Paris, je t'aime

Above Photo: Leïla Bekhti as Zarka, Salah Teskouk as Zarka's grandfather, and Cyril Descours as François in Gurinder Chadha's 'Quais de Seine' segment.

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Elijah Wood on the set of the 'Quartiers des Enfants Rouges'.

Part of the delight of Paris, je t'aime is meeting engaging individuals - and not having to stay with them long enough for them to either bore or annoy you. Some, of course, you wish you could spend more time with, their memory intensified by the very brevity of your encounter.

An unusual approach, Paris, je t'aime was conceived as a love affair with a city. But the city takes its character from the characters who inhabit it, and this film introduces you to both in all their diverse glory.

The film is a collection of shorts, each beautifully crafted by a master of the art and brought to screen life by equally illustrious talent. French writer/director Bruno Podalydès starts us off in Montmartre with young man whose sense of social awkwardness is palpable as real life interrupts his daydreaming. No, these are not fairy-tale love affairs among perfect people; these stories are much sweeter and more satisfying...

...Well, not all are much sweeter. Joel and Ethan Coen help vary the pace with their usual off-kilter approach, giving Steve Buscemi an unexpected encounter in Tuileries. And Canadian writer/director Vincenzo Natali adds the blood rush of vampires to Elijah Wood's experience.

Juliette Binoche as Suzanne in Nobuhiro Suwa's 'Place des Victoires'.

From youth's tentative anticipation (Quais de Seine, written and directed by Gurinder Chadha) to age's cynical acceptance (Quartier Latin, written by Gena Rowlands and directed by Frédéric Auburtin and Gérard Depardieu), this multi-national wealth of writers, directors and actors gives us a Paris in which, er, the world makes love go 'round.

A First Look Pictures film, by:
Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin & Gérard Depardieu, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel & Ethan Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydès, Walter Salles & Daniela Thomas, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Tom Tykwer and Gus Van Sant.

Starring:
Fanny Ardant, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Sergio Castellitto, Willem Dafoe, Gérard Depardieu, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Gazzara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Bob Hoskins, Margo Martindale, Emily Mortimer, Nick Nolte, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Natalie Portman, Miranda Richardson, Gena Rowlands, Ludivine Sagnier, Rufus Sewell, Gaspard Ulliel and Elijah Wood.

All Photos © Victoires International 2006.

Official Site: http://www.firstlookstudios.com/pjt