This film uses a single unbroken long take to weave its way through the streets of Paris, eavesdropping on many conversations along the way. We may only hear snippets of some, before the camera moves on to the next stop. On paper, this is a very interesting concept.
Firstly the technical aspects. The long shot approach has been done before with varying degrees of success. I can certainly appreciate long, intricately planned scenes that take place in more traditionally made films, some of the best come from masterpieces like Goodfellas and Magnolia. The single-shot entire films don't always seem to make the most of their delivery system for me, and can sometimes feel like a gimick. The German Film Victoria ((2015) a young female tourist makes friends on a night out and ends up on something of a crime spree with deadly results) and the famous Russian Ark ((2002) a walk through a Russian museum encountering historical figures) both use the technique employed in Roaring 20s - and in this case, I liked the way it was shot entirely on the move (not to mention it is a good looking film) but I'm not convinced that cuts would spoil it. I believe the technique was used to show that all these conversations, human interactions, lives - although very different - are all happening simultaneously. Cuts may suggest time passing, which could diminish the message - so that is understood.
Note: consider The hugely underrated Elephant ((2003) recently listed on a certain Really Great films under 90 minutes list) that uses different takes of conversations and events also happening concurently, but shown consecutively. In most shots, there are things we have seen previously happening in the background for instance, showing us that they all took place together, yet separately. This is a more interesting method for me personally.
So other than all that, I felt that it was the dialogue that lost me - a pretty major problem for a film which relies so heavily on the verbal content. It seemed each conversation we sampled was highly intellectual and designed to convey a greater meaning, a moral implication to find within it - which got old before the end. All sorts of themes were covered, I'm sure you can guess - race, love, sex, mental health and of course politics are just a few. As a result it felt long, self righteous, slightly like a lecture and in a strange way quite hard work. The French have an affinity for philosophy (I recently watched Funny Face (1957) which said about as much in one of it's funnier scenes) and this film seemed to be playing up to that. Half way through I found myself wishing for just a normal everyday conversation, a way to just enjoy everyday life through the thoughts of others, as you might do walking around a city like Paris for real. I couldn't help thinking that a couple of passages of interesting yet random, unremarkable dialogue written by a Kevin Smith or a Tarantino, would have offered some welcome respite for me.
I think its also worth saying, I'm sure this is one that could have equally really spoken to and moved other people. SPOILER ALERT - The finale was all the people we had seen come together and sing a song, which I found sickly, but by then I had already made my mind up by then.
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