Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman! Today we’re going to go due east from Cinema Wellman about 5,532 kilometers (or 3,437 miles for those of you that still don’t use the metric system) to visit our first international “City Spotlight” city; Paris, France.
This is our 3rd “City Spotlight” episode after cinematically visiting San Francisco and New York City earlier this season.
There is a difference between those two cities and Paris (Cinema Wellman-wise) since I have never been to Paris.
What I know about Paris is what I’ve seen in newsreels, and films (documentaries included) over the years.
When it comes to movies shot in Paris, I like my Paris in black & white. When I think of Paris, I see it in black & white.
I doubt I’ll ever get there in person, so movies will have to do.
That’s one of the best things about movies. You can go anywhere in the world, or beyond, from the comfort of your own home (or luxurious recliners at the cinema).
Before we begin the Top 10 rundown, I’d like to revisit the “rules” for our “City Spotlight” episodes.
What we’re looking for is the featured city being used in a way that it’s more than just a setting, it’s a character.
The movie doesn’t necessarily need to be great (although I’m recommending all 10 on today’s list), they’re here because they make the most out of the city in which they are set.
The goal for our “City Spotlight” episodes is to recommend movies that will give you the feeling that you’ve visited the city without actually visiting.
Speaking of visiting a place without actually visiting, we’re going to begin with two movies that are set, but really don’t “take place,” in Paris per se.
#10: Hugo (2011)
PG/126 m/IMDb: 7.5
Director: Martin Scorsese
When you think of Martin Scorsese films, the word magical probably doesn’t enter your mind too often, but that’s exactly what Hugo is.
This family/adventure tells the story of an orphan living in the walls of a train station in 1931 Paris.
Much of this Paris is CGI or “enhanced” in some way, but it is still Paris and it’s still worth seeing.
It’s also about cinema, and when directors like Martin Scorsese make movies about cinema, you should watch them.
Paris, or not.
#9: Ratatouille (2007)
G/111 m/IMDb: 8.1
Directors: Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava
If the Paris of Hugo may or may not exist in reality, the Paris of Ratatouille definitely exists only in the world of animation.
I’m not about to sit here and debate you over the merits of vermin hidden in chef’s hats preparing food at gourmet restaurants, but this film is actually very good.
And I hate rats.
I certainly don’t want them assisting my chef in any way, but this animated Paris is quite sweet, as is this movie.
Even with rat cooks.
#8: Cache (2005)
R/117 m/IMDb: 7.3
Director: Michael Haneke
The only guarantee you’ll get when it comes to a Michael Haneke film is that you’ll never know what to expect.
I realize that doesn’t make sense, but if you’ve seen his films, you may understand what I’m trying to say.
Haneke is quite a character. He made Funny Games in 1997 and then REMADE his own movie in 2007. And BOTH of them are really hard to watch. I love that about him.
And I must have been under the Haneke spell when I included this film because I remember it being a lot more Parisian.
It is “Parisian,” but it’s really more indoor “Parisian.”
I will admit that I misremembered the amount of Paris in it, but it DID pop up on more than a couple of “Paris Movies” lists, so I wasn’t totally wrong.
This is an atmospheric thriller involving a couple being terrorized by a series of videotapes being left for them.
It’s not a horror film. The videotapes are surveillance tapes of their home.
Cache has no soundtrack or score which adds to the tension.
It’s also the only film I’ve ever seen that has the entirety of the opening credits typed on screen via typewriter and it fits on the frame. All of it. Title, stars, writers, producers, costumers, director, everyone all at once.
I thought that was great.
#7: Le Samouraï (1967)
GP/101 m/IMDb: 8.0
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
“After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses, his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.” IMDb.
Costello is played by French matinee idol Alain Delon, and he’s dressed a lot like Inspector Gadget in this movie.
Le Samouraï inspired countless filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jim Jarmusch, John Woo, David Fincher, and the Coen Brothers.
The Paris we get here is the rainy Paris filled with jazz clubs and dimly lit seedy hotel poker games as Costello tries to figure out what to do next.
The witness is an attractive nightclub singer. Jef has to kill her, right? He can’t afford to let her walk around knowing he’s a killer, can he?
There is very little dialogue, which I always find interesting in a film. As a matter of fact, the first dialogue isn’t spoken until the 9:58 mark.
Jef is a man of few words. We DO get a French siren, though! Always a treat!
Director Melville didn’t include many popular Parisian landmarks, but Jef wouldn’t be hanging around in those places anyway.
Assassins don’t usually take in the sights.
“Why, Jef?”
“Because I was paid to.”
#6: The Day of the Jackal (1973)
PG/143 m/IMDb: 7.8
Director: Fred Zinneman
To paraphrase an old principal of mine on a field trip, “After lunch, we’re going to take you by the place where de Gaulle got greased.”
The Day of the Jackal is a political thriller about an assassination plot against General Charles de Gaulle. The killer is codenamed “Jackal.”
If you’re into espionage, this one's for you.
As far as Paris goes, there are some beautiful shots of the Arc de Triomphe. Did you know that’s a rotary? Right there? I hate rotaries. I want no part of that.
There are also tons of outdoor location shots featuring street markets, cafes, and French sirens!
We also have berets, and everyone is smoking. I mean EVERYONE. I think I saw a French cat smoking! Le chat qui fume!
The Day of the Jackal features both famous and off the beaten path Paris in a winning combination.
