Paris Je T'Aime

A collection of 18 short stories, directed by many famous directors and acted by many famous actors.
- mysterious, odd, vampires, sad, interesting, funny ....
Stories connected simply by being in areas of Paris. Things happening in the one City at the same time, different times, but all in one City.

Directed by


Olivier Assayas (segment "Quartier des Enfants Rouges")
Frédéric Auburtin (segment "Quartier Latin") (transitions)
Emmanuel Benbihy (transitions)
Gurinder Chadha (segment "Quais de Seine")
Sylvain Chomet (segment "Tour Eiffel")
Ethan and Joel Coen (segment "Tuileries")
Isabel Coixet (segment "Bastille")
Wes Craven (segment "Pere-Lachaise")
Alfonso Cuarón (segment "Parc Monceau") (as Alfonso Cuaron)
Gérard Depardieu (segment "Quartier Latin")
Christopher Doyle (segment "Porte de Choisy")
Richard LaGravenese (segment "Pigalle")
Vincenzo Natali (segment "Quartier de la Madeleine")
Alexander Payne (segment "14e arrondissement")
Bruno Podalydès (segment "Montmartre") (as Bruno Podalydes)
Walter Salles (segment "Loin du 16e")
Oliver Schmitz (segment "Place des Fetes")
Nobuhiro Suwa (segment "Place des Victoires")
Daniela Thomas (segment "Loin du 16e")
Tom Tykwer (segment "Faubourg Saint-Denis")
Gus Van Sant (segment "Le Marais")

The 18 arrondissements are:




Montmartre (XVIIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Bruno Podalydès. A man (played by Podalydès himself) parks his car on a Montmartre street and muses about how the women passing by his car all seem to be "taken". Then a woman passerby (Florence Muller) faints near his car, and he comes to her aid.

Quais de Seine (Ve arrondissement) — made by the husband-and-wife team of Japanese-American screenwriter Paul Mayeda Berges and Indian-British director Gurinder Chadha. A young man (Cyril Descours), hanging out with two friends who taunt all women who walk by, strikes up a friendship with a young Muslim woman (Leïla Bekhti).

Le Marais (IVe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Gus Van Sant. A young male customer (Gaspard Ulliel) finds himself attracted to a young printshop worker (Elias McConnell) and tries to explain that he believes the man to be his soulmate, not realizing that he speaks little French. Marianne Faithfull also appears briefly in the film.

Tuileries (Ier arrondissement) — by American writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen. A comic film in which an American tourist (Steve Buscemi) waiting at the Tuileries station becomes involved in the conflict between a young couple (Axel Kiener and Julie Bataille) after he breaks the cardinal rule of avoiding eye contact with people on the Paris Metro.

Loin du 16e (XVIe arrondissement; literally: "far from the 16th") — by Brazilian writer-directors Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas. A young woman (Catalina Sandino Moreno) sings a Spanish lullaby ("Qué Linda Manito") to her baby before leaving it in a daycare. She then takes an extremely long commute to the home of her wealthy employer (whose face is not seen), where she sings the same lullaby to her employer's baby.

Porte de Choisy (XIIIe arrondissement) — directed by Australian director Christopher Doyle and written by Doyle with Gabrielle Keng and Kathy Li. A comic film in which a beauty products salesman (Barbet Schroeder) makes a call on a Chinatown salon run by a woman (Li Xin) who proves to be a tough customer.

Bastille (XIIe arrondissement) — by Spanish writer-director Isabel Coixet. Prepared to leave his marriage for a much younger lover, Marie Christine (Leonor Watling), a man, Sergio (Sergio Castellitto) instead decides to stay with his wife (Miranda Richardson) after she reveals a terminal illness - and he rediscovers the love he once felt for her.

Place des Victoires (IIe arrondissement) — by Japanese writer-director Nobuhiro Suwa. A mother (Juliette Binoche), grieving over the death of her little boy (Martin Combes), is comforted by a magical cowboy (Willem Dafoe).

