I am currently living in Paris for a month studying. I love this film and was so excited to arrive in Paris, because the movie glamorizes it. In reality, Paris is dirty, filled with homelessness, and I don't see anything romantic about it? Anyone feel differently?
sharecheynesn: It you really look at it, the film is giving you the answer to your question. We romanticize other places and times, but in reality they won't usually match up to your imagination of the place. I would still love to see Paris, but have no illusions that it is an 'Amelie' like place. Seems like a nice city with culture and an underbelly like any other place.
The only city I have lived in that did live up to my romanticized notion of it was San Francisco. That town did not disappoint as far as being a very magical/interesting place (just very expensive). Still though I left eventually when I'd had my fill.
Basically, the honeymoon wears off and you start romanticizing somewhere else, just as Owen Wilson said in the film. Flick had some wisdom.
I have been to paris a dozen times or so and I'd say th look of this film is pretty much how Paris feels and looks. Naturally the Director of Photography has used some colour shifts to give it a warmer, painting-like look. But you could do the same with your own pictures and photoshop. Some of the night shots are beautiful and must have been taken with a very big iris lens - same as you and I could do with something like an f2 or f1.5 lens on our camera - no flash, just let the picture light itself with street lighting, then correct afterwards for the oranging effect of street lighting with something like Photoshop. Trust me, you can take pictures and scenes like you see in this film any time of the day and night in Paris - and in the rain, even better.
So is Paris like this film? I'd say pretty much like it, with a few allowances for it being a film and its supposed to look good. But don't forget guys, it isn't a City in the USA. There are lots of issues discussed in this thread, I wouldn't notice, being European. (Don't get me started on Dollywood and Pidgeon Forge, but I'm sure you guys think it's quite average - only joking!) On the other hand this film is stuffed with jokes for Europeans to laugh at that you guys in the USA may not even notice. But on the other hand I missed Carla Bruni playing the guide - at the time of the film, she was the President of France's wife! I suspect the film is chock full of 'in' jokes.
Anyway, if you haven't been to Europe, watch the film, then buy a ticket for Paris - and that's a Londoner telling you to do that!
Because for some of us, it just is.
shareAgreed, Paris and its romantic days are long gone...
share"Agreed, Paris and its romantic days are long gone…"
It's romantic days ? Maybe if you mean when "An American in Paris" was made.
Except if you watch "Rafifi" which is a post war (WWII) crime caper made in the mid 50's you see just how poor Paris and most of Europe was in those days when it seemed most people could barely get enough to eat.
In fact Paris plays itself in a kind of hauntingly beautiful - pre-prosperity way -- fined in black and white. I think the opulent stores, hotels and restaurants must see spots seriously overrun with tourists, not to mention the interminable lines into museums with everyone reading guide books and taking pictures is what ruins Europe's cities like Paris.
You're not the first person to say this, but I can't for the life of me understand how Paris is a dirty city and unromantic. Have you ever been to an old city before? Also what parts of Paris are you referring to as dirty, because the old city center definitely is not dirty at all. It's one of the cleanest big cities I've actually ever been too, and I've been to NY, Sao Paolo, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Lima, Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin,Toronto and many other big cities. The old buildings are actually washed I think once every 7 years, and most areas in the city I found to be very clean. What's not romantic about the city? I really can't think of another city as romantic as Paris, especially at night.
shareParis is a city, like so many others and it is not homogeneously fantastic. That's a Utopia. There are beautiful neighborhoods and there are those that are less so.
But, the appreciation is also in the eye of the beholder. I love to walk through areas with more graffiti and run down buildings since they are so much more photogenic and yield stunning shots more often than one would otherwise think. There is a certain charm and atmosphere about older parts of a city that are not necessarily on the typical tourist path.
So yes, Paris can be dirty in a certain way, but all of that is part of the urban experience. I also suspect that not being able to speak the language might be a factor that contributes to a feeling of unease when walking around certain parts of a city. Ordinary people might seem less friendly at first glance ...
But one thing about this otherwise charming and delightful movie was how certain parts of Paris were somewhat 'sanitized' in the movie. For instance in the scenes where Gil and his in-laws and wife go to the antique market. It's shot in the real flea market at the Porte de Clignancourt, I dare say to even recognize some of the locations. But more to the point, Clignancourt is a flea market with shop and stall keepers from all over the world. Chances are that the owners would be North African or African tout court or people from other Mediterranean countries. In the movie the market seems to be edited to what it might once have been long before WWII.
It's a small point, but still something to recognize should you ever visit Paris for a first time. The city is in France and it is predominately French still, but it's also a world city with people from all over the globe and they are now an integral part of the cityscape.
Prior to visiting Paris the first time I had heard it was dirty, as well.
When I got there I thought it was magical.
I don't have any real negative images of the city, to be honest.
And I agree. At night it is spectacular. Taking a boat ride on the Seine. It is truly something special.
It's like the movie Manhattan. If you lived in a foreign country in 1979 and you watched Manhattan, you would've thought New York City was the greatest, most beautiful city, when NYC in 1979 was a cesspool of decay and garbage and corruption. Woody seems to have that way with cities. Maybe Detroit should hire him to make a movie romanticizing them...
share[deleted]
Short answer: you can find whatever you are looking for. Not just in Paris but anywhere.
shareC'est plus facile a faire que penser.
ps: they also shooed away the homeless. The last few times I was in Paris, I never used the metro and I honestly saw almost no homeless people. (Not that I am a jerk who measures a city by the # of homeless)