Films have the ability to influence the human mind for good — or not.
So, you’re thinking of travelling to Paris! Or perhaps someone has asked you to go to Paris and you’re not sure what to expect. Seeing a movie that deals with Paris is one way to experience The City of Light without going actually travelling there.
Or is it? Keeping in mind that one of my goals for this blog is to present thoughtful commentary on cultural issues, American films reflect our culture, and our culture has created a lot of myths and stereotypes of foreigners and foreign cultures: therefore, it makes sense that our films would reflect these myths and stereotypes. While some people might say you shouldn’t take what is depicted in a film so seriously because, after all, “it’s only a movie,” the fact is that what is depicted on film has a way of seeping into a nation’s conscience, similar to propaganda used during war. Think of the recent debacle over The Interview that was about a reporter being recruited to assassinate North Korea’s dictator. The film was actually meant to serve as a seed planted into North Korea’s collective conscience to envision a life without a dictator as their leader. Just like war propaganda can be positive or negative, so too can films plant positive or negative thoughts about a foreign culture into our national conscience. Then, without a thought, we repeat ideas and actions expressed on film and accept those ideas and actions as reality. Does this close American minds to travelling abroad? Do American films influence how Americans perceive foreign cultures even if they do travel? Do American films negatively impact the way Americans are perceived abroad? My reviews of the following films are meant to provoke your thoughts on these matters. May you be a more enlightened traveler because of them.
I have reviewed three American films here: 1) Midnight in Paris, 2) Paris, Je t’aime, and 3) French Kiss. My reviews are based on the following criteria:
- A short synopsis of the plot.
- Does the film give an accurate portrayal of Paris, Parisians and the French in general?
- Does the film seem to say anything about the way (some) Americans behave in Paris and France in general?
- Does the film advance negative stereotypes of the French people?
Midnight in Paris (2011) 
The story is about a writer named Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams), an engaged couple who travel to Paris with her parents when her father (Kurt Fuller) has business to conduct there. The engaged couple meet up with another couple, Paul (Michael Sheen) and Carol (Nina Arianda); Paul is an old flame of Inez’s. The differences between Gil and Inez become more evident when Gil goes out for a walk late at night around the city instead of going dancing with the other three. He is magically transported to 1920s Paris at the strike of midnight, and finds himself mingling with people of his favorite era – Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, to name a few. In this former era he uncovers some truths about himself and his relationship, and makes changes in his life as a result. His midnight stroll into an earlier era is a metaphor for him looking back at an earlier time in his life when he wanted to be a “serious writer” and write novels instead of being a “Hollywood hired hand” writing scripts.
If you only have time to see one movie on Paris, see this. The first four minutes are the most beautiful scenes of Paris I have ever seen on film. In addition, Paris is a character in the film: some directors use Paris as little more than a backdrop for their stories: in this film, Paris is a character, an integral part of the story. The City of Light draws you in with its splendor and simplicity. If Manhattan is Woody Allen’s love letter to New York, it is probably safe to say that Midnight in Paris is his love letter to Paris. I believe he captures the feeling, movement, energy and charm of Paris and the French people in general. Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux, a Bond girl in the upcoming “Spectre” film), whom Gil meets working in a shop that sells old records and the like (and is therefore appealing to him since she appreciates 1920s Paris), represents all that is good about the French people: she enjoys what she does, she smiles when she speaks, spends time with friends eating a leisurely dinner, and finds Paris most appealing in the rain.
Woody Allen seems to comment on some Americans’ boorish behavior in Paris. Inez’s flaws remind me of a character in a J.D. Salinger short story: She is a narcissist, concerned with her wants and desires while putting her fiance’s desires second, or maybe even third. (She has a fling with Paul and then tells Gil to “get over it.”) She values money over him being happy, tells him not to wake her up when he will be coming in later than she, and is seen constantly thinking about the material possessions she will acquire as a result of this union. Her father doesn’t respect France’s socialism or political views, even though France is allowing his company to merge with a French company. Her mother (Mimi Kennedy) is a jabbering provoker. The entire family values money over anything else. Unfortunately, this depiction of some Americans’ behavior in Paris is accurate—not only have I been told about it by people of several cultures, including the French, I have seen it firsthand. And, when I asked for feedback about how Americans are perceived by the French when I was in Paris recently, the most common complaint I heard was that Americans “are only interested in making money.” The French value human relationships and enjoying life over striving for the almighty dollar (Euro!). When you go to Paris, take notice of how close the French people sit next to one another, how they lean in toward one another, as though everything they say is a confidence to be shared only with those at their table. French people can sit in a café and talk for hours. The pace of life is slower in France, and is meant to be enjoyed.
