Plot summary for
Paris, je t'aime (2006)

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Paris, je t'aime is about the plurality of cinema in one mythic location: Paris, the City of Love. Twenty filmmakers will bring their own personal touch, underlining the wide variety of styles, genres, encounters and the various atmospheres and lifestyles that prevail in the neighborhoods of Paris. Each director has been given five minutes of freedom, and we, as producers, carry the responsibility of weaving a single narrative unit out of those twenty moments. The 20 films will not appear in the order of the arrondissements, from one to twenty, but rather, in a pertinent narrative order, initially unknown to the audience. They will be fused together by transitional interstitial sequences, and also via the introduction and epilogue sequences of the feature film. Each transition will begin with the last shot of the previous film and will end with the first shot of the following film, and will have a threefold function: 1) The first is to extend the enchantment and the emotion of the previous segment, 2) The second is to prepare the audience for the surprise of the next segment, and 3) The third is to provide a general, comfortable and cohesive atmosphere to the feature film. The delightful and brief interludes of these transitions will enable the viewer to slide from one world to the next, featuring a recurring and unexpected character. This mysterious character is a witness to the Parisian life and helps create a continuous narration. It appears both in and in-between the films. In addition to the information these transitions will provide about the city and its people, their tone will be intentionally light often referring to famous scenes easily attributed to the history of Paris cinema. Similar specifications will be followed by the composer who will supervise the musical fusion between the films and the transitions as he creates the musical score of Paris, je t'aime. Considering the common theme of Paris and Love, the fusion between the films and the transitions, the fast pace of a fluid and complete storytelling, Paris, je t'aime will not be just another "anthology" picture. It will be a unique collective feature film that will constitute a two-hour cinematographic spectacle whose original structure will make for a dramatically different experience for its global audience. Written by Emmanuel Benbihy

A declaration of love to Paris, the City of Love, through shorts using worldwide directors and cast. (a) "Montmartre": A lonely man helps a woman with hypoglycemia in Montmartre initiating a relationship with her. (b) "Quais de Seine": Three silly mates flirt with many women on the street saying jokes. When the muslin Zarka stumbles on a stone and falls down on the sidewalk, the student of history François helps her. The youngsters feel attraction for each other. (c) "Le Marais": A couple comes to a printer and while the woman discusses a project with the owner, her friend flirts with one employee. (d) "Tuileries": While waiting for the train in the subway, a tourist has problems with a paranoid couple of lovers (e) "Loin du 16o": A poor maid leaves her son in a crèche and travels through Paris to work for a bourgeois mother in a fancy neighborhood. (f) "Porte de Choisy": Absolutely non-sense. (g) "Bastille": A husband meets his wife in a restaurant to tell her that he will leave her for a new love with a stewardess, but she tells him first that she is terminal with leukemia. Her husband hides his feelings and acts like he was still in love for her, and he indeed falls in love for her again. (h) "Place des Victoires": A woman grieves the loss of her beloved son. (i) "Tour Eiffel": A boy recalls how his mimic parents felt in love for each other. (j) "Parc Monceau": A father has a conversation with her daughter walking on the sidewalk about her baby son. (k) "Quartier des Enfants Rouges": An actress buys and uses drugs while waiting for the shot of a movie. (l) "Place des Fetes": The E.M.T. Sophie gives the emergency attendance to a man stabbed in a square. m) "Pigalle": Bob and Fanny meet each other in a bar in Pigalle to bring back some lost sensations. (n) "Quartier de la Madeleine": A tourist backpacker meets a vampire attacking a victim while crossing a bridge. (o) "Père-Lachaise": While visiting the grave of Oscar Wilde in a cemetery, fiancée has an argument with her fiancé and the ghost of Oscar Wilde gives worthwhile advices to the man. (p) "Faubourg Saint-Denis": A blind man and an aspirant actress fall in love for each other. q) "Quartier Latin": A wealthy man meets with his former wife in a restaurant to discuss the terms of their amicable divorce. r) "14ème Arrondissement": A lonely American tourist from Denver declares her love to Paris. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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