Paris, Je T'aime ****
Tales From The City of Lurve ...

This is that rare thing: an innovative, brave and beautiful idea which actually worked when translated onto celluloid. The idea originally came from two Frenchmen: Tristan Carne and Emmanuel Benbihy, and basically went like this:

"How about we, like, get some of the best directors working today, right, and get them each to make a short film about Paris, and then put them all together ..."

And then, somehow, in a bizarre Blue Brothers-like fashion, they managed to get some of the most innovative, talented directors around to each write and contribute a five-minute film. These included Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run; Perfume), Gus Van Sant (My Own Private Idaho; Good Will Hunting), Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo; Barton Fink), Wes Craven (90s schlock-horror king, credits including The Hills Have Eyes and Nightmare on Elm Street) Alfonso Cuaron (every interesting film of the last six years or so ... including Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Big directors meant big names and big names meant widespread release, and suddenly eighteen quiet, unassuming films became one long, beautiful, star-studded extravaganza.

Not all of the segments work, but the ones that don't (the final tourist monologue, the bizarre dreamlike sequence set in the Chinese quarter) are few and far between, and short enough that you never really get bored. Standout sequences include the Coen brothers' short set in a metro station, starring Steve Buscemi as (surprise!) a slightly pathetic, humble but loveable loner, alienated in a strange city; van Sant's touching story of a love which transends the boundaries of language and Tykwer's fast-paced, hectic love story, which stars Natalie Portman as an American actress (that must be a stretch). Other big names include Elijah Wood, playing moody to perfection in Vincenzo Natali's dark and mystical vampire sequence; Juliette Binoche giving an amazing, subtle performance as a bereft mother; Maggie Gyllenhaal as a spoilt American film star doing drugs in her trailer, and Emily Mortimer and Rufus Sewell in Craven's bizarre but oddly warming piece set beside Oscar Wilde's grave in Pere Lachaise. But my favourite piece is Cuaron's (I am nothing if not predictible): a charming, well-planned love story with a twist.

It's the Paris of the people, with few shots of the Eiffel Tower and many of the cobbled streets; the people are undeniably French; even the tourists have an odd, bohemian charm. It makes you want to pack up your things and take off for the city of love, convinced that once there you will find the missing part to fill your loneliness.

CONCLUSION: There are too many great shorts here to mention them all, so see the film and choose a favourite for yourself - you will fall in love with Paris all over again.