For many, Paris is a city of romance.  They imagine shopping the Champs Elysées, or strolling with a lover in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, or sitting in a café watching people pass by.   Beyond the tourist sights is a city filled with people—a wide variety of people—living their lives day by day.

Paris, je t’aime is a collection of eighteen short films by well-known writers and directors from around the world that celebrate the diversity of Paris and its neighborhoods.  Each section is set in a different Parisian neighborhood and gives us a glimpse into some of the many facets of this precious gem of a city.

In many ways, as the title implies, this is a film about loving Paris.  The filmmakers who took part in this project may not have previously been to the areas of Paris they filmed, but they all found something there that gave them an insight into the city.  And they each manage to give us their insight in a mere five minutes.

Naturally, when a film has so many contributors, some sections are better than others.  As I graded each short film, I came up with a nice bell curve of five As, nine Bs and four Cs.  None of the segments are all that bad; some of them are quite good.  The filmmakers also bring their own vision and themes to the segment they make.  We recognize the Coen Brothers’ bizarre view of life in “Tuileries.”  Alexander Payne’s “14ème Arrondissement” has the same qualities that made About Schmidt or Sideways so enjoyable.  The same humor found in The Triplets of Belleville is carried on in Sylvain Chomet’s “Tour Eiffel.”

Because Paris is so diverse (and because the filmmakers come from around the world), this is not a film that only looks at the French.  Some of the segments focus on immigrants and their place in Paris.  Others focus on tourists discovering the city.  Some have a social consciousness that focuses on the differences of religion and class.

Since Paris is a city that immediately brings romance to mind, many of the films are looks at love from many different perspectives—young love, parental love, older love, lost love.  The people involved in making this anthology are all skilled artists at portraying the human condition and the way love is so central to our lives—even when  that love changes over time.

One of the joys of seeing a film such as this is picking out one’s favorite pieces.  Of course, each person will have his or her own choices for what worked for them, or what didn’t.  The after-movie conversation will probably be filled with “I loved the one about...”  “But I really liked the one...”

So let me tell you a bit about my favorites.  I know I’m missing what may be your favorite, but we each get to pick our own.

The top of my list goes to “Loin du 16ème (Far from the 16th)” by Walter Salles (Central Station, Motorcycle Diaries) and Daniela Thomas.  It is the best example of social conscience as we see the irony of a young woman dropping off her child in day care and traveling into the city to spend the day as a nanny to a wealthy mother’s child.

Nearly as good is Tom Tykwer’s (Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior) “Faubourg Saint-Denis” as a blind man remembers the day he met his girlfriend after he has a phone call from her that says it’s time they moved on.  Here the blind lead the seeing.  Reversals abound.

Also in my top rank is Payne’s “14ème Arrondissement.”  This is the final piece of the film and it is the perfect way to bring it to a close.  Another of Payne’s solitary characters who finds life and celebration when we least expect them to.

If you’re into sweet stories, you may gravitate to “Montmartre” or “Quais de Seine” or “Père-Lachaise” (Wes Craven’s romantic comedy!).  If you want to look briefly into the struggle of grief, perhaps “Place des Victoires” or “Bastille” will stay with you.

Paris, je t’aime is not so much a travelogue as it is a discovery of the life in that city, and the discovery that the life there is also the life we come across each day.