Dans Paris (2006)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Christophe Honoré

Writer:

Christophe Honoré (writer)

Release Date:

4 October 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Anna has just left Paul who, annihilated by the separation, moves back with his father in Paris. His younger brother Jonathan...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Depression | Brother Brother Relationship | Male Nudity | Black Panties

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Romain Duris	...	Paul
Louis Garrel	...	Jonathan
Joana Preiss	...	Anna
Guy Marchand	...	Mirko, le père
Marie-France Pisier	...	La mère
Alice Butaud	...	Alice
Héléna Noguerra	...	La fille en scooter
Judith El Zein	...	La fille qui croit qu'il va pleuvoir
Annabelle Hettmann	...	La fille dans la vitrine
Mathieu Funck-Brentano	...	Le garçon à la cigarette
Lou Rambert-Preiss	...	Loup

Also Known As:

In Paris (International: English title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

France | Portugal

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby SR

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Loire, France

Company:

Gémini Films

Trivia:

In one scene of the film, where Jonathan walks in front of the cinema, two movie posters are shown. One is for A History of Violence (2005), a film which was also released in cinemas in France via the same distributor as this film. The other is for Last Days (2005) starring Michael Pitt, who co-starred with Louis Garrel in The Dreamers (2003).

Quotes:

Anna: I know you love me. That's the difference between us.
Paul: How can you know I love you? How can you be sure?
Anna: Before I followed you inside this hole, I lulled myself to sleep repeating "Paul loves me." I said it out loud hundreds of times, like a prayer. Meaningless words. We hardly knew each other. But something came about, something established. I believed you loved me. I had faith in your love. This belief never left me. We can pray to be loved by only one person. It's not the worst way to save a soul. You never prayed for my love. You never needed my love.

Movie Connections:

References A History of Violence (2005)

Soundtrack:

Avant la haine

A movie you have never seen before

"Inside Paris" was shot within 31 days in winter 2005. When presented at the Cannes International Film Festival in 2006, so many people wanted to see it that an extra session had to be added.

"Inside Paris" covers a one day/one night time period. Paul, a young man in his 30s (Romain Duris) has come back to his father's home in Paris after putting an end to his passionate yet destructive relationship with Anna (Joana Preiss). As the day goes by, we follow Paul's younger brother Jonathan (Louis Garrel) through the streets of the city, while we see Paul staying in his room and going through deep depression, only thinking about the past moments he had with Anna.

Nothing really surprising (but nothing disappointing either) about that first half of the movie, except maybe for the fact that for once Duris' character is an introverted and almost mute man. The willingly cliché and "Nouvelle Vague" scenes of Jonathan skipping classes and walking randomly in the streets of Paris (meeting a handful of pittoresque characters and finding himself in improbable situations, giving place to witty dialogs and delightful humor that mix both false naiveté and genuine emotion) are opposed to the ones where Paul stays in his room trying to cope with his father's clumsy and clueless attempts to cheer him up. This contrast is emphasized by the very intimist way of filming the scenes in the old father's apartment : everything from the camera grip to the spontaneous words and attitudes makes the distance between the actors and the viewers vanish as they discover more and more of Paul's remembrances of the past.

Gradually the story focuses on the events that occurred the day just before. Without one's really noticing, it seems that something happened that establishes a hidden connection between the two brothers. It is quite a small miracle how bit after bit everything that has happened to both Paul and Jonathan so far in the day becomes justified (maybe Jonathan was walking towards a purpose after all) and how these two opposite characters are finally unified : just as if inevitably it all had to end up with this final scene with the two brothers finding themselves in the same room after this last poignant phone call. It is definitely a deeply moving and sensitive film, served by very accurate yet touching actors.

A risky bet to make : sometimes very "Nouvelle Vague" and some other times very intimist, with dialogs sometimes exaggeratedly literary and theater-like and some other times very mundane and crude, it is quite a hard film to categorize : one reason one should see it. Also, this film proves that during 90 minutes it is not impossible to make two contraries unite. Yet another reason to see it.