Tales of ordinary sadness

It’s not quite yet a cinematic cliche, but the format chosen by Cédric Klapisch (Les Poupées russes (2005), Ni pour, ni contre (bien au contraire) (2002)) in Paris (2008) has antecedents in films as diverse as Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (1993), Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel (2006), namely seemingly disparate stories that are in fact linked by chains visible only to viewers – no man is an island, as John Donne put it.

But, while Paris‘s predecessors to a large extent opted more for sensationalism to make their point, Klapisch’s film has a quiet yet affecting sobriety to it, both in perspective and performances.

Klapisch regular Romain Duris is Pierre, a dancer who needs a heart transplant – his chances of surviving, even should he find a donor, are iffy. Juliette Binoche plays his sister Élise, a social worker who brings her children to live with her ailing brother. From their window, they watch the developing love life of Laetitia (Mélanie Laurent), who’s hitched to Rémy (Joffrey Platel), but is also being wooed by Sorbonne Paris history professor and longtime bachelor Roland Verneuil (Fabrice Lucchini), currently undergoing a mid-life crisis and opening his heart to a psychiatrist (Maurice Bénichou) while he’s working on a soul-destroying ‘popular’ TV series about his area of expertise…and so on.

There are other stories at play here, but to list them all would be pointless. The point is, however, that Klapisch, a gifted director, does make you care. He conveys the surface banality of everyday life, yet in so doing makes you eager to learn more, which is precisely why so much of the film remains unresolved. The director’s perspective and realistically fluid camerwork encouraged this reviewer to leave the cinema with a renewed interest in the lives of others while walking home – looking at the stories on every corner, if you like.

There is perhaps the mistake of the narrative weight being spread a touch too evenly – of course, this could be defended on the grounds that every tale told is equally important, but the film seems to lack central focus as a result, the illusion of complexity over actual depth.

But it’s a pleasure to see Binoche back in a role providing her with an opportunity to be mature, vivacious, sexy and sad at the same time, and overall acting honours go to Lucchini, with his take on an intellectual discovering that affairs of the heart, be they family or femme fatale cannot be taught (or learned in school).

For the most part fulfilling and captivating, Paris provides a rare chance to discover the lives of others.

130 mins. In French.