When male dancer at the Moulin Rouge, 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.
It's only when he finally makes his way by taxi across Paris to the hospital for the operation that he really sees the city as a thriving, vibrant, life affirming entity.
Instead of dancing himself, it is Paris and the Parisians who dance before his eyes.
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini
Paris is released 25th July