Happy Valentine's Day! What better way to celebrate than with two movies declaring their love for their respective cities? Well, it would've been better if one of them hadn't sucked so badly.In 2006, 16 different filmmakers got together to make 16 short films about finding love in a city synonymous with romance: Paris. Ranging from the sad to the sweet to the strange and to the indescribably bizzare, almost all the films told, within their limited time, a story that was easy to identify or connect with on some level, and if not to at least enjoy at face value (except for the one about the beauty salon, what was that?).
Last year, 10 filmmakers got together to make 10 short films that portray love in New York City everyday. It failed. Where Paris, je t'aime overflowed with love from almost every pore, truly making me believe Paris is a city of love, New York, I Love You made me think that the city is nothing more than a place for chain smokers, hook-ups, stalkers and fights.
The glaring problem I see is that in Paris each short film had its allotted time, with no characters crossing over into one another's stories, save for one small exception toward the end. In New York, there is a constant back-and-forth of characters jumping around, in and out of multiple story-lines, rarely knowing where one ends and the next begins, lacking any real sense of focus. But worst of all, where Paris felt genuine, New York felt gimmicky.
I hate to be anti-patriotic, but the French killed us on this one.
Ratings:
Paris, je t'aime
New York, I Love You
3 pieces of fan mail:
Short and to the point, I completely agree that New York, I love you had fairly big structural issues. The stories themselves also lacked the kind of charm that the ones in Paris, Je t'aime had. "We'll always have Paris" it was once said :)
I still have yet to see New York, and what I've heard has been terribly mixed. The thing that bothers me more than the characters dancing about each short is that they didn't even bother to split it up along the same lines as Paris, doing a dedicated short for each burrough (or other "named" neighborhood) - I imagine that would've helped the collective vibe of it. From what I've heard, they don't really tell you where each takes place or anything like that.
I loved Paris je t'aime at first sight. Repeat viewings don't help the overall collective that much, but the energy of it shines through, and the hit shorts clearly outweigh the misses.
Castor-Spot on! I couldn't agree more.
Fletch-In NY, during the transitional shots, they would show street signs at an intersection or landmarks, but not specifically name the burroughs like in Paris. Someone who is extremely familiar with NY could probably tell where the shorts were set, but to an outsider who has yet to visit (me) it was all very generic.
And I've never wanted to punch Ethan Hawke in the throat as much as I did while watching NY.
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