Tuesday, September 04, 2007

2 DAYS IN PARIS - scarily observant, hysterically funny rom-com

2 DAYS IN PARIS is a truly funny, scarily observant film about the impossibility of relationships. Poly-functional film-maker Julie Delpy plays a 35 year old photographer called Marion who's in a relationship with Adam Goldberg's American Interior Designer, Jack. After 2 years together, 2 days in Marion's home town convinces Jack that he doesn't actually know anything about Marion and that she could well be cheating on him. For her part, Marion doesn't get why Jack is so uptight about her ex-boyfriends, nor why he prefers to take photos of everything rather than stay in the moment with her. Neither have any affection for France, nor any sex, thankfully undermining the city's reputation.

2 DAYS IN PARIS has rightly been compared to Woody Allen. It's a movie about real people in a real relationship having real conversations, albeit in a heightened state of neuroticism and with wittier one-liners. The observations ring true but are not laden with forced profundity. (Although I could have done without the twee drawing on the screen, I rather liked Marion's voice-overs.) But most of all, I love the ambiguity of the ending. Sure, the lovers end up dancing the night away, but are they in love or in a state of compromise? Are they enjoying a few moments before an inevitable break-up? You could watch a thousand Hollywood rom-coms and never find an ounce of such authenticity.

2 DAYS IN PARIS played Berlin 2007 and was released in Germany, Austria, Hong Kong, France, Norway, Finland, Taiwan, Belgium, Spain and the US earlier this year. It is currently on release in Thailand and the UK. It opens in Sweden on September 7th, in Italy on October 5th, in Australia on December 26th and in Turkey on December 28th.

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