In Rome, time to go … uh, French

We attended the final day of the Rome International Film Festival on Saturday, though the trip there and the final destination — the Auditorium Parco della Musica — were more impressive than the film we saw.

The film, which won the festival’s jury prize, is an overwrought exercise in melodrama titled “Voyez come ils dansent. ” Directed by Claude Miller, it just happens to be French, though set mostly in a train traveling across Canada. It’s all about a young woman, the wife of a theatrical performer (kind of a blend of Jerry Lewis and, say, some Cirque du Soleil performer), who we see heading across Canada intent on making a documentary. En route, we slowly get to see the story of her dissolving marriage and we meet the woman who helped the process.

Blah-blah-blah.

I was impressed by James Thierree , who in real life is a tightrope walker, though I couldn’t stand his character. The two actresses, Marina Hands as the wife, Maya Sansa as the Other Woman, are intriguing to look at, though far less impressive when they are asked to deliver lines. Overall, the film feels like a mashup of conflicting emotions and styles, and not in a good way.

Far more impressive was our bus trip to the destination, set where the 1960 Rome Olympics were held. After getting off the tram from the Piazzale di Flaminio, we walked past groups of buildings set along streets marked after different countries — clearly places where various Olympians had been housed, now serving as private apartments.

Afterward, while standing at the stop waiting for bus 217 to take us back to our own apartment, I thought: Wow, I came all the way to Rome to see a crappy French movie. Hey, I could have accomplished that at the Magic Lantern.

Below : The trailer for “Voyez comme ils dansent” (“See How They Dance”).