a man and a woman

What is so compelling about watching two people bicker? The human drama? The odd thrill of watching a train collide with another? Or is it simply another chance to watch one of the world's greatest actresses purge yet another personal and articulate performance? I'm going to go with the latter after watching the one and only Julie Delpy in her directorial debut, "2 Days in Paris." The set up is minimal and familiar for Delpy and her fans--a man and a woman talk, kiss, and walk around a European city. However, that reduction of her bristling new film doesn't quiet describe what is possible an antidote to the surging presence of the Man-Boy in popular entertainment that has resonated for quite sometime. I'm not sure where to pinpoint where exactly men became so insecure and inferior (Warren Beatty unable to get it up in "Bonnie & Clyde" could be a start), but it has almost because pervasive and offensive in its one dimensional portrayal of the modern man. I don't think it's exclusive to American entertainment but with films like "Knocked Up", "Little Children", and anything starring Will Ferrell, there seems to be something going on in our culture right now that frightens men and their long held power structure and dominance over women. Julie Delpy's Marion is assertive, passionate about what she believes in, and likes to do it on top. Without a doubt, this is all threatening and confusing to her doting American boyfriend, Jack, who tries to clamor on to some preconceived idea of masculinity, specifically in context to a relationship. The results are wildly engaging and a right step in the direction for Delpy's imminent directorial career.

Delpy has received a significant amount of obvious criticism that the film is too Woody Allen or is derivtive of a Woody Allen type film. Yes, there are bespectacled neurotic characters, witty dialogue, and situational comedic moments built around socially inept and paranoid characters, but that's about where the similarities end. And is that so much of a bad thing? Is this another way male criticism can digest and spit out their thoughts on a female filmmaker whose film is an uncompromising look at the nasty friction between two people. For whatever reason, Delpy has a style all of her own. It comes across as more situationally ogranic and devoid of fantasy, unlike most Allen films that find him paired with some goregeous vixen. Delpy and Goldberg make an excellent and accessible couple. Their frustrations and complications are interesting to watch because Delpy plays on the ideas of what it means from the female prospective to be in a relationship with a man who is constantly competing with her for power. She's a photographer, but he took the pictures on their Venice vacation. She wants to have sex on top, but he prefers to be on top. She runs into a handful of ex-boyfriends, but he can't be the Lothario in the bed she appears to be (a running joke about small condoms emphasizes the point). It goes on for much of the film where it reaches its apex in a beautifully shot scene where the couple splits for the better part of their day to realize with distance they may not know each other as well as they thought they did. Delpy very smartly asserts the point that it's not much reveling in their Peter Pan complex life stage, but how disappointing it is that in your mid-30s you can still be uncertain of yourself and how that can greatly effect any relationship, particularly the most intimate ones. One of the best scenes in the film is a moment in which we see Marion in her element as the pensive and observant photographer photographing the ruckus in the crowds during Fete de la Musique. She is swarmed by people unfettered by the taxing displeasure of modern relationships. This utopia of happy looking people allows her to fantasize for a moment of her and her boyfriend in the same place but cavorting in the most thrilled and exultant way, although intercut of her by herself looked depraved and sullen. Little does she know Jack is the in the same crowd, only yards away, and that is what makes this film such a resonate piece of work. With all of their misunderstandings of each other and their relationship, they do gravitate toward one another and something exists there.

The end is one of most sublime and perfect endings to a relationship film that I've seen since "Before Sunset", which ironically enough also stars Delpy. The Linklater films she and Ethan Hawke have been apart of suggest a dream of a relationship. It doesn't have its moments of despair and unrest, and so rather consciously. There are some minor quibbles in "Before Sunset" but nothing compared to the climatic fight between Marion and Jack. They say hurtful things and things they've been waiting to say and it makes you wonder if staying together is even necessary after two days of insecure and hurt feelings. How can they ever move forward if they can't figure themselves out in the now? Who can be in control? Marion's closing voice over monologue perfectly offers a solution that is punctuated with a shot full of ambiguity and dark charm. It's not your average date movie but it never wants to be nor should it. A man and a woman marooned in Paris for two days has never felt so fresh and original.