The disc: "Paris 36."
The details: "Paris 36" purposely recalls movies by Renoir ("French Can-Can"), Carne ("Children of Paradise") and Truffaut ("The Last Metro"). It's not as good as any of those pictures, but, as long as your expectations aren't jacked up too high, it's very pleasant nonetheless.
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As the title indicates, it's 1936 and Paris is full of communists trying to organize unions and fascists trying to kill communists. The story centers around an old vaudeville theater called the Chansonia, which is closed because nobody is going. But it reopens as a sort of communal enterprise, and is yet again teetering because the acts are all terrible.But things perk up when a beautiful young girl (Nora Arnezeder), the protege of the landlord, turns out to be a great singer, and audiences once more begin to flock to the Chansonia.
At this point, the film offers up a couple of delightful song-and-dance numbers in the spirit of Warner Bros. and Busby Berkeley, which are slightly out of tone with the drama of the rest of the movie, which involves adultery, suicide and at least one murder. But the film is so eager to please that it largely dissolves doubt.
The cast is made up largely of unknowns, at least on this side of the Atlantic, but the production is very stylish, and Montmartre locations are nicely mixed in with studio work and even some old—fashioned miniatures. "Paris 36" is hampered only by a certain self-consciousness at the heart of the picture, but if you've been in need of a French fix lately, this is the movie for you.
The extras: The Sony DVD offers several featurettes about the production and a commentary track with director Christopher Barratier.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: scott(underscore)eyman(at)pbpost.com.
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