The 9 Greatest Films Set in Paris
A self-proclaimed love letter to the City of Light, Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is set to be released later this week to a great deal of positive buzz from its opening at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie stars Owen Wilson as a hopeless romantic who pines for the era of 1920′s Paris when one could meet Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein while taking a stroll. In honor of the film’s release, we have compiled the following list of the 9 best movies set in the most romantic and picturesque city in the world.
Amelie
Starring Audrey Tautou as a quirky and painfully shy woman with a heart of gold, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s enchanted romantic comedy Amelie made people all over the world fall in love with Paris’ 18th district. This charming movie was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay and was predominantly shot in the communal neighborhood of Montmartre in Paris. You can still hang out at the Café des Deux Moulins where Amelie worked or visit Mr. Collignon’s little grocery store Au Marche de la Butte if you ever visit Paris. It’s a dreamy and glowing depiction of the French capital and the film was so popular that the locations used in the movie have become major tourist attractions of their own.
Breathless
One of the great masterpieces of the French New Wave, Breathless was Jean-Luc Godard first feature film. This seminal movie revolves around Michel (the great Jean-Paul Belmondo), a handsome small-time criminal, who is on the run from the law after stealing a car and killing a policeman. He hides out in the Paris apartment of Patricia (Jean Seberg), a fetching young American writer who sells newspapers in the streets of Paris. When they aren’t busy escaping the law, the two engage in fascinating pillow talk and attempt to raise money so they can run away to Italy. Godard’s unorthodox editing and hand-held photography capture Paris in a peculiar light and make Breathless one of the most influential French movie in cinematic history.
Before Sunset
In 1995, Richard Linklater directed Before Sunrise, a wonderfully poignant movie about two strangers (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) wandering around Vienna, talking, and falling in love. Before Sunset, the hopelessly romantic sequel which reunites the two characters nine years later in Paris, is a two-hour walking tour of the city of love. With only a few hours before he has to fly back to New York, Hawke and Delpy walk around Paris, talk, and fall in love all over again. It sounds deceptively dull and simple, but the movie is written with such skill and acted so naturally that it feels like visiting two old friends.
Last Tango in Paris
Exuding a raw and sordid sexual energy that initially earned it an X-rating from the MPAA, Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris has managed to remain one of the most controversial movie in film history. New Yorker critic Pauline Kael gave her most memorable endorsement of a movie by saying “Tango has altered the face of an art form. This is a movie people will be arguing about for as long as there are movies” and calling it “the most powerfully erotic movie ever made.” Marlon Brando plays a 45-year old American living in Paris and reeling from his wife’s suicide. He takes up an anonymous, sex-only relationship with Maria Schneider, a 20-year-old Parisian beauty. The two tortured souls come together to satisfy their sexual cravings in an apartment as bare as their dark, tragic lives. Let’s just finish by saying you will never look at a stick of butter the same way.
Ratatouille
Directed by Brad Bird, this wonderful Pixar animation sees Remy, a French rat with a particularly refined palate, rising from his humble origins to become head chef of a Paris restaurant. With the help of garbage boy Linguini, Remy soon cooks up fabulous dishes, raising both Linguini’s and the restaurant’s reputation. Don’t let the notion of a rat in a restaurant kitchen scare you away from this delectable film because Ratatouille features some of the best Paris panoramic views you will ever see.
An American in Paris
Vincente Minnelli’s gorgeous love letter to the City of Lights received six Oscars including Best Picture and starred the iconic Gene Kelly as a former American soldier trying to make a living in France as an artist after World War II. There, he falls in love with a young French woman (Leslie Caron) who is already engaged to a Parisian cabaret singer (Georges Guetary). The film relies heavily on the music of George Gershwin and Kelly gives one of his best performances, dazzling most notably in the duet “‘S Wonderful,” the ballad “Love Is Here to Stay,” and the wonderful “I Got Rhythm” scene. John Alton’s photography depicts the French capital at its most fascinating, a dreamy backdrop oozing the essence of artistic Paris.
