Search - Dans Paris on DVD

Sift through the pretension

Aaron Mannino | 02/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"DANS PARIS does have a certain air of pretension...that much is certain. It feels at times a bit prose-like and self-conscious, but I urge any viewer to sift through that mixture because you will be rewarded by a genuinely good film, brimming with peculiar intimate character interactions, and a kind of sad humor.

DANS PARIS is essentially an interlaced flashback concerning the degradation of a relationship between Paul (Duris) and Anna (Preiss). Anna has just left Paul who, annihilated by the separation, moves back with his father in Paris. His younger brother Jonathan, a casual student, still lives in his father's apartment and spends most of his time womanizing and fooling around. Honore's film becomes a meditation on how people choose to suffer, how others choose to allow or challenge our model of suffering, the inevitability and incongruity of healing despite our best efforts to wallow, and is none the less a compelling structural exercise.

DANS PARIS, the fifth film in as many years by writer/director Christophe Honore (Ma Mere), is through and through a constant collapsing and building of the fourth wall, both attitudinally and structurally. It is at once a Brechtian display of self-awareness and reflexion (Jonathon talking to the audience), and with its counter cannon of bare intimacy (insular moments between quarrelling lovers, Paul singing along to music in his underwear) it is a film that is equally, if not more so, a work of inclusion.

And for anyone who appreciates classic french cinema, DANS PARIS will be an alternately melancholic and delightful love letter to the French New Wave...and I mean in spades!"

A bittersweet love letter to Paris and French cinema.

G. Merritt | Boulder, CO | 05/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Also known for his films Close to Leo and Les Chansons d'amour, French Nouvelle-Vague director Christophe Honoré's 2006 follow up to Ma Mere, Dans Paris, tells the psychological story of two brothers, mopey Paul (Romain Duris) and carefree Jonathan (Louis Garrel), who console one another while sharing a flat with their doting, divorced father, Mirko (Guy Marchand) in Paris at Christmas. For the three men, sadness seems to be a family trait. Paul has ended his relationship with his lovely girlfriend, Anna (Joanna Preiss), and spends his time in bed. Jonathan attempts to escape his sadness through sex. He is capable of sleeping with several women just while on a short errand to Bon Marche. Adding to the emotional depth of this melancholy film, both brothers are haunted by the suicide of their sister, Claire. (If the story sounds familiar, critics have noted the inspiration for this film may have been Salinger's novel, Franny and Zooey, which a deleted bathroom scene on the DVD also suggests. In another scene, Jonathan is even shown reading the novel.) When it comes to his son's despair, Mirko is totally inept, and can only encourage Paul to eat something. Dans Paris is as much a study in Paul's depression and one family's sorrow as a love letter to both the City of Lights and French New Wave cinema. Full of humanity and humour, this film is no more "pretentious" than a François Truffaut film, and the denouement is emotionally transcendent.

G. Merritt"

Pretensive but Extraordinary Performances

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 04/26/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Dans Paris"

Pretensive but Extraordinary Performances

Amos Lassen

Here is an attempt at a feel good movie which looks to nostalgia to make its point. "Dans Paris" tells of Anna who just left Paul who moves back in with his father in Paris. His younger brother, Jonathan, is a casual student who also lives with his father and does not have much of a life aside from chasing women and playing at being busy. This lifestyle seems to be a cover up from the fact that he has not been able to get over the death of his sister. Paul also begins to sink into depression. The film, thereby, deals with depression and with the idea that it can be cured with a little love and care from members of the family. However, the women that we meet in the film cannot help--they are either bores or sex toys for Jonathan. The men are quite the opposite--they are warm and show both emotion and sensitivity. They love and they show love.
Director Christophe Honore gives us a movie that is entertaining to a point and shows a balance of moods as he studies relationships--between siblings and between parents and children. The dialog is smart and the contrast of characters is amazing. The two male leads, Romain Duris and Louis Garret, are two of France's hottest stars and they give excellent performances. The two brothers are a stuffy of dark and light. Jonathan is the narrator of the film but really a lesser character in the plot. He is a foil to his brother Paul because he succeeds with women. He is full of life while his brother is dark-spirited and without much hope. We do not see his depression as one-dimensional but he suffers from inertia and glumness.
Facial expressions many times say more than the dialog but there is a depth to the characterizations. The mood set is tragic-comic and the movie is an actor's dream.
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