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On New Year's Eve 1935, a raucous countdown to midnight is going on inside the Chansonia, a quaintly rundown music hall in a quaintly rundown blue-collar district of Paris. Five, four, three, two, one ...! As the clock strikes 12, the noise in the theater covers up the sound of a gunshot upstairs: Unable to pay his debts, the crumbling theater owner ushers in the new year by committing suicide.
Not a good omen for 1936, but a good opening for director Christophe Barratier's old-fashioned musical melodrama, "Paris 36," set during a time of terrific political upheaval. The election victory of the leftist Front Populaire is greeted with joy by the working class but with rage by right-wing extremists, in league with local "Godfather" Galapiat (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), who shuts down the Chansonia.
Veteran stage manager Pigoil (Gerard Jugnot) is out of the job he has held for 35 years. Worse, his slutty actress-wife leaves him and takes sole custody of their young son, Jojo (Maxence Perrin), a busker-accordionist -- and crucial source of income. The Chansonia's beloved star Jacky Jacquet (Kad Merad) wrings his hands while the fiery unionist stage electrician Milou (Clovis Cornillac) clashes with Galapiat's fascist thugs.
- Starring: Gerard Jugnot, Nora Arnezeder
- Rating: PG-13 for some sexuality and partial nudity, violence and brief language
- Movie Trailer: apple.com/trailers/sony/paris36
The unemployed troupers eventually take matters in their own hands by "occupying" and trying to resurrect the Chansonia themselves. Their plan is to fix up the old place and produce the "hit" musical it desperately needs. Enter teen chanteuse Douce (Nora Arnezeder), as sweet as her name, a waifish blond beauty with mesmerizing Audrey Hepburn eyes. Voila! -- une etoile est nee?Maybe. But she's also the endangered object of both Milou's and Galapiat's affections.
In "Paris 36," writer-director Barratier reunites Jugnot, Merad and Perrin -- all wildly popular in France -- from his international hit "Les Choristes" of 2004. The new addition is Arnezeder, hitherto unknown, whose winsome soprano voice and presence save the troupe -- as well as the movie.
Jugnot is just right as the kindest, gentlest father you could ever want, aided by the soulful performance of Perrin (the director's young cousin in real life) as his stolen son. Merad is wonderful -- and a wonderfully bad impressionist -- doing his crude anti-Semitic "Yid" routine and his bawdy "Est-ce que Raymonde est blonde?" showstopper. Jacky is only as good or bad as his material -- aren't we all?
Tom Stern's cinematography is a model of snow-globe perfection, maximizing the lopsided buildings, cobblestone streets, and picturesque rooftop views of the mythical Faubourg -- fashioned, actually, not at any French location but in Prague.
Barratier's production concept borrows from multiple sources -- Baz Luhrman's "Moulin Rouge," "Cinema Paradiso" and "Jacques Brel" among them. Douce has some "Piaf" torch-song moments, as well. The film isn't sure if it wants to be a comedy or a drama, but it gains momentum as it reaches its big, campy Busby Berkley-type production number climax. The '30s-style songs by Reinhardt Wanger and Frank Thomas are delightful.
In the desire to leave his audience warm and fuzzy, Barratier eschews any deep plumbing of the dark political undercurrents in pre-war France, opting for the superficial Broadway-musical treatment. As such, "Paris 36" is no more or less sanitized than "The Sound of Music." Barratier's sentimental heart is in the right place, and his schmaltzy homage to vintage cinema is a beautifully rendered, charmingly old-fashioned backstage extravaganza -- with a modicum of true grit.
The decision whether to see this picture depends on your mood and makeup. If you're in a David Mamet frame of mind, I'd say skip it. But if you're an unabashed romantic (or tolerant of that), check it out. There's only one Paris, after all -- even if it's artificially reconstructed in the Czech Republic.
The film, in French with English subtitles, opens today and is playing at the Manor Theater in Squirrel Hill only.