Tour Eiffel (VIIe arrondissement) — written and directed by French animator Sylvain Chomet. A boy tells how his parents, both mime artists (Paul Putner and Yolande Moreau), meet in prison and fall in love.

Parc Monceau (XVIIe arrondissement) — by Mexican writer-director Alfonso Cuarón. An older man (Nick Nolte) and younger woman (Ludivine Sagnier) meet for an arrangement that a third person ('Gaspard'), who is close to the woman, may not approve of. It is eventually revealed that the young woman is his daughter, and Gaspard is her baby. The film was shot in a single continuous shot. When the characters walk by a video store, several posters of movies by the other directors of Paris, je t'aime are visible in the window.

Quartier des Enfants Rouges (IIIe arrondissement) — by French writer-director Olivier Assayas. An American actress (Maggie Gyllenhaal) procures some exceptionally strong hashish from a dealer (Lionel Dray) whom she gets a crush on.

Place des fêtes (XIXe arrondissement) — by South African writer-director Oliver Schmitz. A Nigerian man (Seydou Boro), dying from a stab wound in the Place des fêtes asks a woman paramedic (Aïssa Maïga) for a cup of coffee. It is then revealed that he had fallen in love at first sight with her some time previously. By the time she remembers him, and has received the coffee, he has died.

Pigalle (IXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Richard LaGravenese. An aging couple (Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant) act out a fantasy argument for a prostitute in order to keep the spark in their relationship.

Quartier de la Madeleine (VIIIe arrondissement) — by Canadian writer-director Vincenzo Natali. A young backpacker tourist (Elijah Wood) falls in love with a vampiress (Olga Kurylenko).

Père-Lachaise (XXe arrondissement) — by American writer-director Wes Craven. While visiting Père Lachaise Cemetery, a young woman (Emily Mortimer) breaks up with her fiancé (Rufus Sewell), who then redeems himself with the aid of advice from the ghost of Oscar Wilde (Alexander Payne).

Faubourg Saint-Denis (Xe arrondissement) — by German writer-director Tom Tykwer. After mistakenly believing that his girlfriend, a struggling actress (Natalie Portman), has broken up with him, a young blind man (Melchior Beslon) reflects on the growth and seeming decline of their relationship.

Quartier Latin (VIe arrondissement) — written by American actress Gena Rowlands, directed by French actor Gérard Depardieu and French director Frédéric Auburtin. A separated couple (Ben Gazzara and Rowlands) meet at a bar (run by Depardieu) for one last drink before the two officially divorce.

14e arrondissement (XIVe arrondissement) — written and directed by Alexander Payne. Carol (Margo Martindale), a letter carrier from Denver, Colorado on her first European holiday, recites in rough French what she loves about Paris.

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Tonights talk - impromptu

The architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (1887-1965), known as Le Corbusier, was born in Switzerland in the small town of La Chaux-de-Fonds, where he lived for 30 years. In 1917 he moved permanently to Paris.


The Villa Jeanneret-Perret, known as the "Maison blanche" (White house), constructed in 1912, was the first work of Le Corbusier with full autonomy. The Villa Schwob, known as the "Villa Turque" (Turkish Villa), constructed in 1917, was built for the watchmaker and industrialist Anatole Schwob.







I like his glasses.
It's so interesting how JH is interested in this man. And often speaks of him and refers me to hi,


This is his lovely cabin apparently - humble, charming.
But this Unite D'Habitation en Marseille - yuch. A unit compirising of so much more than  simply a block of living units. - An hotel, play ground, running tracks - and each apartment could be individualised according to JH





Domino House

Amazing when you consider this was almost 100 years ago. Very before his time ...... I like the Domino House idea





According to JH he designed upside down - he used metal chains to connect floors .... hanging them and then covering them.....really interesting.




 And sandbags to change the shapes ...







