PARIS, JE T'AIME — *** — Anthology of short films directed by the Coen brothers, Alexander Payne, Alfonso Cuaron and others; with English subtitles (European dialects); rated R (profanity, violence, gore, vulgarity, drugs, slurs, brief sex, nude artwork)
"Paris, je T'aime" is a series of cinematic "postcards" that celebrate the City of Light — short films set in 18 of the 20 neighborhoods in Paris.
Two short films — created by Danish filmmaker Christoffer Boe and French-Israeli director Raphael Nadjari — were cut from the final version of the compilation. And a little more judicious pruning might not have been such a bad thing, since every short is not essential.
At two hours, this is a bit much. Although there is just enough good stuff to outweigh the bad.
Arguably, the standouts are "Tuileries," directed by the Coen brothers, and "Place des Fetes."
In the first, an American tourist (played by Steve Buscemi) learns a painful lesson about disregarding the advice given in tour guides.
The latter is a bittersweet piece about a stabbing victim (Seydou Boro) and the young woman (Aissa Maiga) trying to help him remain conscious before medics arrive.
If nothing else, some of the shorts are original. "Quartier de la Madeleine" features a "romance" of sorts between a vampire (Olga Kurylenko) and one of her intended victims (Elijah Wood). Also on the romance front, "Tour Eiffel," from the director of the Oscar-winning animated feature "The Triplets of Belleville," looks at love between mimes.
And even the sillier shorts, such as "Porte de Choisy" and "Pere-Lachaise," have their moments. Directors Alexander Payne, Barbet Schroeder and Wes Craven show up in brief roles for other filmmakers. (Payne plays the ghost of Oscar Wilde, Schroeder is a beauty-products salesman and that's Craven who's being preyed upon by the bewitching female vampire.)
"Paris, je T'aime" is rated R for strong sexual language (profanity, crude slang and other suggestive talk), strong violence (some fisticuffs, a beating and vampire attacks), some brief blood and gore, cocaine references and use, use of slurs based on ethnicity, brief sexual contact, and some nude statues. Running time: 120 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com