Who's in It: Louis Garrel, Ludivine Sagnier, Chiara Mastroianni, Clotilde Hesme, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
The Basics: In modern Paris, a two-ladies-and-one-guy threegie relationship meets unexpected tragedy when one of the women drops dead. In the aftermath, the remaining partners temper their grief with new romance. They also break into song whenever they feel like it — 14 songs, to be precise — in this Once meets the French New Wave musical.
What's the Deal? It's not absolutely necessary to be one of those people who go all glassy-eyed over Paris, or to know about French cinema's weird take on the musical form, or to have seen any Truffaut movies, or to have read any J.D. Salinger, or to have watched Woman Is a Woman and The Young Girls of Rochefort over and over again. But director Christophe Honoré has. And he really wants to show you how much he loves all that stuff. Your only crime here would be not to care about his obsessions.
What the Director Carried Over With Him From His Last Movie, Dans Paris: The music obviously, which only figured in one time when two estranged lovers sang their reconciliation over the phone, but also nods to the nouvelle vague around every corner (the credits, the literary allusions, the general air of self-aware coolness) and castmembers Garrel and Alice Butaud.
How to Think of Honoré: As Tarantino minus the trashiness and bloodletting. Or Baz Luhrmann on Ritalin. If you hate that kind of pastiche, then you'll be annoyed. But he never winks at you and never mocks his material. He's a true believer in everything he steals.
Paris When It Drizzles: He also seems to have a thing for the city in winter. All the better to wrap your hottie cast in sexy scarves and sweaters while they sing their hearts out on the rainy streets, right?