Paris, Paris - Monsieur Pigoil auf dem Weg zum Glück (2008)

A man is charged with murder. He is Pigoil, the aging stage manager at Chansonia, a music hall in a Paris faubourg. His confession is a long flashback to New Year's Eve, 1935, when he ... See full summary »

Director:

Christophe Barratier

Writers:

Christophe Barratier, Christophe Barratier (adaptation)

Stars:

Gérard Jugnot, Clovis Cornillac, Kad Merad

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gérard Jugnot	...	Pigoil
Clovis Cornillac	...	Milou
Kad Merad	...	Jacky
Nora Arnezeder	...	Douce
Pierre Richard	...	Monsieur TSF
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu	...	Galapiat
Maxence Perrin	...	Jojo
François Morel	...	Célestin
Élisabeth Vitali	...	Viviane
Christophe Kourotchkine	...	Lebeaupin
Éric Naggar	...	Grevoul
Eric Prat	...	Commissaire Tortil
Julien Courbey	...	Mondain
Philippe du Janerand	...	Triquet
Marc Citti	...	L'inspecteur du Quai des Orfèvres

Storyline

A man is charged with murder. He is Pigoil, the aging stage manager at Chansonia, a music hall in a Paris faubourg. His confession is a long flashback to New Year's Eve, 1935, when he discovers his wife is unfaithful and Galapiat, the local mobster, closes the music hall. Over the next few months, Pigoil loses custody of his beloved son, Jo-Jo, and must find work. Pigoil and his pals take over the Chansonia as a co-op; Galapiat is momentarily benign. Their star is the young Douce, a girl from near Lille for whom Galapiat lusts. She in turn falls in love with Milou, a local Red. There are ups and downs, but mostly ups - but what about Jo-Jo and what about the murder?

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Plot Keywords:

murder | music hall | faubourg | new year's eve | love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Pathé Distribution [France]

Country:

France Germany Czech Republic

Language:

French

Release Date:

27 November 2008 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Paris, Paris - Monsieur Pigoil auf dem Weg zum Glück

Filming Locations:

Prague Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$44,690 (USA) (3 April 2009)

Gross:

$850,575 (USA) (19 June 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Galatée Films, Pathé, Constantin Film Produktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS 70 mm (70 mm print) Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Faubourg is not French for "the district." It is a contraction of "faux bourg", French for "false town" and were used to designate smaller towns attached to larger towns or cities. A lot of these faubourgs were independent cities until they were attached to Paris and lost all independence around during the 17th and 18th century. A new outer wall was later erected around the city. These faubourgs, especially those on the East side, were usually blue collar, with a very active night life.

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Goofs

When Jacky accidentally turns on the radio while Pigoil is talking to his wife and her new lover, the radio is very loud immediately after Jacky flips the switch. On this type of old tube amplified radio, it would take several seconds for the tubes to heat up and amplify any signal, and the volume would go up very slowly.

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Connections

Featured in The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)

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Soundtracks

Loin de Paname
Music by Reinhardt Wagner
Lyrics by Frank Thomas

User Reviews

Seems Someone Set Out to Make ONE Movie...and Ended Up Making a Totally DIFFERENT One!

........................................................from Pasto,Colombia...Via: L.A. CA...and ORLANDO, FL

Go to the IMDb.com Search-Window and enter the title: "Paris 36" and what do you get?...VOILA! "Faubourg 36"! Therein lies the problem: Apparently, someone set out to make ONE movie...and ended up making a completely DIFFERENT one! This bizarre Paris/Faubourg dichotomy plagues the movie throughout, but particularly during the last half!

Paris did, however, get off to a relatively good start...Showing a lot of promise, in a number of different areas: The interaction between lead characters seemed brisk and focused; the sets had a very authentic mid-30's Paris look and feel; Music that had just the right mix of melancholy, nostalgia and pre-war glibness and sung with just the right inflection and ring; plus, different engaging back stories.

...But it all starts sputtering about half way through. Paris spins out of control and becomes a total mess. Absolutely nothing works! I can't imagine what was going though Writer/Director Christophe Barratier's mind, as he pressed on with this project! As "Paris" progresses, the characters' actions became constantly more erratic, unpredictable and demonstrate a continually escalating degree of incongruity with the personality and motives of each character. Protagonists capriciously waltzed in and out of the movie, with little or no explanation or raison d'etre.

Because of this, the last half of "Paris" takes on a deus ex machina tainted storyline much more akin to a fairy tale or the romantic daydreams of a 13 year-old Parisian girl. Maybe Paris would have been much easier to follow in the original French. The sub-titles are shamelessly below par. Only about 50% of the dialog actually appears on screen! Thusly, you end up missing HALF of the film! First Half = 8*, Last Half = 2*...OVERALL: 5*....ENJOY/DISFRUTELA?!?!?

Any comments, questions or observations, in English or Español, are most welcome!

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