CSP: Dans Paris

05 November 2006

I was able to see “Dans Paris” yesterday afternoon at l’Utopia. It’s the third film by Christophe Honore, a French director/writer. The theatre was similar to the one at the Cinematheque…small, cozy. Once again didn’t notice a place to buy food. There was only one preview for a movie that looked awful to me. Definitely a very French film: just sort of about life in general, the ending wasn’t anything monumental, and you were left feeling like their lives would continue; fairly simplistic story, more about character development; I liked it too because it seemed to show the Paris of today (and I guess in a sense, the France of today), an image much different than that which was the Paris years ago…the nostalgic image people have kept of Paris, and have thus attributed to the rest of France.

And it’s funny because the audience is actually very different in France than in the States. Definitely more reserved. I would let out a little chuckle here and there…and I would be the only one. Not many other people would actually laugh out loud or even make any sort of indication that they were finding something amusing, or sad, or anything. I think maybe the French take movie watching much more seriously than Americans. And granted this was at the independent cinema and not at the major cinema, so maybe it’s different there. But I think that films are much less about pure entertainment and more about the work of the director.