Marion Cotilliard in a scene from “Midnight in Paris.”
One note about Gil visiting 1920s Paris. He meets a woman named Adriana (Marion Cotilliard) and begins to question his life choices with Inez as a result. Gil and Adriana walk from Moulin Rouge, to the Seine River and back again. At night. With her in heels. Take it from me, that is A LOT of walking. If you try to retrace their steps, wear very good walking shoes.
Paris, je t’aime (Paris, I Love You) (2006) 
This film is actually a collection of 20, 5-minute films, one for each Paris arrondissement (similar to a county in the U.S.), each by a different director. Some of the stories are more fantasy-based than others. What I took away from this film is that while we have our cultural differences, human nature is the same everywhere. It is a beautiful film on love and the human condition, and I highly recommend it.
Ludivine Sagnier, an actress in the “Parc Monceau” segment (8th arrondissement) made an interesting comment in the interview Extras section: She said that the French don’t renew their city and that they need others to come to Paris and do it. They need fresh eyes to help them see what they don’t. I hope when you go to Paris you will remind Parisians how beautiful their city is, how much you enjoy their food and their company, and what a joy it is to be in a place where enjoying life is paramount.
French Kiss (1995)
Kate (Meg Ryan) is engaged to Charlie (Timothy Bottoms). Kate has a fear of flying and so decides not to go to Paris on a business trip with her fiancé. Charlie meets a French woman (Juliette) almost immediately and proposes marriage. Kate decides to fly to Paris to retrieve her fiancé, but not before meeting a French thief named Luc (Kevin Kline) on the plane. He tells her he will help her win back Charlie while slipping a stolen necklace in her handbag that he hopes to retrieve later. The two have adventures in which they grow as people and as a couple.
Paris serves as a mere background for this film, meaning that the story could have been told in just about any foreign country with monuments. I got the feeling that shots with Paris monuments were mere “establish” shots, such as when Kate is in a phone booth on the Champs-Elysees and the camera captures the Arc de Triomphe in the near-background. Also, when Kate and Luc travel by train they just happen to pass the Eiffel Tower. Worse, these establish shots are fake: I was in Paris around the time French Kiss was filmed, and I never saw a glass phone booth in this location. Also, a train does not travel in front or in back of the Eiffel Tower as depicted. While directors frequently take creative license in such scenes in movies, Paris is one of the top destinations for tourists, so the city’s layout and cultural monoliths are well-known the world over. Although fictional, French Kiss wants to be believed, but the fictional portrayal of storied landmarks gives it an air of unreality.
As I previously stated, films can make an impact on the human mind, and, in turn, influence behavior. One example in French Kiss is the phrase Kate uses that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up: before she calls Charlie’s new fiancée a “bitch” she says, “Pardon my French.” How many Americans are guilty of saying “pardon my French” before or after speaking a dirty word, as though every dirty word is of French origin? The French don’t have a monopoly on dirty words; every culture has them. Yet, generations of Americans have repeated this slur – and why wouldn’t we, since it is often used in movies and television shows to “emphasize the meaning of a less offensive word without violating censorship or rating guidelines” (Wikipedia). And according to the Urban Dictionary, the phrase “…originates from the constant warfare between England and France many years ago (that is, in the 1300s), at [the] time [when] ‘French’ was associated with indecent things and activities (swearing, kissing, etc.).”
Unbelievably, the first Americans left England for the New World long after this warfare ended, and England and France have long had diplomatic relations (!). Since the U.S. is not a part of England and England is no longer at war with France, anyway, how about serving as an example for others and not using this oft-repeated phrase? If you are reading this blog, chances are high that you care something about international relations. Please do your part, small though it may be, and stop blaming the French for every curse word. While we certainly have diplomatic relations with France, the U.S. sometimes seems to be in a culture war with them: we blame the French for being rude while many of us don’t even try to learn basic French phrases before travelling there, we demand them to cater us when we are visitors in their country, and the U.S. treats France as though they are a step-child in world affairs. France has been a major player in world and European affairs — as a founding member of the U.N. and the E.U., for instance — and small countries like France play an integral part in the global community whether the U.S. wants to acknowledge it or not.
As for Kate in French Kiss telling Juliette “pardon my French” before referring to her as a “bitch,” Kate was quite mistaken. The use of “bitch” to describe an objectionable woman has been in use since the 13th century, and according to Wikipedia, likely has its origins in the Old English term bicche, meaning “female dog.”
Salut.