Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

This past week I re-watched Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. I had seen it in early September and absolutely adored it; my second viewing confirmed my feelings. However, and this is why I love watching a movie a second or third time, I was able to pick up on aspects of the film I had previously missed. 

The film takes place in Paris, obviously, and stars Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams as a couple visiting Paris with McAdams’ character’s parents. The film follows Wilson’s character, Gil, as he struggles with his future by fixating on the past, and not the recent past. The story then takes a surprising turn as Gil is on an evening stroll he magically time travels back to the Paris in the 1920s. It is there where he meets numerous famous icons like, the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, Picasso, Stein, and so on. 

My first viewing yielded two praises for Allen. The first is his cinematography, especially of such a beautiful city. I loved seeing the shots of Paris during the day, the night and the rain. The second is the overall meaning I took away from this movie. I think that each person takes away something different from a movie. For me, it was when Gil had a revelation by saying, “Yeah, that's what the present is. It's a little unsatisfying because life's a little unsatisfying.” Somehow with this standard Allen defeatist tone I took away something positive. As a history major I have always been enthralled in the past and often wished I lived in another time period, like Gil. I believe Gil realized that the only solution is to live in the present, be happy with the possibilities and always admire but not envy the past.

My second viewing allowed me to observe Allen’s writing tactics. I focused on the beginning dialogue among Gil (Wilson), Inez(McAdams), Paul(Sheen) and Carol(Arianda). I loved how Allen was able to make their dialogue seem like real-life and like it was not part of a script. I enjoyed both the scene at Versailles and at the wine tasting because both had typical dialogue and at the same time expressed the character’s personalities. The script was free from any Hollywood formula. I think it was the combination of great writing and acting.

I just adored this movie! I definitely would suggest it for your next movie night!