Paris: Je t'aime Review

The 2007 film Paris, Je T'Aime, translated "Paris, I Love You," is a series of vignettes or brief meditations on life and love, in what has often been referred to as the "most romantic city in the world." It features 18 short films from some of world's top directors including The Coen Brothers (Fargo, No Country for Old Men),  Alexander Payne (Sideways),  and Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting). It also includes performances by an all star cast; Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Juliette Binoche, Nick Nolte, and Miranda Richardson.

Each and every story, whether tragic or sweet, is unique, and set against the backdrop of one of the most scenic and atmospheric cities on the globe. From the opening segment, in which two people meet by chance in a traffic incident and find that they have a lot in common, to the young man who falls in love with an attractive Muslim girl to the astonishment of his sexist friends, to the weird vampire story that contains modern, as well as, Gothic elements, to the poignant story of man who is planning on leaving his wife for his mistress until he finds that she is terminally ill; each story is filled with keen, and often witty,  observations on love and life.

My one complaint with this film, is that it has both French and English language tracks with closed captioning, and if you choose the setting for English subtitles the subtitles and closed captioning, continue to appear on the screen, even when English is the primary language. I was also expecting the films to be somehow intertwined in the end, but no such connection ever occurred.

Like a picture postcard, Paris, Je T' Aime captures the true spirit of the scenic "city of lights," with panoramic views of the Eiffel Tower, Arch d' Triumph, The Seine River, and various other landmarks, and captures both the cultural diversity and esoteric aspects of the city's various neighborhoods,  as seen through the eyes of people from all walks of life. The result is an eclectic collection of slice-of-life stories, that will, like the city itself, leave a memorable impression on each of it's viewers.