The Love in Quartier Enfants Rouges

Christina Bennett ENGL 101-043 Professor Rezendes November 7, 2012 The Love in “Quartier Enfants Rouges” As many people may know, love is a very complicated thing to understand. The film, Paris, Je T’Aime tries to show the audience many different perspectives of love in a series of short films. One of the short films in this collection is called “Quartier des Enfants Rouges”. In this short film, love is presented in a very different type of way because neither actor says they are “in love” with one another, they just express it without the other one knowing.

The clip “Quartier des Enfants Rouges”, directed by Olivier Assayas, presents a story line where love seems to not be the main focus in the clip, but drugs are. Actor Lionel Dray who plays “Ken”, portrays a character as a drug dealer in Paris who goes to a house party to look for one of his regular customers, Liz (Joana Preiss). Joana Preiss takes the role of a character who is in the town of Paris for an acting role in a movie. When Ken stops by the house to give her the drugs, they go to an ATM because she had no cash. As she was at the ATM, Ken was behind her and trying to touch her, showing the viewers that he cares about her.

After she got the cash, they went to the bar for a couple beers and she gave him her number, and told him he could stop by the casting set where she was filming the movie. As they were leaving the bar, he handed her the drugs and she gave him the money. When she was at her trailer later that night waiting to film for the movie, she called Ken and told him to come to her trailer and bring her drugs for her friend, when they were really for her. When her trailer door knocked, it was not Ken; it was one of his friends, Jeff (Nicholas Maury) and Ken had sent him out to give her the drugs.

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Liz seemed really upset because she wanted Ken to come and not Jeff. After reviewing this film, it is easy to realize that Liz and Ken have a very strange relationship. In the beginning of the clip, they start off as barely knowing each other, and only knowing each other because of drugs, to falling in love and not telling one another. Olivier Assayas is trying to inform the audience by showing that communication is a huge factor when it comes to love. Without communication, a relationship goes nowhere, no matter how much love is involved.

The actors present this well, because both Liz and Ken had feelings for each other, yet they both did not know so they were both left confused, and got nothing more out of the relationship. If Ken or Liz just could have said something, their relationship would go even further, and it is always good to know if someone has feelings or not. That is why communication is key in having a supporting and loving relationship. As a viewer of this film, the expectations someone may have are manipulated very quickly. Assayas makes his viewers think that the whole short film is about drugs and drug dealing, when the real story behind the drugs is love.

This is a very good way to get an audience hooked into watching the film, because it draws attention to the audience, and makes them think what the real point behind this film is. As I was watching the film, I got drawn it very quickly because of the whole drug theme, since it was different from all the other films in this movie. When I watched it the first time, I did not fully understand what the short film was about, because the theme of love was so subtle, I could barely recognize why it was even apart of this movie.

Since the ending left me with confusion, it just made me want to watch it again even more. Assayas does a wonderful job in getting his viewer’s attention because the plot and theme were different, and was unlike all the other love films that were easy to understand. This in my opinion, was overall the most well-thought out film, and had the best theme of love that was depicted. The film Paris Je T’Aime, shows the audience what love is all about. “Quartier des Enfants Rouges” shows that drugs are not the most important thing in keeping a relationship going, but communication is.

Communication is a skill that everyone needs and it makes relationships grow, and even make them stronger. Without communication, it will ultimately leave someone confused and hopeless, as shown by Liz’s reaction at the end of this short film. It is always safe to keep in mind that love is not easy to find, but when it does happen, express it. Works Cited Assayas, Olivier, dir. “Quartier des Enfants Rouges” Paris Je T’Aime, 2006. Perf. Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lionel Dray, Joana Preiss, Laetitia Spigarelli, Nicholas Maury. First Look, 2007. DVD.

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