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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Paris (2008)

Paris (2008)

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Released 1-Oct-2008

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2008
Running Time 123:56 (Case: 130)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Cédric Klapisch
Studio
Distributor

Icon Entertainment
Starring Juliette Binoche
Romain Duris
Fabrice Luchini
Albert Dupontel
François Cluzet
Karin Viard
Gilles Lellouche
Mélanie Laurent
Zinedine Soualem
Julie Ferrier
Olivia Bonamy
Maurice Bénichou
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $29.95 Music Robert Burke
Loïc Dury
Christophe Minck


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English (Burned In) Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

Cédric Klapisch's latest offering Paris (2008), is not unlike the director's previous films L'Auberge espagnole (2002) and Les Poupées russes (2005), which both depicted several narratives around a protagonist played by Romain Duris.

In Paris, Duris portrays Pierre, a dancer who has been recently diagnosed with heart disease. Pierre confines himself to his Paris apartment and seeks solace from his older sister Élise (Juliette Binoche). Élise has recently separated from the father of her children and decides to help her brother while he waits for a heart transplant.

Across the street from Pierre's apartment is youthful Laetitia (Mélanie Laurent), a student who begins an affair with Roland Verneuil (Fabrice Luchini), her history professor who is suffering from a midlife crisis. Roland and his recently married younger brother Philippe (François Cluzet), have just lost their father and with Philippe about to become a father, Roland begins to question the decisions he has made in his life.

Also there are a number of other characters in Paris including a casually racist woman (Karin Viard), who is unable to accept the changing cultural landscape of Paris and Jean (Albert Dupontel), who has recently separated from his wife and is unable to accept her dating other men. One of the more interesting segments which is woven between these narratives is Benoît (Kingsley Kum Abang) making his way to Paris illegally from Cameroon, to meet his brother in Paris and also a young glamorous French woman he has fallen for.

Klapisch's Paris is an enjoyable film, mainly due to the charismatic performances from Duris, Binoche and Luchini. However there are some flaws - particularly Benoît and Philippe's narratives which unfortunately are not as developed as the other narratives. Nevertheless Klapisch's ability to depict realistic relationships and lived urban spaces is his strength, and with his impressive cast the director has created a pleasant film which perfectly blends moments of comedy and drama.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The transfer of Paris is cropped. It is presented in 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced widescreen. The original aspect ratio of the film is 2.35:1 widescreen.
 

 Original Aspect Ratio (2.35:1) The transfer on the R4 release is cropped (1.78:1)

Skin tones are well represented and black levels are quite good. The picture remains sharp and there is no evidence of MPEG compression or edge enhancement.

All round this is a consistent transfer which has been encoded on a Dual Layer DVD.

The subtitles for the French dialogue are burnt onto the print, in a clear white Arial font.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

There is a single audio soundtrack offered on this DVD – French Dolby Digital 5.1.

While there are no apparent errors, as the film is mostly dialogue orientated the surround sound is of limited use.

As with Klapisch’s previous films – music is key - original music is provided by Robert Burke, Loïc Dury and Christophe Minck. There are a number of notable songs featured in the film and ‘Seize the Day’ by Wax Tailor plays an important role in the film.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu Audio & Animation

The Main Menu is preceded by trailers for La Vie en Rose (La Môme) and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le papillon).

The Main Menu is 16x9 enhanced and features a section of ‘Seize the Day’ by Wax Tailor. There are 18 scene selections.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This title is available (in it's correct aspect ratio) in R2 France on a 2 Disc Special Edition (English friendly) DVD and Blu-ray (Region B Locked). In addition to technical specifications on the local release, the R2 French release includes French DTS and French Stereo (with optional French or English subtitles). Also a Making of, Deleted/Alternate Scenes with commentary, Set Design, Music and Script featurette, Trailer and bonus CD soundtrack. However please note the French language extras may not include English subtitles.

The Blu-ray technical specs are unconfirmed.

Paris will be available on DVD in the UK sometime in Feb 2009.

Summary

Cédric Klapisch's Paris is an enjoyable film, mainly due to the charismatic performances from Romain Duris, Juliette Binoche and Fabrice Luchini. Also watch out for a great cameo from Michael Haneke favourite Maurice Bénichou.

This barebones release also features the film in the incorrect aspect ratio.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Vanessa Appassamy (Biography)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Review Equipment
DVDOPPO DV-980H, using HDMI output
DisplayPanasonic PT-AE 700. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationYamaha DSP-A595a - 5.1 DTS
Speakers(Front) DB Dynamics Polaris AC688F loudspeakers,(Centre) DB Dynamics Polaris Mk3 Model CC030,(Rear) Polaris Mk3 Model SSD425,(Subwoofer) Jensen JPS12

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