Paul & Paulette Take a Bath (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts | A Paris rom-com for the macabre - video Dailymotion

Film Brain

Film Brain joins an eccentric young couple on a journey around Paris exploring the darker side of history with the lighter side of romance in a very quirky and movie, that's sure to be a cult hit for Letterboxd fans.

Transcript

00:00If you go to Paris to take a bath with Paul and Paulette, you'll find a rom-com for the macabre.

00:05Jeremy Galliana and Marie Bonetti play the title couple, who meet cute at the spot where Marie

00:10Antoinette was executed, and from there they start an unusual relationship as they travel

00:15across Paris and Europe to the sites of historical crimes and tragedies. But things change when their

00:20game and their dynamics starts to get too real. The feature debut of writer-director Geoffro

00:26Massey, who lives in Paris himself, Paul and Paulette take a bath as a very unconventional

00:31romance, starting with a somewhat provocative premise. There's something very interesting

00:36about the idea of visiting these places years or decades after the events occurred that still

00:42had this significance, and that clash between romanticism and dark history is Paris' culture

00:47and identity. Paulette has an especially morbid curiosity because of her own guilt, and wants

00:53that connection to a past that is not that distant and can still be seen and palpably

00:58felt even now. And it initially starts with something of an ironic detachment and warped

01:03humour, but then gets darker as it progresses, such as the titular scene where they effectively

01:08reenact the infamous Lee Miller photo in Hitler's bathtub. It gets progressively more uncomfortable

01:14until the climax, where things do go too far and the horror becomes too raw and recent to avoid,

01:20and the film ultimately criticises the characters for their voyeurism, although some might think the

01:26film itself goes too far there. It's a tricky tonal-type rope of light and dark that, if misjudged,

01:32could be distasteful, but I found the film charming enough to balance it out, although I could fully

01:37understand people finding the very offbeat sensibility irritating. That's in large part because

01:42of the terrific chemistry between the two leads, who have a playfulness and joy about them, and yes,

01:47even a bit sexy at times. Paul clings too much to the past, while the Elvis-idolising, lemon-biting

01:54Paulette is so eccentric that she flirts with being a manic pixie dream girl, but Bernardi gives her a

01:59spiky edge that reminded me of Eva Green. That's also helped by a bittersweet edge that both of them

02:05have other relationships with on-again, off-again partners that complicate things. And the film looks

02:11fantastic, with great cinematography and colourful costumes that are very evocative of both the new

02:16wave and, by extension, Wes Anderson as well. The visual look just pops. I think the film started

02:22to lose me around the time we met Paulette's estranged parents, but I still ultimately enjoyed

02:27the trip. It's a film that feels tailor-made for letterbox users, and I mean that as a compliment.

02:32It'll be divisive, but this is a love story like them stylish, and yeah, just a little bit weird.

Paul & Paulette Take a Bath (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts | A Paris rom-com for the macabre

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