Paris, je t'aime

A very pleasant experience, tuned especially to the wave of relaxed melancholy and love tremors. If I set aside Doyle's truly stupid and inconsistent Porte de Choisy and the situation when the authors confused the short with a cheap kitschy agitation (especially Quais de Seine), here we have the same more or less high-quality and interesting little stories, from which the charming Sylvain Chomet stands out (this is what individuality should look like on the screen for a few minutes) and Payne’s fantastic short, which tells more about Paris through the eyes of a foreigner than most previous short stories combined. Personally, I was also very pleased with Natali's vampire nonesense, the Coens' traditional entertainment show with "donny" Buscemi, minimalist suggestive Loin de 16éme and the excellent craftsmanship (albeit a little weaker in terms of content) of Tykwer and Cuarón. (10.09.2008)

Eighteen Parisian districts plus twenty-two directors equal eighteen "Parisian" views of love in blossom, in decline, beyond its zenith, love non-existent, love wanted, love towards the family, and many of its other facets. Undoubtedly an interesting project, but given the abundance of short stories, it is clear that the quality cannot be constant. So it was a pleasant surprise that none of the stories are downright bad. On the other hand, it is unpleasantly surprising that with such a cadence of sonorous well-known names, only a few stories are at all exceptional, especially in the first half. Most of them have something going for them, but only a few of them will stay with you after the movie is over. That is, about how each situation began or continued. I would point out Sylvain Chomet, whose contribution is definitely one of the best, but even so, the non-animated form unnecessarily hinders him in his flight. I would also point out the highlight of the entire film in the form of a short story by Tom Tykwer. If only for this piece, the movie is worth seeing. Paris, I Love You was supposed to be an emotionally powerful experience as a whole. Which it isn’t, except for two or three moments, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad or mediocre movie. Perhaps because everyone will surely find their own segment that appeals to them. (13.12.2007)

A film filled to the brim with my most beloved city and full of different approaches to love, romance, and particularly Paris. And it is precisely in the alternating styles and moods that the greatest weakness and strength of this work lies. While I shook my head at Doyle's patchwork or at why Cuarón's piece is only interesting because it is shot in one continuous take, others would not stomach what I consider the best stories. The tenderness and cuteness of Chadha's romantic bonding, the perfectly fitting dark humor of the Coen brothers, the heartrending sincerity of Nobuhira Suwa, and the perfect Juliette Binoche, the fascinating outer-worldly imagination of Chomet, and Tykwer's visual study of love, relationships, differences, and problems. Some pieces of this bonbon did not taste good to me, so the film as a whole will not receive the highest rating, but not only this group of names will remain in me forever. Beyond any assessable boundaries. (04.08.2007)

I would rate the individual etudes differently. The absolute number one for me was Arrondissement 10, when the blind boy tells Natalie Portman: "I can see you". And I must also mention Arrondissement 7, Tour Eiffel, the boy with the big briefcase and his parents the mimes. Next, story number 7 appealed to me, which was about a man who wants to break up with his wife because of a young stewardess and the fact that the wife sings the same song over and over, wears the same clothes, has lipsticks she doesn't use, doesn't order appetizers and desserts, and ends up eating the husband's entire meal...and what's more, the husband is to the point where he even orders meals that the wife will like. But when his wife tells him she is sick, he doesn't break up with her and leaves the stewardess. He pretends to love his wife until he falls head over heels in love with her again... she dies and he is alone... On the other hand, I would leave out the soulless beginning, i.e. Arrondissement 18, which was rather awkward. The rest was average or above average... anyway I will think about it. Nice work. (30.10.2010)

I did some rigorous math – an average – and I got what I gave it. I liked the 4th and 6th stories the least, the beginning was kind of weak in general, but then the mimes came in and it gave me hope for a better ending. After that, my enthusiasm cooled down – two stories that I would probably have given something like 2 stars. But the 12th story charmed me; and I'd give that one the highest rating on its own. And after that? Nothing came along that was worse than average, so the final level was very nice, orderly, melancholic. The last short story brings it to a beautiful close, just like the person at the center of the story, even I came away feeling it, and everything just clicked. It's definitely worth taking a tour of Paris – in both senses. It starts weak, but finishes with verve. (20.11.2010)

