Midnight in Paris may be one of the best-reviewed Woody Allen films in many years. Hell, it might just be one of the best Woody Allen films in many years. The prolific writer/director has created a sweet, sentimental and charming film about nostalgia and love.
Gil (Owen Wilson, The Wedding Crashers) is an affable Hollywood hack, churning out scripts for films he doesn’t care about. On a trip to Paris with his somewhat awful, materialistic and mean-spirited fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams, Mean Girls) and her meddling parents, Gil realizes his dissatisfaction with his life, and begins to yearn for a more authentic and artistic time before his own. And then, at midnight, while wandering the cobbled streets of Paris, Gil is ushered into an old-timey taxi and finds himself in the glittering and glitzy world of 1920s Paris. There he is welcomed into the thriving artists’ scene, drinking gin with the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston, Thor), Hemingway (Corey Stoll, Salt), and Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody, The Pianist). Traveling back in time each night, Gil falls for Adriana (Marion Cotillard, Inception), and begins to find himself a tourist in his own era.
Gil (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams)
Midnight in Paris is light-hearted and heart-warming, without the slightly bitter edge that Woody’s films are wont to display. Some may be disappointed that the satirical elements of Midnight in Paris are overpowered by sweetness, but that is entirely a matter of personal taste. It comes down to the contrast between sweet and sour, white wine and red wine, Paris and New York. Midnight in Paris is frothy and fun, yes; but that is not to say it lacks substance. There is food for thought packed into this film – it’s just that the food is decidedly French, and one hardly notices you are learning a lesson when is tastes like a buffet of baked goods. It is a film about the enjoyments and the evils of nostalgia; the danger of living in the past, and not seeing what you have in the present; and being afraid to make the changes you want for the future.
Zelda (Alison Pill) and Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston)
If many of Allen’s most famous films read like bittersweet love letters to New York, then Midnight in Paris is an utterly romantic ode to Paris. The cinematography throughout the film is beautiful – thanks, in large part, to the innate beauty of Paris itself – and the recreation of 1920s Paris will inspire in the audience the type of nostalgia that Gil himself feels for the era. The smoky bars, the sequined dresses, the glitzy parties in fairgrounds with golden merry-go-rounds – it’s a visual feast.
Adriana (Marion Cotillard) and Gil
Midnight in Paris is the kind of film you can unashamedly adore. Paris is, after all, the city of love.
Midnight in Paris was released in Australia on October 20th
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Tom Hiddleston, Alison Pill, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Corey Stoll, Mimi Kennedy, Kurt Fuller, Carla Bruni
