Under the Paris Sky

It is a pleasure to find a movie about Paris that does not portray the same old ruts etched by endless waves of tourists. Though Julian Duvivier wrote and directed Under the Paris Sky for a French audience, no one should miss the picture he has painted of a complex, living organism--Paris.

The film consists of several sub-plots, each portraying a day of crisis in the life of some one in Paris. The characters range from a little girl, who does not go home with her report card, to a psychotic sculptor, "a deamer, tied to the shadow of his dreams," who slits the throats of lovely young women. As the film progresses, the sub-plots start to feed back into each other. Where the spearate threads ran parallel, they begin weaving together, losing their more unique characteristics and emeging into an overall picture of a functioning city. Where La Ronde was a circle, Under the Paris Sky is a tapestry.

The English titles are stated simply, and follow the French closely. Because the photography is excellent, few words are necessary. Jumping back and forth from one thread to another, the camera achieves excellent transitions, and at the same time keeps the picture from fading. Under the Paris Sky is an absorbing treatment of a day in a large city.