> Paris 36
Director: Christophe Barritier
Cast: Gerard Jugnot, Kad Merad, Clovis Cornillac, Nora Arnezeder, Maxence Perrin, Pierre Richard, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
Rating: (M)
3 stars (out of 5)
Reviewed By Christine Powley
We hate clichés except that we also love them.
Some stories just cry out to be told in a certain way and when they fail to unfold the way we expect, we feel absurdly cheated.
When you are telling a showbiz tale, then the cliché is to have a group of amateurs who must get together to put on a show and someone (preferably a young attractive female) has to go on as a nobody and come back a star.
Lots of whirling newspapers to suggest forward motion are also handy.
French director Christophe Barratier has bought into the romantic notion of how a stage show comes together but he also wants to force-feed us great lumps of reality.
At times this comes close to destroying the candyfloss of Paris 36 (Metro) but in the end he is as seduced as we are and lets us have our happy ever after.
Petit bourgeois stagehand Pigoil (Gerard Jugnot) has his life fall around his ears when he loses his wife and livelihood all on the same night.
After a period of decline he regains his pride when he and fellow workers occupy the theatre that had been suddenly closed and attempt to manage a workers' theatre.
It is an uphill battle until the lovely Douce (Nora Arnezeder) turns up, captivating the crowds.
All should be well except that she has two admirers, Milou (Clovis Cornillac) - a young communist stagehand - and Galapiat (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), the local crime boss.
Lots of singing ensues.
Best thing: The re-creation of 1930s Paris is so beautiful it covers any glitches in the plot.
Worst thing: There are only so many French musical numbers an English-speaking audience can handle before wanting to exit the theatre screaming.
See it with: A romantic notion of how Paris sparkles in the snow.