The 400 Blows
Francois Truffaut’s intensely touching story of a rebellious young Parisian boy was the director’s first and most intimate feature film and one of the defining films of the French New Wave. Jean-Pierre Leaud stars as Antoine Doinel, a teenager neglected by his parents and oppressed by his teacher. His struggle to understand the world takes a giant leap forward when he experiences freedom by skipping school and running away from home. It’s a simple yet unpredictable movie which captures so many vivid emotions in a seemingly random fashion. Truffaut and Leaud made many films together after this but this may well top them all. Master Akira Kurosawa himself called it “one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen”.
Charade
Audrey Hepburn stars in this deliciously dark comedy thriller as a young American in Paris fleeing a trio of crooks, who are trying to recover the fortune her late husband stole from them. The only person she can trust is a suave yet mysterious stranger played by Cary Grant. Director Stanley Donen’s Charade dazzles with style, suspense and macabre Hitchcockian wit to spare. This clever movie makes wonderful use of the stunning locales and even makes reference to previous movies set in Paris such as An American in Paris.
Paris, Je t’Aime
Celebrated directors from around the world, including the Coen Brothers, Gus Van Sant, Wes Craven, Walter Salles, Alexander Payne and Olivier Assayas came together to assemble a series of short films set in Paris in a way never before imagined. Made by a team of contributors as cosmopolitan as the city itself, this portrait of the city is as diverse as its creators’ backgrounds and nationalities. With each director telling the story of an unusual encounter in one of the city’s neighborhoods, the vignettes go beyond the ‘postcard’ view of Paris to portray aspects of the city rarely seen on the big screen. While the 18 shorts are uneven, one can’t deny that as a whole, Paris Je t’Aime is a wonderful declaration of love to the City of Light.
There you have it! The 9 Greatest Films Set in Paris. What do you think of Paris? What other movies set in Paris do you love?
37 Comments
This is a great post. Paris is such a unique city, especially in the movies. Before Sunset and Amelie are probably my favorite movies on this list, but you also can’t argue with Ratatouille, Breathless, 400 Blows and Last Tango in Paris.
Thanks Matt, indeed Paris is such a photogenic city and it sets the mood of the movies so effortlessly.
Glad to see that Before Sunset is on there. It was the first movie I though of when reading the title. Some of these I still have to see
Nice post Castor, Funnily I have just finished writing tomorrows post (yes I am a day ahead) and it is a list of films related to my home City. Just amused me to see a similar post.
Love Amelie, as do many others, such a charming film.
Where is ‘A View to a Kill’? I guess it is only partly based there…
Thanks for sharing my friend
C
Looking forward to your upcoming post Custard
As for A View to a Kill, yes the movie chosen had to be set entirely in Paris.
Thanks Castor, I hope you enjoy it!! A View to a Kill was a bit of a joke (by me) if I am honest…Grace Jones scares me!
Hate to admit have not seen Before Sunset or Amelie. I tried to watch Breathless but gave up about half way through. I think it was a bad day or something.
Oddly enough I have Paris Je t’aime on DVD just never got around to watching it.
Charade is a good selection.
How about another Audrey Hepburn film – does Funny Face count?
You are in for a delightful time with Amelie, once you get around to see it.
This really hits me right in my francophilia. Choosing only nine would be extraordinarily difficult. But then, French cinema is my favorite out of the world cinema scene. Others for consideration: La Haine; The Double Life of Veronique; Napoléon (although admittedly not exclusively based in Paris); and Mon Oncle.
There’s also a really great scene in The Lavender Hill Mob at the Eiffel Tower.
Good Call on La Haine John (one of my faves, and I forgot it)
La Haine great call and I did think of it but I was trying to set a more “romantic” mood for this post ahah
Also Inglourious Basterds takes place mostly in Paris
What, you’re saying La Haine isn’t romantic?!?!
I’ve always thought of La Haine as what would happen if Spike Lee made a French movie.
Big ups to La Haine!
Code Inconnu and Cache. I’d even make a case for Funny Face. If I went to Paris, I’d say eff the Eiffel Tower and I’d go for the subculture, the slums even. If I survive.
