MIT Lecture Series Committee

Rated R
120 minutes

Paris, Je T'aime (2006)

Eighteen different directors and a slew of indie actors come together for Paris, Je T'aime, a cinematic homage to the City of Light. Each director presents his or her own short story set in a different Parisian quarter, each one featuring a different cast of characters. The pieces vary in length, with some of them striving to tell a fully developed tale--no matter how simple the plot--while others are more abstract, content to rely on sparse dialogue and vivid imagery. With directors such as Gus Van Sant, Alexander Payne, Wes Craven, and the Coen brothers participating, the tales are as varied and oddball as one might expect. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a lonely actress with a fondness for her hash dealer. Elijah Wood encounters a seductive vampire on a moonlit street. Steve Buscemi is a flustered tourist. Natalie Portman falls for a deaf Frenchmen. Each tale is markedly unique, and specific to the quirky style of its director, and the film is a veritable Who's Who for indie buffs. The end product is a bit uneven, with some of the narratives sparkling and others starting strong, then falling flat. But in the moments when it succeeds, the movie can feel mysterious and magical, evoking the romance and longing the city is famous for. [www.rottentomatoes.com]

Sponsored by MISTI.

A delightful and varied glimpse of men and women grappling with love, meaning, and loss in various neighborhoods of Paris.
      -- Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice. Read this review.