Friday, April 20, 2012

French Friday: Movies set in France

It's been awhile since I have done a French Friday post!  For other Francophiles out there, you can find the other FF posts here.

It's been over a year since my Paris trip, and my heart truly aches for Paris.  I got a bit of a fix by reading Amy's posts while she was there this spring, and am anxiously awaiting Jeanie's posts about Paris when she returns from her trip in May!  In addition to living vicariously through the travels of other, I get my Paris fix by watching films set in France.  There are SO many good ones to choose from, but here are some of my favorites!

Midnight in Paris - This movie came out last year so is a recent release.  It is a Woody Allen film, so it is quirky, but I loved it.  I thought they did a fabulous job of showcasing the city of Paris, and I adore Owen Wilson, so I really enjoyed this movie.  When the opening scene came on, I actually put my hand on my heart because the scenes they were showing of Paris were so stunning and brought back memories of my time in Paris.

French Kiss - I have always been a Meg Ryan fan, so I really loved this movie.  Plus Kevin Kline's character is SO sexy.  Hello, wonderful, charming accent.  I loved the way he said his name, Luc Teyssier.  I think this one has been broadly seen since it came out in the 90s, so I won't explain the plot, but it's one of my favorites - and one I should really own.

An American in Paris - This is a musical from 1951 which features Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron.  There is lots of singing and dancing, and it's just a really sweet movie.  I watched it back before my first trip to Paris, and the title of the film inspired the title of my French Travel blog.

Before Sunset - This is actually the sequel to the film, Before Sunrise.  So you need to watch that first to appreciate/understand Before Sunset.  In Before Sunset, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy reunite in Paris, 9 years after spending a night together in Amsterdam.  They spend most of the movie walking around Paris, talking about what has happened in their lives over the last 9 years.  The conversations are amazing and I totally relate to Delpy's character.  I feel like I could have written the bulk of the script, honestly.

Paris, je t'aime - Last, but not least, is the film Paris, je t'aime.  It's a collection of vignettes about the city of Paris, and it's such a wonderful film.  In fact, I am going to close with a clip from this film.  It is sort of long, but I love it - especially the last 60 seconds.  And in the event that you don't want to watch, I've transcribed the end of the clip, as the character's monologue really resonated with me.
"Sitting there, alone in a foreign country, far from my job and everyone I know, a feeling came over me.  It was like remembering something I’d never known before or had always been waiting for, but I didn’t know what.  Maybe it was something I’d forgotten or something I’ve been missing all my life.  All I can say is that I felt, at the same time, joy and sadness.  But not too much sadness, because I felt alive.  Yes, alive.  That was the moment I fell in love with Paris.  And I felt Paris fall in love with me."



Do you seek out movies set in a certain location?  Are there any films set in France that you would recommend?  I just requested Funny Face from the library and am excited to check it out!

19 comments:

  1. Amelie is one of my favorite movies ever! You made me now want to go watch it again, might have to break out my DVD, it's been several years since I watched it!

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  2. Ha, I am so not a big movie person and would you believe I have not seen a single one of these movies? I have seen Amelie though- a very, very long time ago and I liked it at the time but remember nothing about it now.

    I've read good books set in Paris though :)

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  3. I love Paris Je t'aime! And of course I really liked Midnight in Paris too.

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  4. This post reminds me of a hilarious story I have about a French movie. In my sophomore or junior year of high school, I had the WORST French teacher ever. She was terrible and everyone in our (honors) class hated her. So, about 99% of the class (minus the one REALLY goody two shoes, given I was pretty well behaved back then and even I participated) decided to skip class one day. We were all caught (kinda obvious when all but one person is absent from class) and all got detentions and notes were sent home to our parents. My punishment? I was grounded for a night and had to choose a French movie to rent and watch. I can't remember what movie it was, but the punishment was certainly fitting of the crime. =)

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  5. I have seen A Midnight in Paris and thought it was pretty good! Hope you have a great weekend Lisa :)

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  6. I love an American in Paris. And French Kiss. I think you knew that already though :) In college I took a French lit and film class; I had to rent and watch a French film and write a paper on it in French and it was so much fun! I don't remember the name of the movie but it was pretty good.

    I'm also a sucker for anything that takes place in Italy/Greece. Someday I'll get there...!

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  7. I haven't seen any of these movies!! I really should watch them with Eric though, he talks about going back to Paris all the time!

    I don't have headphones at work so couldn't watch that clip but I love that last bit that you wrote out in your post! I think it's so great how much you love Paris!

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  8. OMG I loooove Funny Face! You must tell me what you think. I also really like An American in Paris- great classic old Hollywood musical. Now I'm craving French food...

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  9. I love Paris, je t'aime. It's the film that made me love mimes! Well, tolerate them more than I used to.

    Have you seen Le placard (The Closet)? Adorable French film.

    I always seek out films from places I've lived or that I'm planning to visit. As a result, I've seen a lot of foreign or small release films I otherwise wouldn't have heard about.

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  10. I haven't seen any of those! Do they have a Goodreads for movies? I need to put them all on my To Watch list! I am not really much of a movie watcher, but I have seen Amelie.

    There's always Casablanca, and you know..."we will always have Paris"! I just watched that movie only a year or so ago for the first time!

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  11. Sadly I haven't seen any of these. As for other movies set in France, doesn't Gigi take place in Paris? It's been forever since I've seen it, but do remember really loving it growing up.

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  12. I absolutely LOVED Paris je t'aime and Midnight in Paris :) Actually, I think I just might watch one of those tonight! Ah, I miss paris... we should all get together and run the Paris marathon ;)

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  13. A couple of movies that are not set in Paris but have lovely Paris scenes... Something's Gotta Give (Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson) and another Woody Allen film, Everyone Says I Love You. I did love Midnight in Paris!

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  14. I love films set in France. You'll laugh, but I am particularly fond of ones set along the east coast of the US. It's perhaps that so much of the scenery, and then buildings, and even the weather are so reminiscent of the UK.

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  15. I haven't seen any of those, but I have wanted to watch a few of them. Gotta put them in my Netflix queue or check out the library's stash.

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  16. I'll have to check some of these out. I really enjoyed Midnight in Paris. The only downside it depressed me after watching these films as it makes me miss all things French and Paris a lot!

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  17. Before Sunrise & Before Sunset are two of my all-time favorite movies (which I own on DVD) :)

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  18. I LOVED Midnight in Paris and An American in Paris. Both really cute and fun movies.

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