This romantic comedy was written and directed by Julie Delpy, who also stars in the film as the French photographer Marion. Marion lives in New York City with her American boyfriend, Jack (Adam Goldberg), and the film explores what happens when Marion revisits her hometown, Paris, for two days. In this city of romance, Delpy casts herself as the free-spirited young woman who has been brought up in a liberal-minded French family. Much of the comedy revolves around Jack who, despite all the tattoos, is a conservative, neurotic hypochondriac who doesn’t happen to speak any French. Apart from the obvious miscommunications that are inevitable with Marion’s parents, who speak no English, the tension is created by Marion, who is an outrageous flirt and still friends with many of her ex-boyfriends.
You may remember Julie Delpy acting in Before Sunset, Three Colours: White or Killing Zoe. With this film, she proves that she is a talented writer and director as well as a charmingly attractive and charismatic actress. In fact, comparisons have been made between Woody Allen’s Manhattan obsessions and Delpy’s passionate exploration of everything French. Her hilarious comparisons between the sexual politics of the French and those of Middle America – at its narrow-minded best – fuel witty dialogue and screwball antics. But this refreshingly original take on relationships also takes a serious look at the complexities of partnerships in modern society.
2 Days in Paris (M) is directed by Julie Delpy.
