18 Scenes

M.M. and I just saw Paris Je T'aime and, in our estimation, it's one of the best collection of short subjects every put up on the screen. This shouldn't work in theory. Two producers come up with and idea to have 18 world renowned directors describe their favourite French city. Add some A-list actors, the best cinemtographers and mix vigorously. The result: comedy, drama and romance along the better streets and buildings of Paris. After having just seen the hit-or-miss collection Chacun Son Cinema we thought PJT would be more of the same. Not so, this is one hell of a consistent compendium.

Of course, some of them stood out but of the whole collection there were probably only three I didn't like: one involving mimes (you knew there was gonna be one of those) and a Vampire who's got the hots for everyone's favourite Hobbit were two of the lesser entries. Not that they were bad, just not my taste.

I feel truly inspired after seeing these films and am suffused with the power of Cinema's potential. PJT is the best of that art form. The assembled actors are the finest working today and include: Maggie Gyllenhal, Emily Mortimer, Natalie Portman, Sergio Castellito, Steve Buscemi, and Gena Rowlands. It amazes me now how much these directors packed into a short considering they've been working with long form pieces for the greater part of their careers.



The directors that surprised me the most were Wes Craven and Alexander Payne. The master of horror's entry, "Pere-Lachaise", is in full Woody Allen mode and man does he have a deft touch when he leaves his comfort zone. I would love to see more projects from him like this. Mr. Payne's entry "14th Arrondissement" shows his talent for blending humour and poignancy without the benifit of a feature length pallette. After writing him off because of my dislike of his last two films this is being very generous but deservedly so. This omnibus has really made me reassess cinema's bastard child, the short film.

Furthermore, I was very moved by the sum of all these films. When I forget to criticize what makes a film tick and am just swept away by the sounds and images this is a sign of great art. It shows that even though the whole endeavor may be contrived and packaged to entertain the masses the outcome can still be sublime.