DANS PARIS - DVD review

"Dans Paris" ("Inside Paris") is a film that is maddeningly French in every way. I'll leave it to you, Dear Reader, to decide if that is a compliment or not. I'm not sure if I can properly articulate what I mean. As the film's opening act unfolds, I could just tell that this was going to be a very, very French film. Writer/Director Christophe Honorè cobbles together classic French themes of romance and existential malaise while using the cinematic language of many French New Wave masters. The first half feels like a frothy Godard-ian romp through the City of Lights, while the second half is a tortured, Eric Rohmer style look at a family coming to grips with their failed relationships. "Dans Paris" opens up on one particular morning upon that most French tradition, the ménage a trois. Two men and a woman are asleep in bed. However, "Dans Paris" is not a threesome film like "Band of Outsiders" or "Jules and Jim."

One of the two men is Louis Garrel who starred in Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," another love triangle story. Garrel plays Jonathan, a hedonistic, womanizing college student though we never see him go to campus once. Garrel also happens to bear quite the resemblance to Jean-Pierre Lèaud, the star of Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series that began with the seminal "The 400 Blows." Not surprising, both Jonathan and Antoine share the same youthful, free-spirited attitude. Jonathan awakens and walks to the balcony overlooking a snow-covered Paris, the Eiffel Tower towering in the background. Jonathan addresses the audience directly and even acknowledges the audacity behind breaking the fourth wall. He assures us that he'll only be introducing the film and that he'll shortly return to being an ordinary character in the rest of the picture. Jonathan lets us know that this is his brother's story.

Jonathan's brother, Paul (Romain Duris), had previously moved into the countryside with his girlfriend, Anna (Joanna Preis). The relationship was anything but idyllic as the couple breaks up and Paul moves back into the apartment his brother shares with their father, Mirko (Guy Marchand). In a page out of Jacques Rivette's playbook, Honorè unfurls a series of nonlinear scenes that depicts the tumultuous nature of Paul and Anna's romance. Anna laments that there is no love in their relationship, just empty sex and a feeling of entrapment. In another scene, the pair are about to get amorous when Paul drops his trousers and sticks his crotch in her face. Needless to say, that ruins the mood. Shortly after, Anna begins dancing in the living room topless as Paul stares with underlying frustration and anger. It is up to interpretation whether these are flashbacks, flash forwards, or simply a dream.

Usurping his brother's bedroom, Paul lays about, refusing to get up, eat, or groom himself. He just mopes in bed wearing nothing but briefs and an unbuttoned shirt, letting his beard grow scruffy. About the liveliest Paul gets is when he puts on "Cambodia" by 80's pop icon Kim Wilde and mumbles along to the lyrics. Mirko doesn't know what to do other than make chicken soup. He hopes Jonathan will reach out to his morose sibling, but the young man prefers to go out for a stroll. There, he meets a cute girl on a scooter and the two have sex at her place. Afterwards, Jonathan bumps into Alice (Alice Butaud), an ex-girlfriend who demands the 3000 Francs he owes her. Jonathan pours on the charm which leads into a peppy romantic montage of the two frolicking about in Paris. We see Jonathan and Alice, wearing blindfolds, grope for each other in a park, followed by a jump cut to the couple kissing each other. Frustrated with how things are turning out, Mirko is forced to call in his promiscuous ex-wife (Marie-France Pisier), to drop by and help out her boys. Despite the whole family crammed into this apartment for the holidays, there is a growing disconnect and ennui between its members.

As I've stated, "Dans Paris" is a very French film as such there's not a story that unfolds in the conventional sense. This is a character driven piece that simply follows the lives of these folks over the course of a single day. Obviously, those looking for a traditional story structure will find the film a bit exasperating, especially during the nonlinear portion in the first act. That isn't what bothered me about the film. I found it difficult to really get into the picture when I can't sympathize with either Jonathan or Paul. Being unable to find the characters engaging in a character-driven piece is not a good sign. Jonathan was too smug for my tastes and Paul was just annoying in the whiniest, emo kind of way. I didn't care for the way Honorè referenced other directors or films either. I don't mind a little homage every now and then so long as it's done in a clever fashion or if there's a twist to give the reference a new slant. Here, it just feels like Honorè is trying to show off how smart he is. When Paul finally summons up the courage to call Anna, the estranged couple sings their words to each other as if they were in "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg." I will admit to one moment of Godard-like wit when Paul ruminates about his familial situation, he passes a theater where posters hang for David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" and Gus Van Sant's "Last Days." The latter also happens to feature his "Dreamers" co-star, Michael Pitt.

VIDEO:
The video is presented in anamorphic widescreen with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is spotless, but the picture itself comes off slightly flat. It's drab looking which fits into the gloomy, grayish atmosphere of Paris in winter.

AUDIO:
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in the original French language with optional English and Spanish subtitles. The film is dialogue heavy and every line comes in crisp and clear. The film also has a hip jazz score that sounds quite good, but this isn't the type of DVD to show off your sound system.

EXTRAS:
There's not much to be found here. Included on the DVD are Rendez-Vous with Louis which is billed as a short film from the director. It is actually Honorè on the a Parisian street videotaping Louis Garrel as he reads fan letters. They later meet a quartet of American teens and discuss film or at least attempt to as the tourists have absolutely no knowledge of cinema, French or American.

You'll also find a four minute deleted scene between Jonathan and his father in the bathtub and a theatrical trailer.

FILM VALUE:
I realize the majority of French cinema might not be to everyone's tastes. I knew someone in film school whose opinion I respected and whose tastes jibed very much with my own. However, after watching Olivier Assayas's "Irma Vep," he turned to me and said, "This is why I hate French film because they make crap like that." I never looked at the man the same way again. He didn't like "Clean" either, for shame. But, I digress. "Dans Paris" embodies everything that is either loved or loathed about French film. I did enjoy the first third of "Dans Paris," but I just couldn't get into the second and final acts. I found it to be a film with pretensions of deeper meaning when all I see are characters whining and moaning like lovesick kids in junior high.