#5: Amelie (2001)
R/122 m/IMDb: 8.3
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
There are all sorts of versions of Paris on display in this list of 10 films, and the Paris in Amelie is absolutely adorable. Just its star Audrey Tautou.
Her expressive eyes should have been given separate billing in this movie since they help tell Amelie’s story without the use of words.
Prominently featured are cafes, train stations, and crowded streets.
Parts of this made me think that this is what a French film would look like if directed by Wes Anderson.
Now that you should see!
The end of this beautifully sweet film ends perfectly with Amelie and her friend riding a Vespa through the streets of Paris laughing and, as my nephew Bryan would say, cheesing.
Or would that be fromaging?
#4: Diva (1981)
R/117 m/IMDb: 7.2
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
The first time I saw Diva was at the Nickelodeon Theater in Boston as a sophomore at BU.
I saw it for the second time last night and it was pretty much as I remembered.
The music was stunning in every form (the opera, the soundtrack, the score) and Paris was very well represented.
From IMDb: “Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed all twist their way through an intricate and stylish thriller.”
There are great gangsters and thugs, the opera scenes are phenomenal, and you can’t help but root for our misfit protagonist and his girlfriend in her transparent plastic raincoat.
#3: Paris je’ t’aime (2006)
R/120 m/IMDb: 7.2
Director: 18 different directors
This is the only one of the ten films on this list that I hadn’t seen before preparing for this episode.
Whenever I’m compiling a list, I make one of my own and then start doing some research on the Interwebs to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
If I see a movie listed that I haven’t seen, well, I see it.
That was the case with Paris, je t’aime. It’s part New York Stories, part Love, Actually, all Paris.
Paris in all sorts of moods.
The two-hour run time is divided into short films directed by 18 different directors.
You’ve heard of some of them, I’m sure; Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuaron, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, and the Coen Brothers were among the talented minds directing these segments that play out as a Paris travelog.
The opening montage features fireworks over the Eiffel Tower for goodness sakes! I think that’s cheating!
Some of the segments are dramatic, some funny, and more than one made me cry (no surprise!). Oh, and one had MIMES!
The cast is stellar; Steve Buscemi, Nick Nolte, Juliette Binoche, Natalie Portman, Willem Dafoe, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Miranda Richardson, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, Gena Rowlands, Ben Gazzara, and many others who make this a well-crafted love letter to the City of Light.
Seedy Paris is here as is beautiful and romantic Paris. It’s very well done without being overly romantic.
It’s a lot like reading a collection of short stories, and in this film, they tie many of them together at the end.
“We’re all in the dance.”
How true.
#2: Rififi (1955)
NR/118 m/IMDb: 8.1
Director: Jules Dassin
“Rififi” is a French slang term meaning “trouble/violent conflict/a brutal show of force.”
Oui, oui, and oui.
And an awesome heist to boot.
I’ve talked about Rififi before, and I’m sure I’ll talk about it again.
I tend to do that with movies I love.
Director Jules Dassin made this during the time of his Hollywood blacklist days. If not for the HUAC hearings, this film very well could have been made in the United States.
If it was made in America, it would have been considered one of the best film noir movies in American history. The music is so noir, you’ll be looking over your shoulder and craving a smoke.
Dassin refused to film on sunny days, so we get cloudy, rainy, dark, dreary, and dismal Paris. Which totally fits with the story.
There are seedy card games, bars, cafes, and the street shots at dawn are absolutely wonderful.
The heist is a jewel heist, and the gems used in the film were real!
The store was Mappin & Webb, and our crew breaks in from the apartment floor/ceiling above.
The heist sequence is over 28 minutes long and features no music at all and no dialogue. It’s virtually silent. The only sound is natural sound, and the silence is thrilling.
The scene is so well done, and so suspenseful. It’s one of my all-time favorite scenes.
The silence isn’t only a great cinematic decision, it emphasizes the cohesiveness of the crew since they can do what they’re doing without speaking at all for the duration of the job.
Oh, Cesar, you shouldn’t have gone back for that ring. Cesar is played by director Dassin! He must have read the script! How does he go back for that ring?!
#1: Breathless (1960)
NR/90 m/IMDb: 7.7
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
As I mentioned in the open, my cinematic Paris is definitely in black & white, so Breathless at the top of this list should be no surprise.
Another story involving Parisian gangsters (over half of these films involve gangsters or criminals of some kind).
Our gangster in this film, played by Jean-Paul Belmondo, tells us in an early scene that he is an asshole.
He is correct.
Because of the lack of a script and the noise of the camera, director Godard would yell the lines (many of which he had written that morning) to his actors who would then recite them. They would overdub the lines later in a studio.
Godard also shot scenes on crowded Parisian streets without setting anything up, so at times people can be seen reacting to seeing Belmondo and co-star Jean Seberg running down the streets.
When the film was complete, the studio told Godard to cut it down by cutting some scenes, deeming it too long for distribution. Godard didn’t want to cut entire scenes, so he trimmed seconds off of the beginnings and endings of each scene to shorten the overall run time.
This was the introduction of the “jump cut” technique, and Breathless was one of the films that began the “French New Wave” in cinema.
Like the shark showing up later on in Jaws, sometimes you “back into” genius when it comes to filmmaking.
Well, that is a wrap! We hope you’ve enjoyed our very first “International City Spotlight” episode and you now have a good idea of how to visit Paris from your couch. Or canape!
We hope you join us next week for a special THURSDAY episode we’re calling “Cinema Wellman Gives Thanks” in which we’ll do a quick rundown of all things we are thankful for here at Cinema Wellman.
Until then, take care.
