We Will Always have ‘Paris, 13th District’ — or Maybe Not (Movie Review)
Paris, 13th District
Rating: 7/10
Director and Writer: Jacques Audiard
Style: Drama
Time: 105 minutes
Rated: R
Review by Mike Szymanski
What better place than Paris to explore your sexuality, because the romantic atmosphere seems to ooze with chances for sexual exploration and experimentation? And where better than in Paris, 13th District to show some hot and horny young 20-somethings trying to find a true love connection.
Sometimes they seem to get it, but maybe only fleetingly.
This is the time of Tinder in arguably the most romantic city in the world, and this black-and-white movie (which does revert to color at moments), perfectly captures the mosaic of relationships that go on between the characters.
And obviously, everything is not black and white, and lots of grays play a big part in the story. There’s talk about three-ways, a discussion about drugs, and rules about sex. There’s a woman attracted to a dominatrix on a porn site, and the dominatrix teases her about using her real name while signed ont the site.
This movie was one of the queer highlights at the Cannes Film Festival this past year, and is brought to the screen by Jacques Audiard, who was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2009 in a lovely film called “A Prophet.” He co-wrote this film with Celine Sciamma and Lea Mysius to create a story of sexually fluid Parisians who live in the city’s 13th District.
Emile portrayed by Lucie Zhang, hooks up with her new roommate, a handsome teacher Camille (played by Makita Samba) which complicates their roommate situation.
There’s a kinky cam girl on a porn website known as Amber Sweet (played delightfully by Jehnny Beth from the band Savages).
In real life, Jehnny is an accomplished singer and actress who has been out as bisexual all her career (all her life according to interviews), and she’s delightful as the porn gal with a heart, who actually connects with a woman watcher Nora (played by Noiemi Merlant) who is exploring her bisexual nature.
Merlant is a great actress who starred in “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” which was written and directed by this movie’s co-writer Celine Sciamma, and it’s a movie about a female painter who seduces a young woman who is about to be married off to a nobleman.
When Nora is out on the town she is often confused for Amber Sweet because she wears a platinum blonde wig when out partying, and they look alike. So, it’s not a surprise that she looks up her doppelgänger online and falls in love with her.
This series of stories is based on sketches from Adrian Tomine, who drew illustrations for the New Yorker magazine and captured the 13th arrondissement in Paris. It is surprising, sexy and delightful.
The black-and-white film creates romanticism, but then when it shows Amber in the porn site, it’s color. When they sing Happy Birthday, it’s color.
This is light-hearted compared to the director’s other works. “A Prophet” and his movie “Dheepan” are not playful and funny like this one. This movie is about getting people wrong, and taking people the wrong way. Can the handsome teacher named “Camille” really be a man? Can an internet sex kitten fall in love with one of her clients?
If you love French films, there’s nothing more French than this one. C’est vrai.
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