The city of Paris is a city of wanderers. Such is the case of Fiona Gordon, a wanderer par excellence. When her not so with-it aunt Martha (the late Emmanuelle Riva) summons her to Paris, Fiona embarks on a wild old-lady chase with the help of the disturbing yet endearing hobo, Dom (her real-life Belgian husband, Dominique Abel). No, it's not your Côtes du Rhône-infused daydream. It's "Lost in Paris."
Fiona is an icon for all of us awkward people out there. How she manages to fall in the Seine (multiple times), lose all of her documents, and still end up in one piece at the end is a miracle of nature. When she meets Dom on a dinner boat on the Seine, the two are haplessly entwined in an adventure to save Martha from the fate of nursing home imprisonment. It's much more fun to see the dynamic dame on the loose, anyway.
In a series of unexpected encounters, silly situations, and ridiculous tableaux, the film pays homage to everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Amélie Poulain to Wes Anderson, all in the span of one hour and twenty-three minutes. And every minute is delightful.
It's truly a film that you don't really see anymore these days, whose blatant innocence is infectious. There's a beautiful ode to Singin' in the Rain, a champagne toast to Paris's own Lady Liberty, and a troublesome dog that keeps getting into everyone's business. "Lost in Paris" is a spunky serenade to the mysterious city of Paris, and its transformative magic.
