A Monster in Paris

In 1910; the story begins by documenting the flooding of the River Seine that year. Thousands of residents living near the river have already been evacuated. The residents of the city use boats or a series of wooden pathways to get across the city. The water reaches 20 feet above the normal and has even reached the foot of the Eiffel tower. Shy projectionist Emile (Jay Harrington) has a passion for film and is in love with his co-worker at the cinema, Maud (Madeline Zima). As Emile daydreams about asking Maud on a date, the belt of his projector apparatus breaks down and he has to use his own personal belt to complete the movie for the patrons of the cinema. His friend, an exuberant inventor and delivery driver, Raoul (Adam Goldberg), picks him up from work to transport him in his bizarre vehicle (called “Catherine” which runs on sunflower oil), to obtain a new belt for his projector. In purchasing a new belt, Emile also buys himself a new camera, which is almost stolen by a thief. The thief is defeated when he runs into Catherine. Raoul tells Emile to write Maud a letter to describe his feelings, since Emile cannot summon the courage to talk to her directly. Lucille (Vanessa Paradis) is Raoul’s childhood friend: a cabaret singer at the club L’Oiseau Rare (“The Rare Bird”). Lucille’s aunt Carlotta (Catherine O’Hara) tries to marry her to the wealthy Police Commissioner, Victor Maynott (Danny Huston). Lucille promises Raoul the best seats in the house if he ever comes in with a Medal of Honor. One evening, Raoul brings Emile to make a delivery to the Botanical Gardens. In the absence of the Professor who works there (who is now attending a conference in New York), the place is guarded by his assistant, a proboscis monkey named Charles. The Professor had left explicit instructions not to touch anything, but Raoul isn’t much inclined to follow them. Raoul finds the Professor’s lab inside the Botanical gardens. Here, Raoul experiments with an “Atomize-a-Tune” mixture (which was made by the professor) which temporarily gives Charles the voice of an opera singer and an unstable “super fertilizer” which instantly grows a sunflower seed into a giant sunflower, which topples towards Raoul and Emile. Raoul and Emile notice that the seed started growing when it was thrown into the water, and it absorbed a large amount of water during the process. In the ensuing disorder, an explosion occurs when the two chemicals are mixed. Everyone is unscathed, but Emile is convinced he has glimpsed a monstrous creature (7 foot tall, red blazing eyes, 4 arms and spikes all over the body), a photo of which later appears in the newspapers. An investigation is launched into the whereabouts of the creature by Maynott’s second in command, Pate (Bob Balaban), but is fronted by Maynott, in the hope of popular support for his mayoral candidacy. Maynott’s popularity has been sinking with the city of Paris. At the same time, he tries unsuccessfully to seduce Lucille. Emile and Raoul develop the film from Emile’s camera (since he was recording inside the Botanical Gardens). They clearly see the monster they have created. Meanwhile, Lucille is trying to find a new musician for her show, and turns down the cabaret’s waiter, Albert (Matthew Geczy). Trying to vacate the cabaret, Albert stumbles across the creature and flees, terrified. Upon seeing the creature, Lucille is frightened, but hears it sing and discovers it is not dangerous but has a lovely singing voice. She therefore welcomes it, under the name of Francoeur (Sean Lennon) (meaning “honest heart”). It is then revealed that the creature is a flea that the fertilizer, in the middle of all the other chemicals in the laboratory explosion, enlarged to human scale. During the investigation, Emile and Raoul’s role in the laboratory incident is discovered. For Maynott’s interest in the creature, they receive the Medal of Honor. Pate concludes that a flea from Charle’s coat got mixed up in the chemicals and became the monster. On a challenge set earlier by Lucille, Raoul uses this to get the best seats at Lucille’s show at “The Rare Bird”, where Francoeur and Lucille sing as a duet. After the show, Emile and Raoul congratulate Lucille on her show, but Lucille reveals the identity of Francoeur, which Albert reports to the police. Emile, Raoul, and Francoeur narrowly escape, and Albert is arrested on suspicion of lying to the police. The following day, Maynott opens the Montmartre Funicular, which serves Montmartre and the Basilica of the Sacré Coeur. The trio, along with Francoeur and Charles, decide to feign the death of the creature. When Maynott discovers the creature hiding under the stage, Francoeur and his friends are chased through the streets of Paris by Maynott. The chase concludes at the tip of the Eiffel Tower. After a battle to protect Francoeur from Maynott, a gunshot from Maynott and Francoeur’s sudden disappearance leads everyone to believe he is dead. Maynott is then arrested by Pate for premeditated murder (on the basis that Francoeur is innocent), while Emile and Maud fall into each other’s arms. Later that evening Lucille is distraught by the disappearance of Francoeur; but Raoul convinces her to sing anyway. Whilst struggling to begin, she hears Francoeur, restored to his natural size, sing in her ear. Sometime later, the absent Professor returns from his trip; and when the three friends explain the situation, he permanently returns Francoeur to human size. Francoeur receives second billing on the posters advertising Lucille’s show. Lucille and Raoul later share their first kiss in Lucille’s dressing room. In a flashback, it is revealed that Raoul misunderstood Lucille’s intentions when she took his toy truck as a child-she had hoped that he would pursue her. In a mid-credits scene, Raoul, Lucille, Francoeur, Maud, Emile, Charles, Carlotta, and Pate scatter super-fertilized sunflower seeds to drain the flooded Seine. In a second post-credits scene, Maynott is shown in the same cell as Albert and the thief from earlier, forced to endure the duo’s appalling singing.

Last Updated: August 20, 2025 at 13:16