Paris

French auteur Cedric Klapisch achieves a sublime use of the City of Lights as a living and breathing body of humanity. We get a historic sense of Paris from college professor historian-turned TV show narrator Roland (Fabrice Luchini), who struggles with desire for one of his female students. Roland's bumpy relationship with his architect brother Philippe (Francois Cluzet) introduces another way of seeing the beauty of Paris. At its core is a life-and-death story of sibling support between Pierre (Romain Duris), a dancer in dire need of a heart transplant, and his caring sister Elise (Juliette Binoche). It would not be an exaggeration to say that Juliette Binoche steals the movie as a workaday French woman taking care of her ailing brother. The humility of Binoche's Elise allows dramatic space for Klapisch's other subplots to be absorbed. Cedric Klapisch gets wonderful performances from his ensemble of actors. Robert Burke, Loic Dury, and Christophe Minck provide a haunting musical score.
Rated R. 130 mins. (B) (Three Stars)