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Paris 36
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 1 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Christophe Barratier
Directed by: Christophe Barratier
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 3, 2009
DVD: August 11, 2009
Running Time: 120 minutes, Color
Origin: France | Germany | Czech Republic
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for some sexuality and nudity, violence and brief language
Starring Gerard Jugnot, Kad Merad, Nora Arnezeder, Nora Arnezeder, Pierre Richard, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Maxence Perrin, and François Morel
The setting is Spring 1936 ; a working-class district in the north of Paris. In the center of town there is a small square, a few shops, lopsided buildings, cobbled streets and the peeling façade of the neighborhood music hall, the Chansonia. In this blue-collar neighborhood, the triumphant election of the Popular Front government is greeted with enthusiasm and hopes for a brighter tomorrow, yet stirs up all kinds of extremism. Among the new government's promises is a law guaranteeing paid holidays for workers. In early May, three residents of the Faubourg – Pigoil, Milou, and Jacky – still sulk over the closing of the Chansonia four months ago. Supported by the locals who live to the rhythm of Monsieur TSF's radio, the three friends decide to take hold of their destiny by producing the "hit" musical the Chansonia has always needed. (Sony Pictures)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York Post Lou Lumenick
A gleaming hunk of French period schmaltz expertly rendered by director Christophe Barratier.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Paris 36 has a beguilingly authentic sound and offers a blend of impassioned sentiment and harsh, even brutal grit
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer
The film is deliberately old-fashioned in its approach; the story line is resolutely linear and the production values are deluxe. It all makes for a fairly enjoyable, if schematic, backstage extravaganza.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's pleasant and amusing. If I had seen it before I was born, I would have loved it.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The nicest that can be said of this unapologetically schmaltzy, and not unenjoyable, affair is that it is the best 1936 musical made in 2009.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Barratier directs with a jaunty artifice more typically seen on stage, but with the exception of Arnezeder, his cast turns theatricality to its advantage. They're offering us a sunny fantasy during a cloudy time, and seem well aware that we're unlikely to resist.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
Politics and art come together in predictable, moderately enjoyable fashion in Paris 36.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Mike Mayo
A handsomely made French musical that never really soars.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A little like spending the holidays with strangers. The spirits are high, the relationships are warm, the personal stories have a shared history, and even though you're on the outside of things, you appreciate the people in a remote and perhaps admiring sort of way. Still, when it's time to leave, you're not sorry.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps
The overstuffed film lumbers across clichés of the heart and of history until it reaches a big, tune-filled climax that isn't worth the wait.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Hopelessly amateurish, the troupe is saved by a remarkably pretty young blonde called Douce with a sweet soprano to match her angel face. The gifted, unknown actress-singer who plays her, Nora Arnezeder, also saves the movie, which would otherwise blur into a mass of droopy, mustached, big-honkered Gallic character actors.
Read Full Review >Variety Eddie Cockrell
Schematically scripted tale revels in its multiple story arcs, but shows signs of battle fatigue in the later reels.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Peter Brunette
The movie is almost rescued by the wonderful 1930's style songs (written by Reinhardt Wanger and Frank Thomas) that populate its final act.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
The movie is essentially a pastiche, as musty as a flea market.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ethan Gilsdorf
In short, the financial crisis and social upheaval of 1930s France never looked so appealing.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
In the end, it's much ado about nothing. Oh, the ennui, the ennui.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Melissa Anderson
Like Amélie's scrubbed-up "City of Lights," Paris 36 is an antiseptic arthouse trifle, so eager to soothe that it only numbs.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
So shameless in its pandering, sentimental vision of Frenchness as to constitute something of a national embarrassment.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It's like a pastry that's been sitting on the shelf for 60 years.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