And barhroom furniture too

Imagine combining the straightness of Le Corbusiers vialla with the hanging chains and irregularity of Gaudi in the open space. Can't envisage I am not that visionary but .... have a sense of something.

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squashed boobies

Today I had my titties squished and apparemtly I am lucky to have got to this age than not!!!!! Quote of the century when a young whipper snapper is grappling with my breasts and laughing at me being of that age when unfortunately I have to do this every 3 years now. Think I would rather it was all in dead silence!!!!! All dignity turned into a breast tissue on a plate. Oh well.


It hurt too!
 
Mind you the last time I had a mammogram (they thought there was a lump about 4 years ago - there was nothing) the consultant was like Rosa Klebb from the 007 film From Russia with Love.

 
I had had the squished bit and was then called into the consulting room. Dr Klebb was woman handlling my boobs, chatting away and I was bemused. I wonder now if it was a man in drag - after all it's not the easiest job for a man to get I imagine. :)
 
 
Bliss
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Universal hurt healing

When you understand why something hurts, Bliss, it stops hurting.
When you understand you have options, you take action.
And when you understand you have wings, you can soar again.
Capisce?
The Universe
 
I do have some understanding and it does hurt less.

House of Sand and Fog

I enjoyed this film somewhat - I gave it 3.5 out of my own 5 score. Don;t know really what warrants each score there is no system, so it very randaom. Sorry
Anyway, I did think highly of this film in some ways. But something about it stopped a greater score. Not sure what.
Some thoughts about the film in no orderly fashion
Thought of the title - moving sand - nothing is certain and feels fearful when the sand is shifting
And the fog - not able to see clearly - obscuring clarity
and yet there is a grandness some ow i the title but maybe I am linking that with the grand life the character had to flee from.
I saw the pride of Behrani - after losing everything he humbly worked to gain back a home for his family. He did not though elt them know - secrecy.
And Kathy also was hiding from her mother the reality of her situation - more secrecy
All the secrecy was creating the problems.
Pride - fear!!
selfis too - but cloaked by the idea that it is all in hte best interest of others - the ways in which people justify themselves. Can look very compelling of course - not to upset anyone else!!!

Kinglsey was brilliant - just as he is.
The girl was annoying actually - but just as an addict is.
The cop was unbelievable - I was never sure if he was meant to be a good guy or a bad guy. There was something potentially pathological about him. He would make a great baddy.

The director did have all the sympathy with the Iranian family and a contempt it seems for everything American.
Would be interesting to know hs views of America - Ukranian apparently
Good story though by Andre Dubus
Short story writer. Would like to read some more of his works.

Dancing with the one I love

The Dance
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I have sent you my invitation,
the note inscribed on the palm of my hand by the fire of living.
Don't jump up and shout, "Yes, this is what I want! Let's do it!"
Just stand up quietly and dance with me.
Show me how you follow your deepest desires,
spiralling down into the ache within the ache.
And I will show you how I reach inward and open outward
to feel the kiss of the Mystery, sweet lips on my own, everyday.
Don't tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart.
Show me how you turn away from making another wrong without abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.
Tell me a story of who you are,
And see who I am in the stories I am living.
And together we will remember that each of us always has a choice.
Don't tell me how wonderful things will be . . . some day.
Show me you can risk being completely at peace,
truly OK with the way things are right now in this moment,
and again in the next and the next and the next. . .
I have heard enough warrior stories of heroic daring.
Tell me how you crumble when you hit the wall,
the place you cannot go beyond by the strength of your own will.
What carries you to the other side of that wall,
to the fragile beauty of your own humanness?
And after we have shown each other how we have set and kept the clear, healthy boundaries that help us live side by side with each other, let us risk remembering that we never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud.
Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance, the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart.
And I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again.
Show me how you take care of business
without letting business determine who you are.
When the children are fed but still the voices within and around us shout that soul's desires have too high a price,
let us remind each other that it is never about the money.
Show me how you offer to your people and the world
the stories and the songs you want our children's children to remember, and I will show you how I struggle
not to change the world, but to love it.
Sit beside me in long moments of shared solitude,
knowing both our absolute aloneness and our undeniable belonging. Dance with me in the silence and in the sound of small daily words, holding neither against me at the end of the day.
And when the sound of all the declarations of our sincerest
intentions has died away on the wind, dance with me in the infinite pause before the next great inhale of the breath that is breathing us all into being, not filling the emptiness from the outside or from within.
Don't say, "Yes!"
Just take my hand and dance with me.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

