The human mind is often confused about its wants and needs. Especially in love. When you are young and navigating your way in life, the one thing you don’t want is to commit to someone for the long term. But what you don’t realize is feelings can creep up just like that, even when you think you’re in control. In Paris, 13th District, director Jacques Audiard navigates the uncertainty of these feelings with interwoven stories about four characters who are trying to find themselves and love.
The movie opens with Emilie (Lucie Zhang), a French-Taiwanese woman, having a fun-filled intimate night with Camille (Makita Samba), a high-school teacher working on his Ph.D. We go back to the moment they met when Camille was looking for a place near his school and found Emilie’s ad. Sex becomes the first step even before they agree on being roommates. One thing Camille makes clear to Emilie is that he likes to keep his personal life with no strings attached. In a whirlwind he moves in, they continue to have sex until they don’t. Their conflicting emotions become the epicenter of their relationship throughout the movie.
We are living in a time where we have become too dependent on technology. The internet has become our best friend. From sharing personal life to meeting people, we can do anything on the internet with a swipe and very few consequences. This leads to negativity and not caring for others.
This is where we meet Nora (Noémie Merlant) who has moved from Bordeaux to Paris to continue her unfinished university studies. New in town, she is eager to make friends. She attends a fresher party where she gets a lot of attention only to later find out that she resembles Amber Sweet (Jehnny Beth), a cam girl and porn star. Nora is bullied mercilessly by her classmates to the point she has a breakdown, which leads her to go back into the real-estate business. And as fate would have it, the stories merge as Nora meets Camille, who has taken a year off from teaching to help out his friend’s real estate agency. And soon the sparks of romance emerge between them.
One thing Audiard along with his co-writers Céline Sciamma and Léa Mysius do exceptionally well is finding those little moments between characters in search of their individuality. Because if you don’t know who you are, then how are you supposed to commit to another person for a lifetime? Each of the characters calls out each other's insecurities.
Emilie and Camille’s relationship grows because they are honest with each other. We see these two women finding common ground between their past relationships and within themselves. This sweet and tender part of the story feels like a fairytale. The only part that feels missing is Amber not getting her moments as other characters did.
The black and white cinematography by Paul Guilhaume is vibrant and astonishing to look at. The way characters are captured in their most intimate and free moments is beautiful to watch. One scene that stands out is when Emilie, after a long rut, finds a spur-of-moment one-night stand and arrives dancing happily in the restaurant.
Paris, 13th District is led by four phenomenal performances by Zhang, Samba, Merlant, and Beth. The natural chemistry these actors share between them is what makes you root for these characters. There is authenticity in the decisions they make. The sex scenes in the movie never feel exploitative and are placed in moments where they have a narrative impulse to drive the story and characters forward.
At first look, you will feel like this is another typical French movie with an attractive cast, sex, and love. But what you will find when you press play is a refreshing story that grabs you in the first frame. Audiard avoids the tropes of the confused millennial genre to tell a genuine story about people who want to grow, find love, make mistakes and live.
Chicago International Film Festival Review