution (02:22) Composed and performed by Craig Pruess
5.	Que Linda Manito (01:00) Anonymous composer, performed by Catalina Sandino Moreno
6.	Interlude (00:20) Composed by Pierre Adenot
7.	French Kiss (01:26) Composed by Pierre Adenot
8.	Un Éléphant Me Regarde (02:22) Composed and performed by Antoine
9.	Paris S'éveille (00:44) Composed by Pierre Adenot
10.	Katoucha (03:38) Composed and performed by Seydou Boro
11.	Bob Et Fanny (01:16) Composed by Pierre Adenot
12.	Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye (03:04) Composed by John D. Loudermilk, performed by The Casino's
13.	La Vampire (06:14) Composed by Michael Andrews, performed by the Paris Studio Land Orchestra
14.	Caravane (01:56) Composed by Pierre Adenot
15.	Les Fantômes d'Oscar Wilde (03:48) Composed by Pierre Adenot
16.	True (04:34) Composed and performed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
17.	Love's A Bitch (02:10) Composed by Pierre Adenot
18.	Carol (05:43) Composed by Pierre Adenot
19.	Paris, Je T'aime (03:43) Composed by Elizabeth Anaïs / Pierre Adenot, performed by Elizabeth Anaïs
20.	We're All In The Dance (03:39) Composed by Elizabeth Anaïs / Christophe Montieux, performed by Leslie Feist
21.	Le Tourbillon (05:21) Bonus track: composed by Serge Rezvani, performed by Miranda Richardson

I love the soundtrack it's super lovely and I can't stop listening to it haha :) I love Feist especially since she's one of my favorite artists!!

YOU WILL ENJOY THIS MOVIE IF YOU LIKE/ARE INTERESTED IN:
-Paris
-love stories
-sad stories
-awesomeness!!!!
-loveliness
-New York, I Love You (to be released in the U.S October 16, 2009 look for the trailer here in an hour) It's an upcoming movie from the same producers as Paris, Je T'aime :) Can't wait!!!!
-any of those actors and/or directors

TRUST ME, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS MOVIE! :)

You're welcome.

Yes I just said that.

You will love it.

I'm telling you.

Ok go watch it! Right now! If you have Netflix you can watch it there online or buy it on ebay, borrow it from a friend, run/fly to the nearest movie rental place. But please watch it! :)