Paris
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini
Dir: Cedric Klapisch
Rating: 3/5
Director Cedric Klapisch is best know for his comedy Chacun Cherche Son Chat or, for those who don't speak French While the Cat's Away, and after filming in Spain for his last picture L'Auberge Espagnole he returns to his home city for Paris.
When male dancer Pierre (Romain Duris), is diagnosed with a serious heart condition that, even with a transplant, could end his life, he takes stock of his surroundings.
He calls his not-so-close sister (Juliette Binoche), and tries to find a way of coping with the possibility of life ending. Meanwhile, all around him, Parisians are getting on with their lives, working and loving, and sometimes dying, too.
And as Pierre waits for a suitable donor, many of these lives intersect around him, each with its own triumphs and failures, pain and joy and their interconnected stories of love, familial bonds, loneliness and compassion come together in unexpected ways.
Trying to summarise the life of an entire city is a bold move but one director Cedric Kaplisch hasn't backed away from making a decent attempt as he singles out a seemingly-random cross section of the city of love.
There are a lot of interesting ideas in this film including taking stock of life and sibling friction but some of the more meatier subjects such as illegal African immigration and racism are sidelined.
But the major issue with this film, despite it being of a very high quality, it the number of stories all intertwined can seem a bit much and some character feel a little underdeveloped.
Despite this Paris is a very clever film and the setting of France's capital is as much a character in the film as Pierre as Klapisch paints a vivid picture of the city highlighting it's contemporary side while holding onto it's history of which it is so proud.
But at the heart of the film is a man who is contemplating his life as he sees that others do and will go on regardless of whether he survives.
Cleverly Klapisch leaves a very open ending further showing the unpredictability of life and how we never know what is around the corner.
Paris is out on DVD 2nd February
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw