Movie Marauder2 Days in Paris - Part 1- Review
May 1st 2008 05:49
2 Days in Paris
Dir. Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg
For almost 30 years, Julie Delpy has been a part of the French cinema mainstream by not only becoming one of its most notable exports but more recently through her efforts writing and directing. At 14, Delpy was selected by Jean-Luc Godard to star in his 1985 film Detective, and later would work with Kristof Kieslowski on the second in his ambitious trilogy Three Colours: White. She would eventually team to critical success with Richard Linklater on Before Sunrise/Sunset. Her latest foray into film making, 2 Days in Paris, tells the story of Marion, a French photographer (Delpy) stopping for a breather in her hometown of Paris with her boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg) after an unpleasant trip to Venice, while on their way back to New York. Marion has much to explain to Jack as her eccentric parents (Delpy’s real-life parents) and bohemian friends mystify Jack as to exactly what kind of life Marion must have lived, romantically and otherwise, before they met.
Julie Delpy shows a deftness for writing and performing dialogue. The narrative of 2 Days is largely moved along by wonderfully paced sidewalk set-pieces in which Marion’s past is discussed, often in great detail. In this way she contributes admirably to an idiosyncratic tradition not unlike Michelangelo Antonioni (eg. La Notte, L’Ecclisse) albeit by way of Richard Linklater, whose work this film most resembles. Delpy’s Marion is a charming, somewhat aloof free-spirit and her interactions with her family offer some of the films brightest and funniest moments, while her characters’ clunky, self-consciously unhip glasses and the stammering cadence of her speech (to be fair this has always been a mainstay of Delpy’s delivery) come off at times like an attempt at a Gallic Woody Allen impression and is occasionally grating. Adam Goldberg at first seems like an odd casting choice, but the neurotic New York swagger of Jack is kept in check just enough to provide a believable chemistry between him and Marion. Goldberg’s best moments come in a scene where he struggles to no avail to understand what is being said about him as Marion and her parents discuss him in French around a table during lunch.
What’s unique in this film is the way in which its characters react to their differing ideas of morality and fidelity. The matter-of-factness in which many modern French comedies handle sexual matters is given a refreshing spin when applied to this particular couple, their relationship at a crossroads in the City of Lights. This is a funny, entertaining and at times romantic film that should earn Julie Delpy a few more turns behind the camera.
Now available on DVD:
Really Long Link
or from Perth's premier video store Planet Video:
http://www.planetvideo.com.au/
Dir. Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg
For almost 30 years, Julie Delpy has been a part of the French cinema mainstream by not only becoming one of its most notable exports but more recently through her efforts writing and directing. At 14, Delpy was selected by Jean-Luc Godard to star in his 1985 film Detective, and later would work with Kristof Kieslowski on the second in his ambitious trilogy Three Colours: White. She would eventually team to critical success with Richard Linklater on Before Sunrise/Sunset. Her latest foray into film making, 2 Days in Paris, tells the story of Marion, a French photographer (Delpy) stopping for a breather in her hometown of Paris with her boyfriend Jack (Adam Goldberg) after an unpleasant trip to Venice, while on their way back to New York. Marion has much to explain to Jack as her eccentric parents (Delpy’s real-life parents) and bohemian friends mystify Jack as to exactly what kind of life Marion must have lived, romantically and otherwise, before they met.
Julie Delpy shows a deftness for writing and performing dialogue. The narrative of 2 Days is largely moved along by wonderfully paced sidewalk set-pieces in which Marion’s past is discussed, often in great detail. In this way she contributes admirably to an idiosyncratic tradition not unlike Michelangelo Antonioni (eg. La Notte, L’Ecclisse) albeit by way of Richard Linklater, whose work this film most resembles. Delpy’s Marion is a charming, somewhat aloof free-spirit and her interactions with her family offer some of the films brightest and funniest moments, while her characters’ clunky, self-consciously unhip glasses and the stammering cadence of her speech (to be fair this has always been a mainstay of Delpy’s delivery) come off at times like an attempt at a Gallic Woody Allen impression and is occasionally grating. Adam Goldberg at first seems like an odd casting choice, but the neurotic New York swagger of Jack is kept in check just enough to provide a believable chemistry between him and Marion. Goldberg’s best moments come in a scene where he struggles to no avail to understand what is being said about him as Marion and her parents discuss him in French around a table during lunch.
What’s unique in this film is the way in which its characters react to their differing ideas of morality and fidelity. The matter-of-factness in which many modern French comedies handle sexual matters is given a refreshing spin when applied to this particular couple, their relationship at a crossroads in the City of Lights. This is a funny, entertaining and at times romantic film that should earn Julie Delpy a few more turns behind the camera.
Now available on DVD:
Really Long Link
or from Perth's premier video store Planet Video:
http://www.planetvideo.com.au/
| 119 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I've always had a soft spot for Julie Delpy but I have to admit that her work here as a writer and director was even better than I expected.
A very, very entertaining film.