Customer Reviews

Paris: City of Light [VHS]

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

This 58 minute video approaches Paris from a historical figure angle, starting with king St. Louis in the 1200's, using the life and influence of the figures on Paris to show buildings, landscapes, art, musice, cityscapes, gardens and music. The video spends as much as 5 minutes on important places like Notre Dame or the Effiel Tower, and in the end you have a good overview of what is worth seeing, and why, and some of the history that helps make the city what it is. I never knew that the Bastille was overthrown, Marie Antoinette & the King guillotined, in part because of the enormous debt the French governemnt ran up helping the American colonies fight the War of Independence against England.
At first the tone of the narrators makes you think they are talking to middle school kids, but it comes off fine and you could watch this video a couple of times and not get bored.

I don't know if they improved the focus quality or what, but I didn't detect the problem the earlier reviewers saw. This video is more than the average travelogue; it weaves in the history, art, sculpture, architecture and culture of the city. It shows the major sights: the Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triumph, Champs Elysees, Notre Dame, but also numerous lesser-known sights. It has a very educational and artsy slant- a lot of information is packed into this one-hour video.

One word for the "professionals" who shot this footage...Tripod!
Yep, its pretty much home movie quality here, but if you want the info and don't mind the shakes...go ahead, make their day and buy one!

I purchased this video and another from this collection as a gift for my father and was sorely dissapointed. The video quality was poor and mostly out of focus, making it impossible to enjoy.

I, too, found the quality of this video to be very poor. I would also caution any French teachers planning to purchase this video; a few scenes may be somewhat inappropriate for school children (however, French). There are much better videos with which to teach culture.