Under Paris

Recently, I watched the movie “Under Paris” on Netflix and I enjoyed it more than I expected.

The movie is about a dangerous shark, the first of her kind, which ends up in the River Seine due to climate change, and the struggle a scientist and the policemen go through to save the people of Paris.

The movie opens with a scientist, Sophia (Bérénice Bejo) and her group who are tracking a shark called “Lilith” and the horrible incident that follows. Then, it jumps to three years later and we see Sophia getting involved with a group of environmentalists who want to save the shark (Lilith) in the river Seine by leading her back into the ocean.

The movie in general draws attention to climate change but I think it misrepresents environmentalists from time to time with some scenes. For example, like the scene where we see Mika (Léa Léviant), who is a lead environmentalist, diving in the river Seine when it is absolutely prohibited by the policemen due to the cannonballs in the river. It does not only show her as a vigilante but also as a dumb person since she dives in a river full of cannonballs and with a shark nearby without much precaution and equipment.

Another scene is where Mika gathers people in a catacomb, where Lilith is around, and gets in the water with a device which she believes will draw Lilith towards her. When Sophia and the policemen arrive, they try to warn her, but she claims that sharks won’t attack people, right before Lilith attacks and kills her and many other people. I see that the movie is kind of based on the conflict between the environmentalists and the policemen but the representation between the two sides was unfair. I think the character Mika was annoying to the point where the audience would like her to be eaten by Lilith. Considering what Mika was supposed to represent in the movie, I am not sure if it was the right approach.

The lighting of a scene can be used by the cinematographer to establish the tone or atmosphere. In the movie, brighter lighting in outdoor Paris scenes and darker lighting in underground scenes heighten the mystery or anxiety which highlights the contrast between above and below the city. The color palette also serves in favor of this contrast but it is good that the colors for darker scenes are not pale. Though there are critics of the script, I liked how they tried to keep it scientific rather than relying on supernatural phenomena.

Overall, I would rate the movie 7/10.