Written by Mathias Malzieu and Stéphane Landowski
Directed by Mathias Malzieu
Starring Nicolas Duvauchelle, Marilyn Lima and Romane Bohringer
Language: French 
Running time: 1 hour and 42 minutes 
Unrated-contains mild smoking and drinking and some brief violence

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport 

“What if something extraordinary happened but you couldn’t tell no one.”

It is not everyday after punching out from a long day at work that someone finds an injured mermaid washed ashore in need of assistance. In Mathias Malzieu’s fantastical narrative feature debut, A Mermaid In Paris, Gaspard (Nicolas Duvauchelle) a quirky cocktail lounge crooner finds himself in this exact phenomenal predicament. 

There is so much that I loved about this wondrous film that I find myself a bit overwhelmed in trying to articulate my affections. The director created a magical world that made me imagine what it would have been like if Buster Keaton attempted to make a fairy tale. With the spellbinding backdrop of Paris, this film couldn’t be more charming. It did not surprise me to learn that Malzieu’s first feature Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (available now on Hoopla) was animated, for within his mermaid tale he manages to give the illusion that one is watching a live action painting. 

Trading his bright yellow roller skates for a tuk-tuk (tiny car) he loads the mermaid into the vehicle and maneuvers the Paris streets en route to the hospital with her shimmery fin blowing in the breeze. Unfortunately, this trip causes more grief than comfort and, after a murderous mishap, Gaspard decides to treat Lulu (Marilyn Lima) the mermaid’s wounds at his apartment. This film is filled with extraordinary events that are reminiscent of a mythical yarn come to life. Gaspard’s flat is filled with eccentric baubles, colorful curiosities, Johnny Cash memorabilia and oddities. I myself have a fondness for knick-knacks and trinkets and couldn’t help but fantasize of being in Gaspard’s striking abode. It would be in his best interest if he didn’t leave me alone for too long or he might discover later that possessions have grown legs and walked away 😏.

Lulu informs Gaspard that he needs to tread lightly and warns that men tend to fall madly in love with her only to find their heart to explode. Fortunately for Gaspard, he seems to be immune to her charms, unlike what was witnessed earlier at the hospital when a man succumbed to her enchantments. Not even the sound of Lulu’s transcendent voice can manage to have him fall under her spell. Instead, Gaspard seems to be happy enough to simply have a person to converse with, even if she is stuck in the bathtub and has accidentally mistaken one of his rubber duckies for food. In bandaging the wound on her fin, he learns that unless Lulu finds herself back in the water in two sunrises she will die. He agrees he will take her home in the morning. Meanwhile, the death of the man at the hospital sets his coworker/fiancée, Milena (Romane Bohringer)  on a mission to track down the blue blooded killer. 

When Gaspard wakes the next morning and finds that Lulu has yet to heal enough to be taken home, he decides to head into work but not before setting up a portable television to play an oceanic themed vhs tape. While he is out, his inquisitive and flashy neighbor Rossy (Rossy de Palma), stops by and gives Lulu the 4-1-1 on Gaspard’s past: meddlesome girlfriends (one which even tried to kill him, which Lulu admits she did too), the history of the Flowerburger-his family’s bar that has been struggling to make ends meet and of his loneliness. Lulu is intrigued by the cigarettes that Rossy leaves behind and accidentally sets the apartment ablaze. When Gaspard arrives home, he surmises that it may be best for all if Lulu were to return to the sea. Land life doesn’t seem to be working out. However, before she goes he offers her a final night out on the town filled with Parisian fish (quite possibly was a fish shaped fish stick of sorts) and the opportunity to record a killer song (literally) together. 

They create a vinyl record using a Voice-O-Graph, a musical contraption that allows one to record your voice and presto! like magic it spits out a physical copy. Afterwards, they each ready themselves to paint the town red, declaring it a farewell honeymoon. Rossy stops by to assist Lulu and even provides her with a beautiful dress for the evening. Gaspard finds himself entranced by her mythically marvelous appearance, with her 1950s pin-up girl style hair complete with a live fish curio tucked inside one of the curls atop her head. Lulu truly resembles a goddess of the sea. Their night couldn’t be more perfect, filled with champagne and aperitifs. Unfortunately though, Milena is hot on their trail and looks to break up their dream like evening. 

It is at this point that I feel the filmmaker got a bit off course for the story and takes a bit of an unneeded detour. Perhaps with another pass at the script a few extraneous scenes would have found themselves on the cutting floor. With that said, this slight diversion doesn’t take away from my adoration of the film itself. I loved being lost in this world and can only hope that I will visit again. 

Canadian film pals check out this flick here at Fantasia International Film Fest, Sunday, August 31st at 1pm.