Christophe Honoré's follow-up to Ma Mere is a loving homage to the French New Wave that stays true to its own emotional core. Heartthrobs Louis Garrel (The Dreamers) and Romain Duris (Moliere, The Beat My Heart Skipped) play brothers who find themselves once again in their father's small Paris apartment, Jonathan (Garrel) as a student, Paul (Duris) in the throes of depression after his breakup with longtime girlfriend Anna (Joanna Preiss.)
Shot in a single month and edited in two, Dans Paris exhibits a playful spirit that harks back to the heyday of Truffaut and Godard. Right at the beginning of the fragmented narrative (which is to say, the end), Jonathan takes a deep breath to address the camera and introduce us to his tale. Paul had left for the country, but after claustrophobic fights in their provincial house that call to mind the hellish second act of Contempt, he is ready to lie down in front of moving cars, still puffing on a Gaulois.
Back in Paris, their sad, smock-wearing father (Guy Marchand) struggles to find a way to help Paul while carefree Jonathan, channeling Jean-Pierre Leaud in Stolen Kisses, frolicks in the streets and beds strangers. In flashbacks, Anna dances naked and lists three reasons why Paul showers immediately after sex. The younger brother resorts to reading Salinger to avoid post-coital snuggling. Early on, we've been informed that sooner or later, somebody is going to jump off a bridge.
Cineastes will delight in checking off the allusions, but Honoré never lets his obvious admiration for the New Wave masters get in the way of his characters. The quotations and references could easily have been empty gestures, but here, they provide packaging for a love story wrapped inside a moving family drama. By the end, the real pleasure of Dans Paris isn't just film-geekery but the more profound joy of recognizing true-to-life characters and watching them heal.