In these types of anthology films, which are directed by several different directors, the most common problem is the different quality of individual stories. In the case of Paris, I Love You, this critical point is even stronger because there was a whole army of directors and the space for their expression was therefore very limited. Not everyone was able to create a meaningful story with a point in such a small space. Some creators did not offer the viewer more information about their characters than what they could learn from the presented photograph. Several of the stories were really nice, whether they were filmed anecdotes like vampire stories or the story of the unfortunate Steve Buscemi, who was properly tormented by his friend Joel Coen. The strength of the film is definitely the cast, which is luxurious, but it is a pity that the individual actors did not have the opportunity to show more in their performances. The only thing that connects this chaos of micro-stories is Paris, but even that does not play the main role because most of the stories could take place almost anywhere. Overall impression: 65%. (10.03.2009)

These short story collages on the subject of capital cities are always problematic. After all, Paris after the year 2000 cannot be such a flat city of stories that fail to engage on their own and fit together as a whole. If I didn't take notes, after a few days I wouldn't even remember Tykwer's rather daring romance with Portman and the lovely ending of Payne, in which such a sweetly earthy American woman bade farewell to the city of all cities. Gérard Depardieu was a complete disappointment and what Natali made was absolute crap. 18 fragments are really too much for one film. (05.06.2017)

"Paříži, miluji Tě" bych mohl provolávat dnes a denně, i proto jsem se neskonale těšil na poctu světoznámých režisérů francouzské metropoli. S přibývajícím časem a s každou další povídkou se mi obličej křivil do většího a většího úšklebku. Kouzlo a atmosféra Paříže se úplně vytratily, některé povídky mohly být natočeny klidně v Brně, Znojmě nebo lecjakém maloměstě v severních Čechách. Alfonso Cuarón asi v životě nebyl v parku Monceau, jeho povídka byla příšerná, divím se, že Ludivine Sagnier na něco takového kývnula. Čest tohoto ojedinělého díla zachraňuje Tom Tykwer, jeho povídku jsem sjel třikrát, u té jediné mám skutečně pocit, že patří a zapadá do pařížského světa. Špatní nebyli ani bratři Coenové, paradoxně jejich nadsazená povídka by se mohla reálně odehrát. A chyběly tu skutečné francouzské herecké persony - Béart, Auteuil, Darrieux, Deneuve. New Yorku, miluji Tě by měl natočit jedině Woody Allen, jinak to s New Yorkem dopadne tak neblaze jako s Paříží. S odstupem času přidávám jednu hvězdičku, Tom Tykwer si to fakt zaslouží. (23.09.2008)

I don’t think it would be right to call this a film. It was more of a collection of shorts on the same theme, and I didn’t exactly fit the target audience, I’m afraid. Most of the shorts didn't really appeal to me and I even found some of them boring. There were a few exceptions (namely four) that resonated with me. Oddly enough, they were those I would least expect to relate to. I should also point out that while I strongly disagree with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I'm not going to change my opinion of Olga Kurylenko's acting skills. I haven't become a fan of hers, thus clearly demonstrating my boorishness and inability to recognize real art even if it spat in my face. I guess that's just the way I am. / Lesson learned: Feel like hanging out with famous artists in the quiet of a cemetery? Go to Paris. (25.09.2022)

The first film that dared to present a great world metropolis in the form of stories. Some of them still come to my mind, while others I have successfully forgotten. Nevertheless, the film remains a wonderful mosaic of how Paris looks from the perspective of many filmmakers. I should watch more "I Love You" films to find out how they measure up in terms of quality. You can't expect every story to be a masterpiece, but in this case, quality definitely prevails. (23.12.2013)