Paris (2008 film)
Encyclopedia
Paris is a 2008 French film by Cédric Klapisch
concerning a diverse group of people living in Paris
. The film began shooting in November 2006 and was released in February 2008. Its UK release was in July 2008. Commentators have noted the similarity in style of this film to Woody Allen
's Manhattan
and Robert Altman
's Short Cuts
.
Cédric Klapisch
Cédric Klapisch , is a French film director.Klapisch was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Auschwitz. He studied cinema at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as at the University of Paris VIII...
concerning a diverse group of people living in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The film began shooting in November 2006 and was released in February 2008. Its UK release was in July 2008. Commentators have noted the similarity in style of this film to Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's Manhattan
Manhattan (film)
Manhattan is a 1979 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen about a twice-divorced 42-year-old comedy writer who dates a 17-year-old girl before eventually falling in love with his best friend's mistress...
and Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
's Short Cuts
Short Cuts
Short Cuts is a 1993 American drama film directed by Robert Altman. Filmed from a screenplay by Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt, it is inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver...
.
Plot
The film is set principally in Paris, with one thread of the story set in Africa. Over the course of several months, various stories are intertwined, with different characters and plot threads intersecting.- Pierre is a cabaretCabaretCabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
dancer who learns from a cardiologist that he has a severe heart condition. The only potential cure is a heart transplant. Unable to dance any more, he retires to his apartment, and waits to hear if a donor becomes available. He becomes reflective on his condition and his past life. He watches old film of him as a dancer on stage, and calls an old girlfriend from his school days. He refuses to tell his parents of his medical condition. When he is able to leave the apartment, he notices several attractive young women, including Khadija and Laetitia. - Élise, Pierre's sister, is a social worker, divorced with three children. One of the clients who visits the office is Mourad, a CameroonCameroonCameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
ian immigrant with a family who is trying to get paperwork to authorize entry of his brother, Benoit, into France. Her office is on the brink of union contract negotiations, where her presence is needed. However, when she learns of Pierre's heart condition, she asks to go on part-time status, which bothers her co-workers. She sets up house in Pierre's apartment and begins to take care of him. She holds a party for Pierre at one point to try to cheer him up. She also reflects on her single status and her attitudes toward men. - Roland Verneuil is an academic at the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and expert on the history of ParisHistory of ParisThe history of Paris, France, spans over 2,000 years, during which time the city grew from a small Gallic settlement to the multicultural capital of a modern European state, and one of the world's major global cities.-Ancient place:...
who is envious of the seemingly "normal" life of his brother Philippe and his sister-in-law Mélanie. Roland is afraid of winding up like his mentor Professor Vignard, alone and totally absorbed in esoteric topics that are of no interest to the general public. The television producer Arthur Delamare offers Roland the chance to host and narrate a popular TV series about Paris, with the offer of a financially generous contract. Against his past inclinations, Roland accepts the offer. Roland also finds himself attracted to a student in his class, Laetitia, and begins to send her anonymous cell-phone text messages expressing his attraction to her. - Jean is a vegetable market vendor who is separated from Caroline, another market worker. Caroline is about to leave the market and find work elsewhere, but tension still exists between the two. A lover of motorcycles, Caroline develops a budding relationship with another market employee who is also another motorcycle rider. Jean notices Élise as she shops at the market with her children, and develops an attraction to her.
- Philippe Verneuil is a successful architect whose wife Mélanie is pregnant with their first child. The first scene with Philippe and Roland is set at the funeral of their father. Philippe appears to have a content life with Mélanie, but he begins to have nightmares related to the major architectural project of a new urban center in Paris.
- Khadija, a student of North AfricaNorth AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n background, tries to find work and eventually finds employment in a bakery, whose owner expresses prejudiced sentiments, but who likes Khajida nonetheless because she is a hard worker. Pierre notices Khadija when he shops at the bakery. - Laetitia, a student at the SorbonneSorbonneThe Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
, begins a relationship with a fellow student. She has an apartment across the street from where Pierre lives. Élise poses as a survey taker to gain entry into Laetitia's apartment to learn if she has a boyfriend, with the idea of pairing her up with Pierre. When Laetitia begins receiving anonymous text-messages expressing an interest in her, she does not know who is sending them, but eventually learns the identity of the sender, who turns out to be Roland Verneuil. - In Cameroon, Benoit works at a resort hotel. He has made an acquaintance with Marjolaine, a Parisian model, who tells him to contact her if he ever gets to Paris. His brother, Mourad, has mailed him postcards of Paris. Inspired, and in spite of not having the legal paperwork to immigrate to France, Benoit begins the long journey to make his way to Paris, by bus and eventually by an illegal boat crossing across the Straits of Gibraltar.
Cast
|
Cédric Klapisch Cédric Klapisch , is a French film director.Klapisch was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine. He is from a Jewish family; his maternal grandparents were deported to Auschwitz. He studied cinema at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle as well as at the University of Paris VIII... (man on the roof; uncredited) |
Soundtrack
- Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "Munivers De Paris" - Wax TailorWax TailorWax Tailor is the alias of French trip hop/hip hop producer, Jean-Christophe Le Saoût . He started in 2004 with two EP's . The first album Tales of the Forgotten Melodies was released in March 2005, mixing hip-hop, downtempo, trip-hop with samples extracted from movies...
(feat. Charlotte SavaryCharlotte SavaryCharlotte Savary is a French female singer and songwriter. She lives in Paris and participates in different projects from electro-pop to trip-hop or folk. These projects are Felipecha and Wax Tailor...
) - "Seize The Day" - Artur Nunes - "Tiea"
- Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "L'air Des Cendres" - Rosemary ClooneyRosemary ClooneyRosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
- "SwaySway (song)"Sway" is the English version of "¿Quién será?", a 1953 mambo song by Mexican composer and bandleader Pablo Beltrán Ruiz. The most famous version is that of Dean Martin recorded in 1954. English lyrics are by Norman Gimbel...
" - Quincy JonesQuincy JonesQuincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
- "Comin' Home Baby" - Philippe KaterinePhilippe KaterinePhilippe Katerine is a French singer who began his career in 1991. Some of his popular singles include "Mon coeur balance", "Je vous emmerde" and "Louxor j'adore". Given that his songs are mainly in French, he hasn't gained much popularity outside of France...
- "Louxor J'adore" - Wilson PickettWilson PickettWilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
- "Land of a Thousand DancesLand of a Thousand Dances"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by Chris Kenner in 1962. The song is famous for its "na na na na na" hook, which was added by Cannibal & the Headhunters in their version of the song in 1965, whose version peaked at number thirty...
" - Grant Phabao pres. Carlton Livingston and The Lone Ranger - "Running For My Life"
- Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "Douala Paris" - Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "I Love Bidoche" - Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "Ah Hum Babe" - Adrag - "I don 't give a F..."
- Kraked UnitKraked UnitKraked Unit is a French based music production company founded in 2000 by french composer and DJ Loïc Dury in collaboration with other musicians and composers....
- "Les Fleurs Du Slam" - Erik SatieErik SatieÉric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
- "Gnossienne N°1Gnossienne"Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century.-Characteristics:Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use...
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