Courtesy of Bonjourparis.com
Midnight in Paris is a rarity amongst more recent Woody Allen films. It is a smart, witty and evenly paced film with fabulous performances from its entire cast.
The film revolves around Gil (Owen Wilson), an American screenwriter who is reconsidering his use of his writing talents. He travels to Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents (Mimi Kennedy and Kurt Fuller) with the hopes of writing a great American novel. While in Paris, they run into old friends of Inez, Paul and Carol (Michael Sheen and Nina Ariadna respectively) and they begin travelling together. However, Paul turns out to be a pedantic intellectual who will not admit anyone else’s opinion. Gil also finds himself scolded by Inez for any negative comments against Paul. One night, Gil decides to reject an invitation to go out dancing and decides to roam the streets of Paris. Once midnight strikes, he is transported back in time to the 1920s, where he is able to meet his literary and artistic idols: a list which includes Ernest Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and most importantly, Ariadne (Marion Cotillard), one of Picasso’s mistresses, who Gil falls for. As the story progresses, Gil is forced to choose between the glorious past that he has always dreamed of and his life in the present.
At the heart of the story is the love story that initiates between Gil and Ariadne and the scenes between Wilson and Cotillard are both subtle and tender. Wilson plays the same role that we have come to know him for in the blockbuster romantic comedies, but he has never come off as sincere as he does in this film. He is still funny and charming throughout, but his character has a sensitivity that is often lacking in other performances. His main partner, Marion Cotillard, who has made a living in Hollywood in typecast femme fatale roles (to mixed results might I add), seems more liberated in this outing. She still plays a woman who has undergone great abuse and yearns for an older and better time where she can find comfort from her current predicaments. I wouldn’t say Cotillard is anywhere near her performance in La Vie en Rose (for which she won her Oscar and was propelled into stardom), but this is a much more successful performance from her than in more recent fare. Sheen is so fantastically unlikeable as the pedantic American in a role that makes him so unidentifiable when compared to his other roles, such as the underdog in films like Frost Nixon and The Damned United. Adrien Brody makes a formidable cameo as the ever eccentric Salvador Dalí and Kathy Bates brings a fresh gentility to the controversial Gertrude Stein. But the man who practically steals every scene he is in is Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway. Stoll has been in films such as Salt and The Number 23, but has yet to establish himself as a big name actor. His Hemingway is a dominant force capable of creating a sense of intimidation and likeability at the same time. Not to mention the fact that he has some of the most hilarious dialogue in the entire film.
But the main star of the show is Woody Allen. He is complete control of his creative faculties in this film and he not only presents his audience with another great comedy, but he draws the audience into this world and makes you believe it. I will admit that I was a bit confused about the rules of returning to the present as the story developed and new changes and twists were introduced, but this is merely a small detail that sidetracks the main marvel of the film. For me, one of the major ingredients to Woody Allen’s mixed results in recent years has been his lack of visual detail in his work. His films place such an emphasis on dialogue that oftentimes, he tends to neglect the visual capabilities of the medium. The lengthy dialogues about the meaning of art are still on full display here, but unlike other films where they come off as pretentious diatribes, those particular conversations are well integrated into the context.
However, this film is not merely a showcase of Allen’s witty dialogue and humor, but also of his abilities as a visual poet. As the film opens, the audience is introduced to a glorious montage that introduces us to the main character of the film: Paris itself. We start to see major landmarks of the city in the morning; then throughout the day with weather changes along the way; and finally, at night when it becomes “The City of Lights.” It is truly breathtaking. Paris is never merely a stage for which the action must happen; it is a major ingredient to the drama. He transports us to elaborate renditions of historic cultural locales of such as Maxim’s and the old Moulin Rouge and thus approximate the way life was lived in past times.
The film absolutely nails its central theme of nostalgia. Everyone has dreamed of meeting their idols of the past and pick their brains to help us improve. With this film, Woody Allen gives not only Gil, but his audience an opportunity to realize this dream. And what a fulfilling dream it is.
9 Golden Eggs
