Reviews
2 Days In Paris
Reviewed by John Stakes
Last Sunday’s film was, for a welcome change, a comedy. If ever there was a film which depended on one person for its success or failure this was it. French actress Julie Delpy wrote, directed, edited, and starred in this comedy of misunderstandings, and if that was not enough, she composed all the original music, and cast her actor parents as her film parents no doubt to cast a watchful eye over her endeavours..
The central theme of this amusing and at times quirkily hilarious film was the lack of understanding between French and American people as personified by the two leads Marion ( Delpy ) and her partner Jack ( a thoroughly bemused looking Adam Ginsberg ) as they paused in their return journey from Venice to New York to spend two days in Paris visiting Marion’s oddball parents. This was Jack’s first encounter with them and their Bohemian Parisian lifestyle during the two years he and Marion had been, well, sort of together, but he was totally unprepared for this or for any of the following events as Marion met up with several of her previous boyfriends.
Jack’s failure to understand Marion’s behaviour and to misinterpret the unfolding events, ignited a paranoia which lead him to conclude that he scarcely knew Marion and that she was about to dump him. Marion begins to think Jack is about to do the same to her. Jack’s brief arrest in the street by being in the wrong place at the wrong time served to underline his growing perplexity and sense of isolation.
The set piece scenes were carried off with true French sophistication, charm and visual wit, and if these had been bolstered by the verbal wit of say Woody Allen to whom the film pays homage, this could happily have sat alongside some of his best works. Despite this shortcoming the film was continuously enjoyable with several laugh out loud moments, and deserved its inclusion in the Club’s Spring season to counterbalance the more serious and socially gritty offerings on show. And, by the way, the film ended on an optimistic note to the effect that what they believed they did not understand about each other was manageable at their thirty-something age !
The central theme of this amusing and at times quirkily hilarious film was the lack of understanding between French and American people as personified by the two leads Marion ( Delpy ) and her partner Jack ( a thoroughly bemused looking Adam Ginsberg ) as they paused in their return journey from Venice to New York to spend two days in Paris visiting Marion’s oddball parents. This was Jack’s first encounter with them and their Bohemian Parisian lifestyle during the two years he and Marion had been, well, sort of together, but he was totally unprepared for this or for any of the following events as Marion met up with several of her previous boyfriends.
Jack’s failure to understand Marion’s behaviour and to misinterpret the unfolding events, ignited a paranoia which lead him to conclude that he scarcely knew Marion and that she was about to dump him. Marion begins to think Jack is about to do the same to her. Jack’s brief arrest in the street by being in the wrong place at the wrong time served to underline his growing perplexity and sense of isolation.
The set piece scenes were carried off with true French sophistication, charm and visual wit, and if these had been bolstered by the verbal wit of say Woody Allen to whom the film pays homage, this could happily have sat alongside some of his best works. Despite this shortcoming the film was continuously enjoyable with several laugh out loud moments, and deserved its inclusion in the Club’s Spring season to counterbalance the more serious and socially gritty offerings on show. And, by the way, the film ended on an optimistic note to the effect that what they believed they did not understand about each other was manageable at their thirty-something age !