Paris has inspired every kind of artist over the years, from Impressionist painters right down to literary giants. However the city shines the brightest on the movie screen, serving as the backdrop to numerous movies over the past century.
Even before French directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut launched a cinematic movement in the 1960s, Hollywood showcased the sheer beauty of Paris in light and breezy musicals and romances.
Since then, we’ve seen the city shine in animated movies, white-knuckle thrillers, gritty biopics and a whole lot more. Regardless of the genre of the film, one thing’s for sure: The City of Light sure knows how to steal a scene. Here are the best movies that will transport you to Paris—no plane ticket needed.
Amélie
Audrey Tautou stars as the title character, Amélie, who is a charmingly quirky introvert who decides to take it upon herself to better the lives of other people for the better while unintentionally helping herself in the process.
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
The sixth instalment of the Mission Impossible spy film series that was written, produced and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, provides a thrilling taste of the French capital. As Hollywood star Tom Cruise is tangled up in a frenetic car chase through the boulevards of Paris in order to secure a dangerous dose of plutonium, the landmarks come to life like never seen before. From a helicopter flight soaring over the Eiffel Tower to a parachute landing on the glass roof of the Grand Palais, and from running the wrong way around the usually busy Arc de Triomphe to a speedboat chase below the tunnels of the Canal Saint-Martin, there’s never a dull moment in Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Midnight In Paris
A screenwriter and an aspirant novelist Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) journeys to Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her family. While Gil has a sentimental and romanticised view of Paris, particularly in the rain, Inez doesn’t share the sentiment. After a maddening night out with her family, he chooses to walk alone back to the hotel.
As the clock strikes midnight, a classic car pulls up next to him, and a crowd of strangers invite him to join them for a ride. The car transports him back in time to Paris in the 1920s, which is a time he sees as the ideal place to be.
Gil meets many art and literary icons and an interesting woman named Adriana. The time with cultural heroes of the past makes him think about his relationship with Inez and his dissatisfaction with the present.
The Da Vinci Code
This movie is a Ron Howard thriller that is as exciting as a game of live casino roulette online. The Da Vinci Code is based on the novel of the same name by author Dan Brown. It recounts a murder in the famous Louvre Museum. After the victim’s body is discovered in a pose of the Vitruvian man, symbologist and Harvard professor Robert Langdon (who is played by Tom Hanks) is called in to help on the case.