A shamelessly melodramatic series of romantic, financial and politi cal crises embroil a rundown music hall in “Paris 36,” a gleaming hunk of French period schmaltz expertly rendered by director Christophe Barratier.
Will the heartbroken manager (Gerard Jugnot) attempting to reopen the theater finally reunite with the accordion-playing son whisked away by his ex-wife? Will the gorgeous young chanteuse (Nora Arnezeder) choose the leftist stagehand (Clovis Cornillac) or the venue’s sleazy
middle-age owner (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) with criminal connections?
Will the bill-topping comedian (Kad Merad) regret embracing the landlord’s anti-Semitic fascist pals? And what role does old Monsieur Radio (the delightful Pierre Richard), who hasn’t left his flat in 20 years, play in all of this?
The answers aren’t at all surprising, which may be precisely the charm of “Paris 36.” Barratier’s fanciful follow-up to “Les Choristes” seems to be set not in the actual Paris of 1936 but an idealized movie version where the coming Nazi invasion could be at least temporarily delayed by a few snappy songs.
In French, with English subtitles.Running time: 120 minutes. Rated PG-13 (violence, sexuality, nudity). At the Paris, the Union Square.