TATS QUIBLAT

This was one film I never thought I'd get to see. Well, some things are bound to happen. I was in Gateway just to pick something up from a store when, as fate would have it, the store was closed. Oh well. I had time to waste, not that I don't have a ginormous amount of paper work to finish. But, they can wait. I am the master of my life, not the slave of my have-to-dos. I decided to go up to the cinema floor and check out what's showing. Then I remembered, Cinemanila is in Gateway! Cool! My eyes lit up.

I immediately went to the festival secretariat/information table and asked for a screening schedule. To my disappointment, all the films that were showing at my available time started 15 minutes ago. Grrr. The girl at the table said I could wait for another 3 hours--that would already be 6pm. She said the film will be worth my wait. So I asked what film would that be. And, lo and behold... Paris, je t'aime!

I have been looking all over for a DVD of this film. I first heard about it in some blogs late last year. Here's the deal:

(A) The film is composed of 18 short features tackling love and relationships, running for almost 3 hours in total. All the shorts feature different key locations/neighborhoods around Paris. Most of these locations were used as titles for the segments.

(B) The film features 21 world renowned directors (Hold on tight. The list will blow you away!):

Olivier Assayas for "Quartier des Enfants Rouges"
Frédéric Auburtin and Gérard Depardieu for "Quartier Latin"
Gurinder Chadha for "Quais de Seine"
Sylvain Chomet for "Tour Eiffel"
Joel and Ethan Coen for "Tuileries"
Isabel Coixet for "Bastille"
Wes Craven for "Père-Lachaise"
Alfonso Cuarón for "Parc Monceau"
Christopher Doyle for "Porte de Choisy"
Richard LaGravenese for "Pigalle)
Vincenzo Natali for "Quartier de la Madeleine"
Alexander Payne for "14th arrondissement"
Bruno Podalydès for "Montmartre"
Walter Salles for "Loin du 16ème"
Oliver Schmitz for "Place des Fêtes"
Nobuhiro Suwa for "Place des Victoires"
Daniela Thomas for "Loin du 16ème"
Tom Tykwer for "Faubourg Saint-Denis"
Gus Van Sant for "Le Marais"

(C) Here are a few members of the Cast (This is a major casting coup!):

Elias McConnell (Gus Van Sant's "It" Boy. Check out Elephant.)
Gaspard Ulliel (Hannibal Rising)
Steve Buscemi
Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace)
Sergio Castellitto (Voice of Arthur in Arthur and the Invisibles)
Miranda Richardson (the annoying Rita Skeeter in Harry Potter)
Gena Rowlands
Ben Gazzara
Gerard Depardieu
Natalie Portman
Rufus Sewell (Prince Leopold of "The Illusionist")
Alexander Payne (as Oscar Wilde)
Emily Mortimer (the "Perfect Girl" in Notting Hill)
Elijah Wood (His feature got the first applause of the evening.)
Bob Hoskins
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Nick Nolte
Willem Dafoe
Juliette Binoche

Whew!

The film has almost all the genres. Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Horror Comedy, Slapstick Comedy, Dark Comedy, Light Drama, Heavy Drama, Fantasy, Noir... etc.

The features tackle and showcase love in all its possible splendor: man to woman, stranger to stranger, husband to wife, gay, unrequited, lack of it, confused love, divorce, septuagenarians, vampires, mother to child, father to daughter to grandchild, sex, drugs, rock 'n roll, mimes, circus, children, asian and cross-cultural, cancer, and even poverty and migration and the evils the go with these. What else did I miss?

It was an emotional roller coaster. I was laughing and crying and giddy and awed and inspired and in the end I had goosebumps all over. So did everyone else as shown by the standing ovation. How can one film be this great! It transcended its medium. It was like a play being done live on stage. That was how alive the movie was.

I highly recommend that you guys don't miss this in its next screening. I think there's another one scheduled. Just check out the Cinemanila website.

Some of the highlights from the film:

1. For the first time, Wes Craven is not doing horror. Although his segment takes place in a cemetery, its a comedy about a couple about to get married. Watch out for Alexander Payne as Oscar Wilde. Riot!

2. Natalie Portman delivers (as usual) a high-caliber unforgettable performance. Her's has the most unexpected twist.

3. Bob Hoskins will make the ladies fall in love!!!

4. Elijah Wood's feature is a vampire thriller. My favorite. It's also the only feature in the "film noir" genre.

5. Catalina Sandino Moreno's feature is one of the saddest, reminiscent of an award-winning Maricel Soriano recent movie.

6. Gus Van Sant's feature is the cutest story. Hahaha. Watch out for it.

7. The "Sophie-Hassan" love story was the one that made the audience cry buckets. It had the most poignant ending.

8. Watch out for the Mimes and their son. Lovely! Very lovely.

9. The conversation of Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara at the restaurant was full of wit and painful humor. One of the best scenes in the entire collective.

10. Juliette Binoche is Juliette Binoche! Amen.

18 films, 21 Directors, 3 Hours, 1 City...Paris -- all for a hundred bucks!
It can't get any better than this!
Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Get your tickets now! Watch it. Watch it. Watch it!