Picture Paris: Dreaming of France

On Mondays I like to take part in the Dreaming of France meme hosted by Paulita Kincer at An Accidental Blog. I love seeing what fellow Francophiles are posting!

This week quite by accident I ran across Picture Paris, a quirky short film which has a little fun at the expense of Francophiles everywhere. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and written and directed by her husband Brad Hall Picture Paris screened at film festivals at the end of last year. And scooped up quite a few awards. The movie is on HBO: On Demand beginning today February 4.

Here's the rundown:   

At a loss when her youngest offspring is headed for college, Ellen decides to pour all her emotional energy into planning a romantic trip-of-a-lifetime to Paris with her husband, Randy.  She becomes consumed with cheese, wine and French perfume, immersing herself in all things Parisian.  Ellen takes French cooking classes from Chef Pierre de Burbank, peppers her speech with French phrases, flirts with everyone, including the pool man, and makes passionate  love to her husband, all in an attempt to replace her fear of a lonely, childless future with a fantasy life.

Gregory Fitoussi as the French waiter won't
do much to kill my French fantasies.

Just a half hour long, the dark comedy teases our French fantasies. Who doesn't want to be the woman riding a bicycle through the charming little streets of Paris, complete with snazzy scarf, baguette, flowers wrapped in paper? Surely amor is alive in that corner cafe over there? While we see that even the most romantic city on earth can be a lonely and disappointing place, it's poignant to see Ellen's ferver to find herself in France. And frankly, it's funny too. In part because it makes fun of us and our fantasies about our perfect lives in the city of lights.  I hope you see the humor in it. 

Visit the Picture Paris website for more on this short award winning little film.