Two weekends ago I took the Green Line downtown to go to the Landmark Cinema on E Street to see Midnight in Paris. If you live in the DC area and you have not been to this theater yet, you need to make the trip. The atmosphere is wonderful, especially for a Woody Allen film like this. Also, if you have not seen Midnight in Paris yet, you should remedy that as soon as you can.
Woody Allen is a filmmaker who knows New York, but he trades the City That Never Sleeps for the City of Lights and does more than a decent job of portraying Paris with the same passion and knowhow. The opening shots are simply stunning and really remind me of some classic Nouvelle Vague style films. I’m looking at you L’Année Dernier à Marienbad and Cléo de 5 à 7. Simple long shots of static monuments or slowly moving traffic can certainly go a long way towards making a film. Midnight in Paris sucked me in from the very beginning. I know that it has been said elsewhere and will be said again, but the city of Paris is definitely a character in this film and that might be the reason why this film is so enchanting.
This has been the most enjoyable film, from start to finish, that I have seen this summer. A brief synopsis: Gil, played by Owen Wilson is an unhappy writer visiting Paris with his fiancée Inez, played by Rachel McAdams. These two characters have strikingly different views on Paris and life for two people who are about to be married. These differences present themselves as Gil and Inez visit Versailles, the Rodin Museum, shops, and wine tastings throughout Paris. Gil’s character reminisces constantly on what it would be like to live in Paris in the 1920s. He believes that the time of Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, Porter and Picasso would be the time to experience this city. This theme of nostalgia runs throughout the film as Gil goes for walks around Paris and explores antique shops and street vendors. His nostalgic outlook is taken for the ride of its life as he is transported back to the 1920s.
Midnights in Paris’ true intentions are revealed in the third act when Gil discovers that the 1920s might not have been Paris’ most popular time. The characters that he encounters in these supernatural experiences also have nostalgic outlooks on life. I believe Woody Allen would like us to find a balance between dreaming of what life might have been at a different time and what life is like right now. At the very beginning, Inez exclaims that Gil is love with a fantasy. Being in love with a fantasy is fine, but one must realize that it is just that, a fantasy.
When I studied abroad in Paris I too desired to take long walks to see what the city would bring me. I never had classes on Thursdays so those were the days that I would put on my shoes to see something new. I would discover new markets off of the beaten path, small bistros and cafés that clearly had regulars, random windmills in fields of wheat, and secret shady boulevards. I never imagined sitting in cafés and bouncing ideas of off Hemingway and Stein, but now I wish I had.
Even now, writing my thoughts about this film bring me back to my time in Paris. Were things great? Of course! But I also like what I currently have going for me here in DC and think that that is what Allen wants us to take away from this film. Reminiscing about things is perfectly normal and can bring back wonderful and vivid memories, but we live in the here and now. Carpe Diem.
DC can offer some pretty comparable walks to the ones that Gil and I took in Paris. Maybe I’ll take next Thursday off and see where my feet take me.
For further reading and reviews of Midnight in Paris, please check out the review by Dana Stevens of Slate.com or the review by Filmspotting, a podcast based out of Chicago.
Also, be sure to check out Marine’s post and her thoughts about the film.
