The French romantic comedy is very well-trodden ground. Lovers have made love, quarrelled, and died in each others arms along the Seine since the birth of cinema. Much of this speaks to the romance of the 19th and 20th century literary traditions that bely the dark heart of a city that has seen bloody revolutions and fascistic atrocities. Writer-Director Jethro Massey integrates the dark history of the city and continent into his eccentric and bittersweet romance.
The film follows the turbulent friendship of Paul (Jérémie Galiana) and Paulette (Marie Benati) as they bond over a shared interest of the grotesque minutia behind histories greatest tragedies, atrocities and monsters. Both struggling with their romantic lives they find solace in each other and embark upon a journey of discovery across Europe.
Beyond the morbid humour, the film depends upon the chemistry of it’s characters. Paulette veers dangerously close to the manic pixie dream girl cliché, especially in her introduction recreating the execution of Marie Antoinette. She’s an eccentric for our leading man to be beguiled by. Fortunately, Massey and Benati temper her exuberance with something more brittle and knowing. She’s all whims and grotesque fascinations, but Benati plays her with a kind of interiority that suggests she’s more than meets the eye.
Paul (Thibault Desrosiers), on the other hand threatens to be a more generic character. Though established as something of a lothario in his interactions with women in his workplace, he is a fairly bland audience surrogate, through which we can experience other characters and events without thinking too much of the inner thoughts and feelings of our hero. It’s only in the final act that something in him begins to fracture. The morbid interests and humour that united the pair suddenly takes on a different meaning when Paul tries to pursue these interests alone. Without the context of their relationship, the true horrors finally take hold and he finally finds himself humbled.
Paul and Paulette effectively blends the historical with the personal. By rooting its whimsy in Europe’s shadowy past, Massey refuses to let his characters escape into pure fantasy. Instead the weight of history presses down against their laughter and longing. What lingers is the sense that love, however intoxicating, is as fragile and fleeting as the moments of joy that briefly defy history’s shadows.
Four Stars