Despite the good direction, and some of the acting this film depicts Paris as a sort of Hell by night; redeemed in the morning. I am not sure I buy that vision or the basis for that vision of it. The film shows prostitution, clairvoyants to be seen in the middle of the night, a church which seems to be the home of a visiting demon called Damien and a little boy who probably comes from heaven to save our main character. I must also mention a gay night club that is lit by fiendish red colours and the usual clutch of rather unpleasant men in search of a quick sex fix. The sex is depicted and frankly it was both explicit and coy. This is what I saw, and for the first half of the film until the end of the demon in the church business I was with the film all of the way, but after I felt that I was losing interest in both the main character and the scenario. Giving away as few spoilers as possible ' Down in Paris ' is about a film director on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and he spends the whole of one night in Paris to find out if he is going to stop working or carry on. In this context he has all the above incidents but like a jigsaw puzzle I will let viewers sort out the pieces. Now for the acting. Antony Hickling the director should not have cast himself as the director. I think as a director of the film would have been sufficient, and in my opinion, he should have given the role to the excellent actor of ' Theo and Hugo, ' Geoffrey Couet the role. Instead Couet is given a minor role when he deserved better. Among the others in the cast I liked Dominique Frot as the clairvoyant and her time on screen is superb. I give this film a reluctant six and will probably watch it again. But Hickling directs very well and that is quite an achievement for such a complex film.
Review of Down in Paris
