Sparkling|Light Your World

The dollar is taking a beating against the euro, airline seats are shrinking, and you’re just too dang busy anyway. What’s a Francophile to do? Break out the wine, warm up the DVD player and conduct your own mini filmed in France festival with these five American movies shot on location in France, with the City of Light an integral part of each film.

Ronin
Robert De Niro and Jean Reno star as a couple of spies turned mercenaries in this well-written action flick. The movie begins and ends in Paris, but much of the film is set in the French Riviera. Directed by master filmmaker John Frankenheimer, Ronin contains one of the most thrilling chase scenes in the history of cinema, and there is a nice camaraderie between De Niro and Reno.

French Kiss
Meg Ryan goes to Paris to win back her errant fiancé and meets con man and thief Luc, played by Kevin Kline. Shot primarily in Paris and the French Riviera, this romantic comedy is a cinematic love letter to La Belle France. Kline’s French was so dead-on that when the movie was shown in France, quite a few of the audience members assumed he was an unknown French actor making his film debut.

Julie & Julia
At this point in your mini film festival you’ve probably had little to eat but popcorn, and the wine is making you a little light-headed. Better get something substantial in your belly, because this movie is definitely going to make you hungry. The lavish praise heaped on Meryl Streep for her performance as Julia Child is richly deserved, and the scenes shot in the Paris markets will make you feel as if you are there.

Taken
Admit it. You over-ate during Julie & Julia, didn’t you? This action flick is the perfect choice to snap you out of your post feast lethargy. Liam Neeson stars as a uniquely skilled (as in ex-spy) over-protective father on the hunt for his daughter’s kidnappers. The seedier aspect of Paris is showcased a bit in this film, but there is still plenty of the gorgeous side of the City of Lights shown as well.

An American Werewolf in Paris
As your mini filmed in France festival draws to a close, why not end it with something a little different? Humor, horror, romance; this next movie has it all. Tom Everett Scott and Julie Delpy star in a sequel of sorts to An American Werewolf in London. The critics publicly declared their disappointment with this film, but privately I suspect that many of them liked it quite a bit. It’s a guilty pleasure, to be sure, and even when filled with werewolves, it’s impossible to hide the beauty of Paris.