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Written, Directed, Edited, and Produced by Julie Delpy
2007, 96 minutes.
Starring: Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Marie Pillet, Albert Delpy
2 Days in Paris is a penetrating, wry, and at times terrifying film about a visit by a young couple to Paris. This is no honeymoon. The pheromones have worn off and the excitement of romantic discovery has faded. Jack, played by Adam Goldberg, is an obsessive-compulsive, self-absorbed hypochondriac with a dry wit. Marion, acted by Julie Delpy, is a cute and quirky professional photographer who has escaped her native Paris to further an art career in America.
The film begins somewhat formulaically and a simple, light-hearted comedy is expected to follow. Jack is introduced to Marion’s family without being able to speak a word of French and there are some endearing moments as the family attempts to communicate. Yet the formula ends there. 2 Days in Paris is not merely a romantic comedy.
There are some wonderful moments in the film. Delpy’s editing is top-notch, with creative flashbacks and clever voiceovers that provide a literary insight into the characters. One sees the grit of Paris and its denizens rather than its celebrated monuments. (The closest we come to a monument is when the self-serving Jack directs a group of American tourists into a rough neighborhood so that he can take their place in a taxi line.) Marion’s family is delightfully acted by Delpy’s real parents. And Marion and Jack are so well portrayed that they truly do seem like they are in a relationship, and we are the voyeurs.
2 Days in Paris and Annie Hall
Comparisons of this film to Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Annie Hall have been made. Jack bears remarkable resemblance to Alvie Singer, and Marion at least initially shares the same vibrant naiveté as Diane Keaton. But the comparison should stop there. Unlike Woody Allen in Annie Hall, whose Alvie Singer was clearly aware of an audience – the character was a comedian, after all – Adam Goldberg’s jokes are intended only for himself. His cynicism is more grating than endearing. Marion, too, does at first seem like Diane Keaton in Annie Hall. But what we perceive to be naïve conversations flecked with sexual innuendos are intentional attempts by Marion to mask insecurities.
2 Days in Paris distinguishes itself through a series of subtle changes. The film can be divided up into three phases. In the first phase, the stage is set for a simple romantic comedy. The second phase subverts the formula with a deeper examination of the characters, undermining the previously shallow first impressions. Finally, the third phase stitches the story back together from the rubble of the subverted structure.
Again, it would have been simple for Delpy to make a romantic comedy. She has already established herself in such roles in Richard Linklater’s duo of films, Before Sunrise (1994) and Before Sunset (2004), in which she mastered clever and touching dialogues with Ethan Hawke. (I will confess that I was hoping that Two Days in Paris would simply be an updated shrink-wrap of Linklater’s films.)
But it is in the second phase – the deeper probing into the characters – that Delpy reveals her brilliance, as the wooden Jack and Marion gradually come to life. Adam Goldberg’s paranoia, for example, never lets up. What first appeared comical becomes an unbearable string of half-jokes and slurs. And because of the language barrier, Jack is forced to trust Marion to translate for him. He does not trust her – and as the film goes on he seems more and more justified.
Marion, too, loses her charming patina. Her seemingly innocuous flirtations with old friends, firemen, and lovers become more than coincidental. She also associates with some brutish, unsavory friends, all artists and writers, who boast to Jack about having given his girlfriend her first orgasm and the problems of hairy vaginas. Rather than support Jack’s attempts to learn her language and improve their communication, Marion snips that she can’t stand his accent.
Tension is further heightened during the third phase of the film. Jack is so annoying that Delpy’s flirtations seem the result of sexual frustration – they haven’t made love in several weeks (he complains that French and Italian condoms are too small). This makes her prone to surprising outbursts: throughout the film, Marion becomes enraged at the narrow mindedness of taxi drivers, picking fights with what she believes to be the backwards France that she left. Goldberg, who is at first easily blamed, starts to seem less at fault for Delpy’s actions. Indeed, while he seems to be the cause of Delpy’s effects, the longer the film goes on, the less one is able to attribute blame to either character. Delpy has been maintaining contact with her ex-lovers on the side, keeping them close in case her relationship goes sour. And, because she keeps her ex-lovers close, it is all the more likely that it will go sour. Jack contributes with a steady drip of cynicism.
The couple is, of course, headed for a major disagreement. When it comes it is convincingly done. The two rush off to their comfort zones – Jack to fast-food and Marion to an ex-boyfriend. But like real couples, comfort does not come without the other partner. Goldberg is rescued by an activist in a delightful cameo by Daniel Brühl. Marion attempts to sleep with her old lover but is unable to get over her love for Jack.
Daniel Brühl
Brühl appears as ‘The Fairy’ in the film, an activist who frees Goldberg from his descent into Parisian hell with some simple conversation. The character of The Fairy is a nod to Brühl’s anti-establishment role in The Edukators (Fetten Jahre sind vorbei, Die (2004)), arguably one of the best films of the decade. Brühl’s appearance is poignant for another reason: 2 Days in Paris parallels the three part structure of The Edukators: (1) formula; (2) subversion / destruction of the formula; (3) fashioning new relationships from the rubble.
The two lovers reunite in Marion’s apartment for a potential reconciliation. The characters have revealed their insecurities and there is room for greater understanding. And that’s all I will say. This is the most unexpected part of the film and it is worth watching for yourself.
2 Days in Paris is an important film, but it is not without drawbacks. Goldberg’s character could use a touch more likeability. His self-absorption requires a pressure release – maybe by making one of his jokes more snappy. It would also behoove Delpy to free herself from her tried and tested formula of playing a couple chatting in a European city. The denouement is somewhat underplayed, as Delpy decides to ‘tell’ rather than ‘show’ the conclusion. After such a nuanced exposition of the pitfalls of dating across cultures – and across people – it does not seem earned.
Whether or not you enjoy the ending, Delpy captures the challenges of dating for the ‘me’ generation. There is always a reason for treating someone badly, though rarely a justification. If blame accumulates, if the other person is always wrong, is that enough reason to break-up? Is a healthy relationship merely the transcendence of blame? 2 Days in Paris will leave you with more questions than answers, but forcing us to take those questions seriously elevates the film to art.
–Deji Olukotun
