How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from An American in Paris.
Quote #7
LISE: Jerry, if it means anything to you, I love you.
Lise seems to think she's doing something nice for Jerry here, but really, she's just twisting the knife. Sure, she loves Henri—the dude saved her life when she was a kid—but she's in love with Jerry. Acting like she has no control over her love life is pretty cold.
Quote #8
LISE: Oh, Jerry. It's so dreadful standing next to you like this and not having your arms around me.
JERRY: You'll always be standing next to me, Lise.
LISE: Maybe not always. Paris has ways of making people forget.
JERRY: Paris? No. Not this city. It's too real and too beautiful. It never lets you forget anything. It reaches in and opens you wide, and you stay that way.
Love and beauty are such a big part of Paris's cultural identity in this flick that the city's practically another character, pardon the cliché. Lise may let Jerry down, but Paris? It won't. Jerry's dialogue in this scene is more lyrical than his earlier, clumsier come-ons. Guess he's under the influence—of Paris and Lise.
Quote #9
JERRY: I came to Paris to study and to paint because Utrillo did, and Lautrec did, and Rouault did. I loved what they created, and I thought something would happen to me, too. Well, it happened all right. Now what've I got left? Paris. Maybe that's enough for some, but Paris, it isn't for me anymore, because the more beautiful everything is, the more it will hurt without you.
LISE: Jerry, don't let me leave you this way.
Don't let you leave? C'mon, Lise! Take some responsibility for your actions. At this point, Jerry's ceased with the corny come-ons and opened up to Lise. He's being real—a bit dramatic, but real. If Lise still wants to run off to American with Henri, that's on her, not on Jerry.