new york, i love you

I saw New York, I Love You back in november and still can't get over it. It was another one of those films that hit my core. I need to find a better word than inspiring, perhaps invigorating. I actually wrote down my thoughts after seeing it. It was a jumbled up mess but I'll try to convey the jist of it. The human interaction was so raw, so real. I didn't even realize until much later that it was technically a collection of love stories. It felt so much more fundamental and intimate to be pigeon-holed into a romance genre. It was also just simply beautiful to look at. Some scenes were funny, others completely heart-wrenching, some shocking and some intriguing. One scene in particular stuck out the most, I won't give it away because the reveal of the actor was a delightful surprise. But it involves a man playing a young russian immigrant, I got so sucked into that scene and was distressed that it ended so soon.

And of course in relevance to this blog, it further deepened my desire to explore New York City and all it's facets. All the neighborhoods, the public transportation, the urban lifestyle. The directors, and even most of the actors really had a chance to show the world why they love the city so much.

"New York, I Love You" was the second film in (hopefully a long) series of films featuring one particular city. "Paris, Je'Taime" was the first. If you were expecting the same style, you'll be caught off guard. It was definitely different. If you haven't seen "Paris Je'Taime", it was essentially a mash up of a bunch of different short films by different directors that all took place in Paris. New York felt more in the style of Crash where it is one film covering a couple consecutive days during a set time period. There are separate scenes with their own characters that are focused on, and each scene was directed by a different person. But these storylines occasionally overlap and characters from different scenes meet. Also kind of like "he's just not that into you".

"Shanghai, I love you" is next. Maybe London will follow??