Paris Je T'aime

Where else but Paris could inspire 18 directors to compose five-minute shorts that serve as individual love letters? Albeit some of them are a bit barbed but the city’s architecture and romantic reputation are on full display in nearly every shot of this lush film. Of course, being a compendium means that there are lesser lights — sadly, most of those are front-piled in the first half. Because most of the directors are international, tales of immigrants and tourists dominate the drama — Canadians only appear musically, when the film opens with Gonzales and closes with Feist. Many directors choose to toy with stereotypes, sometimes successfully, sometimes merely on the surface. Thankfully, there’s only one mime appearance. The Coen Brothers tackle America’s befuddlement with the volatility of French romance; Alexander Payne (Sideways) has a tacky American tourist explain her Parisian experience in pidgin French. Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) displays a total tour-de-force in his five short minutes. Vincenzo Natali (Cube) casts Elijah Wood in a silent vampire fantasy; and oddly enough, horror maven Wes Craven plays it straight with a romantic comedy, albeit one set in a graveyard featuring the ghost of Oscar Wilde. A 25-minute featurette touches on some of the challenges and motivations for each director, though when each segment is only five minutes long in the first place, there’s not much time for each of them to engage in any deep analysis.