Paris 36 (2008)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Disappointing Continuation

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

For the final day of the ICM Musical challenge I started looking round for any DVDs I might have of Musicals waiting to view. Moving a pile of DVD's that a family friend recently gave me,I was thrilled to stumble on a French Musical, which led to me booking 36 tickets to Paris.The plot-In a police station, Pigoil explains the events which led to him committing a murder.Paris:New Years Day 1936:Learning on New Years Eve in 1935 that his wife has been unfaithful, stage manager of the Chansonia music hall Pigoil rings in the New Year by local gangster Galapiat closing the club down. Struggling to find new work,Pigoil gets an extra kicking when he loses custody of his young son Jo-Jo. All in a similar situation,Pigoil and his friends decide to team-up and re-open the Chansonia. Initially angered by Pigoil overturning his orders, Galapiat gets a glimpse of the new direction Pigoil is taking the club in,when he meets the new leading star Douce. View on the film:Going back in time with a dazzling crane/steadicam opening shot, (all done in one take) co-writer/(with Julien Rappeneau/ Pierre Philippe/Frank Thomas/ Reinhardt Wagner and Jean-Michel Derenne ) director Christophe Barratier & cinematographer Tom Stern go back to a rustic Fantasy version of Paris in 1936,with vivid blue and gold filters giving the re-opened Chansonia an atmosphere of wander. Lifting the curtain to go backstage,Barratier makes each Musical number feed into the state of turnaround that the club is in at that point,as a gradual fading of lights and elegant whip-pans uncover the pressure Pigoil and Douce are under to keep the demands of Galapiat hidden backstage.Partly based on Edith Piaf's relationship with nightclub owner Louis Leplee,the writers brilliantly thread an episodic thread around the Chansonia,via the moody Melodrama of Douce romantic heart criss- crossing with Pigoil's playfully funny fights to put his dream shows for the Chansonia on. Paying loving tribute to the "Dream Factory" eras of Hollywood and French cinema,the writers cook up a sweet pastiche,where all of the union strikes and the increased appearances of Fascists can't dim the lights of the Chansonia in putting on an escapist show for a troubled public.Reuniting with Barratier, Gérard Jugnot gives a fantastic "everyman" performance as Pigoil,whose dry, determined wit Pigoil uses for dead-pan punchlines,whilst Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu gives Galapiat a slippery menace/fake charm. Kicking up the footlights, the very pretty Nora Arnezeder gives an exquisite performance as Douce,thanks to Arnezeder balancing the mischievous charisma Douce with the fragile love that Douce can barely keep wrapped in the curtains of the Chansonia.

When i heard that the director from " Les Choristes" was releasing a new movie i thought it was a must see. And i was definitely right! the music is very good, the photography and the costumes are excellent and the actors too.Nora Arnezeder came as a big surprise to me, this unknown girl who has such a great voice, she was very good, and, of course, Gerard Jugnot, the great Monsieur Mathieu from " Les Choristes" was amazing again. The thing i most liked about the movie is that it keeps you entertained from beginning to end, you really want to keep watching and you never get bored. The songs take you to the 1930's as well as the scenarios.This movie is beautiful and definitely must be watched, it will definitely entertain you and you will enjoy good french cinema.

Imagine you've got a hard-on for thirties Hollywood - Fred, Ginger, the Golddiggers, Bill Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank Capra, Carole Lombard, Jean Arthur, Screwball Comedy, Katie Hepburn etc - and you check out your local Multiplex and damned if someone hasn't turned out a perfect pastiche. Alas, you'll have to make do with imagination because, let's face it, you just can't get the staff; no one currently writing and/or directing out of Hollywood has the affection, empathy, love and let's call a spade a spade, Respect for yesterday. This is not to say that Clint Eastwood, for example is a bad director, far from it, but he's not interested in that kind of stuff and there's no reason he should be. If, on the other hand your hard-on is for French films of the thirties, if in other words you lapse into drool mode at the mention of Arletty, Gabin, Prevert, Carne, Duvivier, Darrieux, Carette, Dalio, Raimu, Qai des Brumes, Hotel du Nord, Spaak, Jeanson, Aurenche et al then, mon amis, you have just died and gone to heaven, Hog Heaven yet because four years after his international hit Les Choristes, Christophe Barratier has come up with a Faberge egg of a movie that evokes all that's best about the era. The plot - a Music Hall is forced to close and the employees decide to run it themselves - is a nod to Prevert's Le Crime de Monsier Lange when it was a publishing house that got made over and indeed the Popular Front (in which Prevert was active) is very much in evidence. Gerard Jugnot is excellent as is Pierre Richard and Clovis Cornillac is be-capped a la Gabin albeit light years away from him in talent and charisma. Did I say there were songs as well? You better believe it. All in all a gem.

Nora Arnezeder reminds me of movie stars of the thirties : beautiful, charming, she can sing, dance, act... Star quality ! As for the film itself, the story is rather simple, which I come to realize, is often what makes it good. It's not so much what the story is about but rather how you tell it. And in that case, you get to laugh, cry, you care about that Pigoil who looses his job, his wife and even his son and who doesn't loose hope, about Milou and Douce's love story. You'll love the great new songs, the homage to Busby Berkeley, Jacky's lousy jokes (a reprise of Kad's own TV skit) and secondary characters played by first-rate comedians like François Morel and the great Pierre Richard. What's not to like ?