Roaring 20’s is presented as a 90-minute single take that moves through the streets, parks, and metro systems during golden hour in Paris. We glide along with the camera, passing between two dozen performers on one day in 2020, just as one might overhear many conversations if taking a late afternoon wander through a city. The film, shot, and directed by Elisabeth Vogler, is a kaleidoscopic promenade; an ode to metropolitan creativity in a time of unrest and great potential.
Due to the nature of this vignette structure, every individual audience member will find themselves drawn to particular characters and conversations while being less invested in some others. The film has an excellent sense of rhythm as it balances vignettes of dense conversation with quieter moments of simply moving through the city (which is an excellent opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of present-day Paris). These short scenes explore a wide variety of ideas and portray many different kinds of relationships.
The filmmaking itself is an incredibly impressive feat of visual beauty while also cleverly managed. You either go into the movie knowing it’s all in one shot, or you very quickly realize the concept of what you’re witnessing. Either way, most audience members with the slightest interest in filmmaking will start looking for the seams while trying to figure out exactly how the logistics of the choreography works. Even something as seemingly simple as crossing the street becomes a matter of timing as a performer may have to fill a silence while waiting for the crosswalk. In one section, a character on a motorcycle takes a corner, and a truck pulls up in between the performer and the camera. This is clearly an obstacle that arose naturally, and you’re able to watch how those on camera and behind the camera both adapt to the situation to keep the film rolling. While these sorts of moments are rare, the few that do happen call some attention to themselves.
Fortunately, the film is smart enough to know that people are going to have this sort of aesthetic distance and so it plays into the ensemble nature of the piece in a sort of heightened and even theatrical manner. At times, it feels like we’re watching a cast perform a play, but this seems intentional. Rather than only presenting a slice-of-life look at contemporary Paris, director Elisabeth Vogler has something specific to say and is gently shaping the structure around her ideas. As many of the film’s ensemble members are relatively young, the film ultimately feels like a call to young people in the wake of the year behind us and as a promise to the future ahead. The film’s surprising and powerful conclusion provides a new context to everything seen prior, as it breaks from all realism to acknowledge that this is a piece of art. We all move forward together as the sky watches.
Roaring 20’s was filmed just after the two-month-long Covid lockdown in Paris was lifted. These streets are filled with reunion and returning; what felt like a miracle for so many. The successful completion of this risky venture feels like its own little miracle; lightning in a bottle to serve as a poignant time capsule of a moment. A moment when we get to decide how life moves forward from this point on.
“Did you know that a century only really starts with the ‘20s?” one character theorizes.
For all of us, it begins now.
