inside paris

now that is a film title that will drag 'em in
like me for example though having now seen the film it really should have been titled
inside an apartment
or
inside a bedroom
because apart from a few non-subtle shots of the scene river and the eyeful tower it could have been anywhere
according to the various reviews i previously read it was typical french film-making
which i presume means as long as the dialogue is conducted in french and there are subtitles then anything goes
i spent the first part of the film trying to figure out where i had seen the central character paul before
it then occurred to me when once again he got his gear off and very reminiscent of a similar scene in russian dolls
an excellent french ensemble film from a few years back where his character also had relationship problems
though in this case it has gone a bit further and seems to have triggered a nasty brain-snap
and so we have paul holed up in his father's small apartment
we have been lead there by a series of scenes in the french countryside
that explain the breakup and the emotional turmoil paul is suffering
father tries to provide as best he can with food but no emotional support/understanding
and his brother jonathan seems to suggest the best way over the problem is to get laid as much as possible
and proceeds to lead by example with random and frequent rendezvous in the city of love
fact of the matter is that younger brother still needs big brothers approval
big brother knows this but would really rather be left in peace to have his emotional meltdown
suicide is never far away as it is contemplated, attempted or possibly also a catalyst for paul's state
it transpires that their younger sister did the deed when she was only 17
there are various visitors to the apartment including the brothers' mother
who looks so young it seems almost unlikely that she could be their mum but we'll go with it
she is almost as detached from emotion as her ex-husband and only stays briefly
and departs in the usual manner apparantly with younger bro exclaiming
i've never known mother to leave any way except by slamming the door
so now we know paul is emotionally destitute and affected by his sister's suicide
which may explain the scene where he and his ex sing a sad song to each other over the telephone
now i'm no fan of film musicals so this is a bit hard to take but sits ok in the quirky mix of this film
the big climax of the film is based around the 2 brothers apparantly accepting each other as they are
reminiscing about happier childhood days with the re-reading of a favorite children's book
then the film just stops without much other resolution almost like the director got a bit bored with the whole thing
kind of like the audience i suspect judging by the mumbling and giggling around me
and my numbness at the end as i watched the credits roll
sort of a 'what the' feeling - was that all about?
conclusion - and at the risk of stating the obvious
i suspect the film's title is a metaphor for inside a head
inside paris
no rave required