Categories: cinema
Date: 10 March 2008 00:50:24
Paris and The Dinner Guest [L'Invite].
I am guessing the French community in Sydney [which is small I am guessing, but I may be wrong], is making the most of its chance to see cinema in French -- there were a number of people speaking French while I was waiting in the [long] queues to see both films. Luckily, seeing them on my own, there is generally a free seat in a good location even if I am not at the front of the queue.
I had high hopes for The Dinner Guest -- perhaps too high. While it was an enjoyable comedy, it was good -- not great. Wonderful acting from some great stars of French cinema, and a very interesting and entertaining plot, but to be honest the huge laughs were few and far between. That is not to say it was not funny or didn't have it moments -- it did, but I was expecting more.
Paris was the opposite: I had no expectations, except seeing the wonderful Juliette Binoche and Romain Duris among others. However, from the start, this movie had me captivated. The city of Paris is the true star of this film I think -- it is truly a stunning city, and I felt visiting it on a coach tour when I was 21 was probably not the best thing to do. Oh, I ennoyed it and enjoyed being there: but I do need to get back as a, hopefully, more mature fellow. Anyway, back to the movie. While it is a solemn topic, a young man (Pierre) confronting his own mortality due to a bad heart, the movie, while entering moments of sadness, does have its moments, many moments, of joy, hilarity and of the joys of life. While Pierre is dealing with his mortality, we get a view of many other residents of Paris [and one in Cameroon] and their lives, set against the backdrop of an amazing city, Paris. And while all have troubles and pain to deal with, there are those glimmers of hope, and joy, that are part of our lives. Highly recommended.
And on a completely different topic to French cinema, I rented a video of a comedy show in the early 90s I greatly enjoyed. They took a 70s television production and did voice-overs, to create an entertainingly silly [to me!] hour of TV. You can get a sample of it below: