Paris, Je T'Aime

Rating R Formats DVD Genre drama Starring Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, Catalina Sandino Moreno Directed by Alexander Payne, Wes Craven, Gus Van Sant, Tom Tykwer Publisher First Look Pictures External Links First Look

Paris, je taime is not a full-length feature film. It's a collection of 18 short films from 21 different directors, some acclaimed some unknown, and features a plethora of well-known actors from all over the world. While each film has a different tone and look, they all are set in the distinguished (I'm not going to say romantic because anyone who has been there can tell you that it is not) city of Paris and they all revolve around the recurring theme of love. For a complete list of the films and the directors, click here.

Each story is completely different from the rest. Several are comedic, someare heartwarming and some are tragic. For instance, "Quais de Seine", directed by Paul Mayeda Berges and his wife Gurinder Chadha, exhibits how love can overcome boundaries of social, racial and spiritual proportions. Joel and Ethan Cohen's "Tuileries" is a funny look at not only a tourist's quest for love but also the proper etiquette required for riding the Paris Metro. Nobuhiro Suwa's "Place des Victoires" , on the other hand, looks at the grievance taken when a mother loses her son. While some have a touch of realism, others have dashes of fantasy and even horror (Wes Craven's film doesn't fall into either category)..

Sitting through 18 films, each averaging at 8 minutes in length may seem like an exhausting task. But with the variety given here, and the much-needed "get to the point" pace, the two hours go by quite fast. There is no tedious feeling and no boredom

Sadly, this stellar film is not accompanied by any extras. However, this is the screener copy of the film. Hopefully, the retail release will resolve this issue. I'm quite interested in seeing how this anthology came together and how each installment was made.

Because of its format, I highly doubt that Paris, je' taime will be up for any of the major film awards early next year. On the other hand, who cares? It's a labor of love (in more ways than one) and an examination in filmmaking style and tone.