I'm a big fan of potluck dinners. Everyone goes off and makes something unique and different, and then everyone gets together and samples a bunch of dishes. Some are good, some are new, occasionally one isn't that great, but in the end you've tried a variety of dishes and you've filled your stomach in the process.
So it was with Paris, Je T'aime. 18 mini-movies, each no longer than five minutes, tied loosely together by the theme of love, and by characters who are only casually intertwined (in ways we don't learn until the end of the film). It's a movie-goer's potluck of sorts: you get a wide variety of small bites, and in the end you feel satisfied that you've seen a great overall movie that explores a topic through many dimensions.
The nice thing about the overall film is that the theme wasn't expressed in a singular way. Like the chefs and their secret ingredient in Iron Chef, every director has a unique style and approach to their mini-movie. Some were humorous, while others were more dramatic. Some were fast-paced, and others were more lingering. I believe there had to be an editor of sorts overseeing the project, as the spectrum of movies were carefully balanced in the entire work, as was the overall tone (it went from light, to dark, to light again).
Not every mini-movie received high marks from me (there was one quite surreal one with a salesman and an aggressive salon worker that caught me off guard and left me wondering whether someone had edited an incorrect portion of another film into the movie), but they were almost all interesting enough to deserve a viewing.
And, the best part about this project is that if you absolutely hate one of the mini-movies then, just like the weather in some parts, all you have to do is wait and something new will come along.
Overall rating: 9.0/10.0
Details:
Runtime: 120m
Countries: Lichtenstein / Switzerland / Germany / France
Languages: English / French
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