This poem is sensationally accurate.
Just the very first lines - the invitation to dance but to accept the invitation graciously and without impulse. To undertake the dance with awareness of the dance itself. It is a commitment to something more than just a passing phase, a fad.
Within the dance she asks him not to be boasting of desires and wants but to actually show the hearts desires. It's in the actions that the real intention shows. Words are meaningless. Show me she says. Your actions speak louder than any words spoken or shouted. Actions are what really matter.
The meaning is from within the soul, and the soul informs my sense of being. And through the way that we are, we will know each other. The truth is there and through the truth we create choices - we can see who we are and if we like what we see we can realise each other and carry on or choose to go our separate ways. So long as we are being who we really are then we give each other that respect. Pretence simply removes that dignity.
And like The Prophet says, being side by side, not too close to be bound by the weeds and not so far apart that we cannot keep the roof over our heads, then as tow individuals, we can dance together, following the twists and turns side by side, supporting the moves and the twists that need to be made however difficult.
But if we are too entwined we will trip each other or too far apart we will lose the touch that informs the next moves.
The poem also talks about recognising shortcomings as well as knowing strengths. Recognising what needs to be worked on is the gift of strength. It is with this awareness that the dance grows stronger. The strengths exist only for that moment and without nurture and vigilance they become weak and worthless. It is knowing the shortcomings that keeps the dance alive and real, and a reminder that we are two beings doing our best, the dance will be imperfect. That is the beauty.
And with that awareness we can go to places that are beyond the wildest imagination. See things and comprehend depths that fulfill the heart and soul, places of such incredible beauty and peace. A place of increasing knowing. The heart and soul filled with bliss and love emanating from the very centre of the Universe. It is possible I am sure if the dance is pure to the very best of our ability. Nothing will compare.
Embrace and accept everything and everyone just as is, this is the very essence. Nurture the soul and the Universe returns in abundance for our needs. We need nothing more, we will have enough.
Don;t say Yes! Just take my hand and dance with me. How I feel the possibility.



Values -
i don't like the smelly burp wafting into my breathing air
 i try not to breathe in
ha ha ha

I have a titty squash at the hospital tomorrow - well now today. I do not look forward to this and soon I have a visit to the neurologist. I am interested but scared too.
It's not so much fun getting older. But with someone who would like to dance it would not matter. The last breath would be in thanks for everything so worthwhile. Seeing the wonders through the dance.
The poem to me speaks of some basic principles - self and partner, openness and honesty, selflessness, gratitude and acceptance, willingness and effort.

I watched a film - House of Sand and Fog.
Gosh what a film. I am not quite sure what I think.
I do think Ben Kingsley is a tremendous actor. He plays this role as well as any I see him perform and those that I have seen are always this good.
The story was annoying in a sense - so much tragedy through one persons chaos and an inefficient system. An obsessive policeman in his own chaos.
It was chaotic people and their chaotic lives emerging on each other. Pride, addiction, fear, cowardice in a way, love, anger, loss, and more that I can't name right now - all emerging and creating a different kind of chaos all of it's own. I felt incredibly sad with the ending. No one won. No one at all. Emptiness. Pointless all round. How tragic. How wasteful. How careless.

I need to sleep.
I feel enormous love for JH. I hope he takes my hand in the dance

Bliss
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