Paris, Je t'aime ***1/4

18 short movies, perhaps 5 minutes each, is strung together in an homage to the City of Light. Sort of like tapas, rather than a dinner. Excellent photography and music, but because the short movies varied in quality, I ended up feeling unsatisfied. Nevertheless . . .

Each story appears to take place in a different arrondissement, although I didn't keep track to see if any were repeated (I don't think so). Cool idea, but then why weren't there 20 stories? There are 20 arrondissements.

The photo at the top of this post is of Aïssa Maïga in “Place des Fêtes,” which was directed by Oliver Schmitz and is tied as my favorite of the bunch with the final story, “14ème Arrondissement,” directed by Alexander Payne. The final story is about a middle-aged postal worker (play be Margo Martindale) from Denver who studied French for two years in preparation for her solitary dream vacation. The camera follows her as she delivers (pardon the pun) a " letter back home" in the form of a voice-over, in French with a strong American accent. Her last sentence ends the movie with poignant and charming epiphany.