Wow, I can’t argue with any of these choices at all. Great job.
wonderful choices!
Thanks Yong and Rich!
Alphaville isn’t “set” in Paris so to speak, but it’s definitely shot there across several locations and marks one of my favorite Godard films. Meanwhile, Shoot the Piano Player‘s narrative does occur in Paris, and that marks one of my favorite Truffaut films.
Great call on Before Sunset.
Some fantastic picks. Being an avid French cinephile, I have to agree, although I’m surprised you didn’t mention The Double Life of Veronique, or any other of Krzyzstof Kieslowski’s films. You really highlighted the films that feel truly French or Parisian, and that’s all that counts.
Thanks! Haven’t seen The Double Life of Veronique
Yeah, Trois Couleurs: Bleu could fit here quite nicely. Not really a romantic movie, though.
“Midnight In Paris”, despite all the hype – is getting released in six theaters last time I heard – this weekend.
Yea it will be a limited roll-out release. Thankfully, it will make it to my indie theater next week. Still better than The Tree of Life and its initial two theaters
I enjoyed Amelie, although i feel near the end it became a bit hard to believe a guy would go that far to meet a girl,but that is just a minor complaint. Last Tango in Paris was…well i’m not sure what i think of it yet. Breathless i honesty didn’t find that good, but maybe thats just me
The rest i haven’t seen yet, but i will see if they are on netflix
*Last Tango High Five*
I’ve only seen one film from your list Castor and that’s Ratatouille. I did see the awful remake of Charade though, forgot the name of it. It starred Mark Walberg and Thandie Newton. I’m curious to check out Last Tango in Paris but was never in the mood.
I’d throw in The Bourne Identity since most of the film took place in Paris.
You should definitely check out Amelie at least. Very accessible and just about everyone has seen it
I like “La Verite” by Clouzot, Bell De Jour by Bunuel, and Cache by Haneke, and Triplets of Belville by some other French Guy. Haneke in particular, while pretwntious and sometimes impermeable, really influenced my homage to art-house horror I made for college not too long ago. He shows great patience–almost too much at times. And triplets of belville is wonderfully whacky fun. My only problem with French cinema, particularly new wave (which i for some reason studied a lot at school) is that it can be too dense for outsiders, as if it doesn’t want to be understood (see: Jean Pierre Melville). However, Clouzot’s “Les Diaboliques,” set in the French country side and not Paris, is unquestionably brilliant.
Yes, I quite liked Cache by Michael Haneke myself. It could have made that list but I was looking for a more romantic angle
I missed this post somehow, but man I’m glad I saw it. What a wonderful post, Castor, obviously this is a personal one for you. There are a few here I haven’t seen (still curious to see Breathless w/ Belmondo) but of the ones I’ve seen they definitely deserve to be on this list!
Btw, I just saw this trailer called aptly enough PARIS, with Juliette Binoche (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0869994/). If you happen to check it out, it just might make your top ten
Thanks for the recommendation. I might check it out someday
I’d replace “Last Tango in Paris” with “The Dreamers”: same director, more movie references, aged a lot better. If you haven’t seen it, you really should. It’s a like a European Tarantino movie.
For the rest: great list.
Thanks Max! Haven’t seen The Dreamers yet :/
It’s a bit of a hit-or-miss, perhaps (lots of nudity and stuff) but I absolutely loved it.
Charade and Ratatouille are a couple of my favorites of all time. Ratatouille especially captures the spirit of Paris so well…I mean, I’ve never been there but it makes me fall in love with the city every time I watch it.
Great list, I think Paris Je’Taime probably captures the essence of Paris better than any other movie in recent times. I’ve got a list of my own at
http://cineinternational.blogspot.com/2011/08/romancing-paris-exquisite-films-about.html
How about Leos Carax. Les amonts du pont nerf. I apologise for my french spelling. Jean Vigos wonderful Atalante. And you would have to include Angel A. Apart from my faves, a very good list.
Sorry I am replying to myself. I forgot the wonderful lead up to the Darjeeling Ltd, by Wes Anderson. Hotel Chevalier.
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