Six in Paris (1965) review

Quaint, earthy project initiated by producer/actor (and eventually director) Barbet Schroeder to get together some of the best filmmakers in France and have each shoot a short (10-15 minutes long) in a particular section of Paris. As a rule, omnibus films don't work, but these are quite interesting, especially Godard's teaming-up with cameraman Albert Maysles to shoot his film about a woman who tries juggling two boyfriends and loses them both and Douchet's parody of French male suaveness and a gullible tourist girl. But for the most part, the tone of the shorts is rather pessimistic - Rouch's ends in suicide, Chabrol's in accidental death, Douchet's in rejection - and the time restriction limits the depth of the stories. Many people rave about the Rouch piece, but I think it's the weakest of the six - he's much better suited for non-fiction than for wooden drama.