Paris Blues

After a series of terrorist attacks by radical Islamist militant group Isis in Paris on Friday night French President François Hollande announced on Satuday morning that the country would respect three days of national mourning.

Museums, schools and street markets were therefore closed by decree, while many department stores and shops remained shut as a measure of safety. People from all over the world in the meantime posted tributes and reactions on social media, especially on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

There are different ways to send your love letters to the French capital, including listening to tracks such as "I Love Paris" (1953), written by Cole Porter, or "April in Paris" (1932), composed by Vernon Duke with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and performed throughout the years by many different artists, including Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Bill Evans, Charlie Parker, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, and Glenn Miller among the others.

Cinema can be another way to pay your tribute to Paris – there are indeed thousands of movies filmed in the French capital, among them Paris Blues (1961).

Directed by Martin Ritt it follows the vicissitudes of Ram Bowen (Paul Newman) and Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier), two American jazz musicians living in Paris.

Their lives revolve around playing in a jazz club and composing music, but their routines are disrupted by the arrival of two American tourists, Lillian (Joanne Woodward) and Connie (Diahann Carroll).

Ram and Eddie find themselves torn between moving back to the States to follow their loves or pursue their musical dreams remaining in Paris, a city that guarantees them freedom and a more tolerant atmosphere.

There's plenty of music and love in the film, with a special highlight – a joyous jazz interlude courtesy of legendary Louis Armstrong, starring as fictional jazz icon Wild Man Moore.

It may not be terribly uplifting watching the main characters divided between love and music, two different and incompatible passions especially for Ram, but the film tells a tale of unity in a music venue, something that can be interpreted as a strong symbol, considering how the deadliest terrorist attack took place in a concert hall.