I love French cinema and Paris - but did not have high hopes for this film. I rented it because I was missing Paris and could tell that the film would have great shots of Paris- and it did. I have never cared for Binoche. I found the beginning of the film to be hackneyed and trite. The character of the professor was off-putting and a bit creepy. Nevertheless- by the end of the film, I was won over and I think the film is good but not great. One of my favorite activities (shared by many visitors to Paris) in Paris is watching the life swirl around me on the streets and in the surrounding houses. This film captures this experience. We are brought into the interlocking worlds of a number of characters whose lives intersect in ways they do and do not perceive. Although there are some truly clunky aspects (the affair between student and prof was not credible, the young man's illness seemed to be conveyed in an unconvincing manner, the last-minute intersection of the professor and the dying man, the motorcycle accident, the fashionistas in the warehouse) of this conceit in the film, the melange is ultimately messy, unresolved, and poignant. One is left with a true appreciation for the people whose lives touch our own.
Some of the best scenes: the small-minded owner of a boulangerie the party scene (what great dancing) the father-to-be the cruelty of the young student the tenderness between the fruit seller and Elise Elise and her children
The last scene- where the (possibly) dying man looks upon his nieces and nephew, says good bye to this sister, and takes a cab to the hospital- was just like the film itself- hackneyed, trite,and clunky in places ---but ultimately true-to-life, messy, unresolved, poignant and somewhat magical.
Some of the best scenes: the small-minded owner of a boulangerie the party scene (what great dancing) the father-to-be the cruelty of the young student the tenderness between the fruit seller and Elise Elise and her children
The last scene- where the (possibly) dying man looks upon his nieces and nephew, says good bye to this sister, and takes a cab to the hospital- was just like the film itself- hackneyed, trite,and clunky in places ---but ultimately true-to-life, messy, unresolved, poignant and somewhat magical.