Two visiting American girls strike up romance with two working American musicians, and it's "An American in Paris" times four. That means four times the love, four times the sadness, four times the desires, and four times the blues. Real life American couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward are joined by rising stars Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll, exploring the city of lights and romance, discovering each other and themselves, learning a little something about a society not quite as conservative as what they are used to, and hopefully finding out some valuable truths in the meantime.
This is a somewhat plot less romantic drama, opening its characters to a life far different than what they are used to, and yet not finding at least the same types of prejudices that were rampant on the other side of the Atlantic. But when you are surrounded by artists of all kinds, the only thing you see is the art, and often skin color becomes like the frosting on the cake. Each of the couples find their differences, question their ideas about commitment, and in the end, it's a holiday romance with bittersweet jazz (brought on by "Sachmo" himself) and that downbeat note that brings on the blues.
What you have here is an art house film made mainstream because of its cast, a delight to the ear but sad for the eyes because it's a black and white view of Paris, maybe a metaphor for the black couple and the white couple dealing with the highs (jazz) and the lows (blues), or from one extreme to the other with no real middle. I think this is a film you'd either have to be in a certain kind of mood to appreciate, or maybe revisit it several times. This is definitely not "Blues for dummies".
This is a somewhat plot less romantic drama, opening its characters to a life far different than what they are used to, and yet not finding at least the same types of prejudices that were rampant on the other side of the Atlantic. But when you are surrounded by artists of all kinds, the only thing you see is the art, and often skin color becomes like the frosting on the cake. Each of the couples find their differences, question their ideas about commitment, and in the end, it's a holiday romance with bittersweet jazz (brought on by "Sachmo" himself) and that downbeat note that brings on the blues.
What you have here is an art house film made mainstream because of its cast, a delight to the ear but sad for the eyes because it's a black and white view of Paris, maybe a metaphor for the black couple and the white couple dealing with the highs (jazz) and the lows (blues), or from one extreme to the other with no real middle. I think this is a film you'd either have to be in a certain kind of mood to appreciate, or maybe revisit it several times. This is definitely not "Blues for dummies".