Watch A Foreign Film

I have a confession to make that may seem a little hard to take for some of you out there ......... I have never seen a foreign film. For a film buff like me, I admit it is a little strange, but for some reason, those sort of films have never appealed to me. I don't why they haven't, if the truth be told. Maybe it's because I always saw them as something oh so intellectual, or perhaps it's because I got very bored of trying to speak a foreign language at a young age (something I'm not very proud of and will attempt to rectify at some point in the future!). Then I did a night class earlier this year for Scriptwriting and it was full of discussions on films I had only read about and not actually watched. I decided there and then, that my life would be a pretty sad state of affairs if I didn't at least give one foreign film a go.

So off I went to the Broadway in Nottingham with my friend, Frenchy Phil (so called because his name is Phil and well he likes anything French) and the film he chose for us to watch, that was to become my first ever foreign film, was Paris Je T'aime. I didn't know alot about this film and as we settled down to watch it, Frenchy Phil confessed that he had seen it at least four times, which hopefully meant it was either very good or there was a serious amount of naked dancing girls involved. Thankfully it was the first.

What followed next, took my breath away. Eighteen short films, depicting a different metropolis of Paris, each celebrating the city of love in it's own unique way. Twenty different directors and a cast of celebrities, took me through an amazing array of Parisian streets, sights and sounds. For nearly 2 hours, I ate, slept and breathed the delights of this romantic city and it left me wanting more. So many short films in a small amount of time. On paper, it sounded immensely strange but it worked so well and the fact that a whole story was told in ten minutes dispelled my loathing of short stories. I came out of the film in awe of such a beautiful piece of cinematography and the fact that I've now fallen in love with this beautiful, romantic city, that I can't wait to experience it for myself.

What have I learnt from this? Possibly the old saying of 'never judge a book by it's cover'. I found Paris Je T'aime, to be humorous, sad and enlightening, sometimes all within just one story. The fact that I couldn't understand what the actors were saying for most of the time only added to the amusement of the film and yes there were subtitles but my eyes were glued to the picturesque views of this glorious city. If you've never seen a foreign film before, then I strongly recommend you go and experience one! Paris Je T'aime may certainly have been my first ever foreign film but I have a feeling that it definitely won't be my last!