“Paris,” Cedric Klapisch’s new film, provides homage to the famed city, to the human condition and to the bittersweet, sometimes unfathomable emotional range that people go through in life.

Titling the film simply “Paris” suggests that the writer/ director intended to make the city a character in the film. He has succeeded.

Working with director of photography Christophe Beaucarne, Klapisch opens with sweeping vistas of the city, breathtaking in their beauty. Whether you love Paris or not, you realize the city is inspirational, as well as complex.

The plot has almost an Altmanesque ramble to it, with three loosely intertwined stories.

Pierre (Romain Duris) is a dancer with a life-threatening heart condition. His sister, Elise (Juliette Binoche, the most familiar face to American audiences), takes a leave of absence from her job to care for him, moving with her three children into his apartment. In their interactions, Binoche and Duris achieve a fine blend of adult alienation and shared childhood memory.

Roland (Fabrice Luchini) is a respected history professor suffering a midlife crisis. He obsesses over a student and “sells out” by narrating a tourism DVD. His younger brother, Philippe, an architect, is about to become a father. Meanwhile, their father has just died. Luchini is brilliant and heartbreaking; particularly when he dances in his apartment, with his young lover watching.

Blue-collar life is represented by a group of market workers. Caroline (Julie Ferrer) is the mother of a schoolmate of one of Elise’s children. Caroline tends an outdoor fruit stand; the array of men around include a crude bunch of fishmongers. Jean (Albert Dupontel), Caroline’s ex-husband, is her boss; their relationship is another that Klapisch explores in his calm yet impactful portrait.

The film is neither hurried nor over-explained. For example, Elise has no husband, is obviously lonely, but the question of men in her past is barely addressed.

The least successful subplot touches upon an immigrant family from Cameroon. A man in Paris sends for his brother, Benoit (Kingsley Kum Abang), who is shown in his homeland attempting to make the arduous journey to the land of opportunity.

A side story highlights the cliche of the snobbish, ugly Parisian. Karin Viard, as a bakery shop owner, harangues a series of shop assistants while pandering to her customers. The adorable and sweet Sabrina Ouazani, as Khadija, finally manages to please her. Khadija is that rare person whose natural serenity doesn’t let petty things like a racist boss get to her.

Original music by Loik Dury, plus evocative selections, make the soundtrack almost as integral as the cinematography.

Without big Hollywood pat resolutions, there is still satisfaction in the exploration, even in the mystery, of these almost impressionistic stories. Brothers, sisters, lovers, strangers; small daily interactions and huge life-changing events; they are all just part of life, Klapisch seems to be saying.

PARIS

Three stars

STARRING: Juliette Binoche, Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini

DIRECTOR: Cedric Klapisch

RUNNING TIME: 134 minutes

RATING: Rated R for language and some sexual references. In French with English subtitles.

THE LOWDOWN: Loosely intertwined stories about life, love and family, set in Paris.