Film features character-driven plot

Despite its title, which translates to “Inside Paris,” the first quarter of this movie takes place outside Paris, in the countryside where Paul (Romain Duris) has been living with his girlfriend Anna (Joanna Preiss). The two soon split, sending Paul to live in his father’s Paris apartment and causing Paul’s younger brother Jonathan (Louis Garrel) to be left sleeping on the couch after ceding his room to his depressed sibling. From there, the story encompasses only a single day in Paris, detailing the brothers’ relationship with each other as well as the greater metropolitan area.

“Dans Paris” is shot in a laid-back but not unpolished style. In a few parts of this movie, Jonathan steps out of the action and addresses viewers, casting his character as a narrator and explicitly inviting the audience to observe Paul and Jonathan’s current situation.

Overall, “Dans Paris” is a solidly crafted movie with some minor imperfections. The narrative is built on organic, relaxed dialogue and interaction between characters, which leads to complete yet subtle character development. However, the character-driven plot at times caused the action to come slowly, and the movie dawdles in telling Paul and Anna’s backstory – a story that also manages to flash through time haphazardly.

The extras on this DVD are sparse and pretty typical of all DVDs – of the three special features, one is the movie’s trailer and another is a single deleted scene that consists of a tête à tête between Jonathan and his father.

The third, and most interesting, DVD extra is a short film by “Dans Paris” director Chrisophe Honoré titled “Rendez-Vous With Louis.” The short film is shot with a hand-held camera and follows Garrel through Paris as he converses with a group of socially retarded American tourists. It’s hilarious and infuriating to watch these four Americans, who speak no French and know nothing about French culture (and hardly anything of merit about American culture – one of them couldn’t even give a physical description of Woody Allen). The cultural insight this small movie makes the DVD extras worth perusing.