Midnight In Paris

Midnight In Paris (2011) is a charming, off-beat, often sentimental film, written and directed by the ever distinctive Woody Allen. Owen Wilson takes on the archetype whimsical goof, and as ever he plays the part with an endearing flourish - the quirky everyman who stumbles his way to self-identification.

I’ll give you a short run-down of the narrative, because from what I’ve seen the plot has been sold poorly. Gil (Owen Wilson) is a screenwriter visiting Paris with his at-best cynical fiancée – played marvellously by Rachel McAdams – who falls in love with the city and on one lone midnight stroll finds himself back in time in the roaring 20s, surrounded by the forefront individuals of the decade’s intellectual revolution – F. Scott Fitzgerald, Picasso, Dali, Ernest Hemmingway, Man Ray, Cole Porter and many more.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and wife, according to MIP

Marion Cotillard shows off her fabulous 20s wardrobe and taxidermy

The look and feel of the film is classy, from its opening moments it dedicates itself to three minutes (yes, I timed it) of artsy establishing shots of Paris. This may not seem mentionable, but for Hollywood  film, whose focus is plot, plot, action, plot, Allen’s creative decision to ask the audience to sit back and admire the city which is crucial to the film, is revealing of the auteur’s quality and attention to detail. The modern day scenes are shot in naturalistic, documentary-connotative lighting, which, juxtaposed with the golden-tinged 1920s aesthetic, furthers the antithesis of present and past.

A film about nostalgia, admiration and idolatry. Woody Allen’s protagonist Gil realises it is in man’s nature to romanticise the past, whether it be within living memory or from across recorded time. But the overriding message of this pleasing little piece appears to be that we must learn from the past, and live in the present. This may be a little abstract – but since I’m revising English, humour me – a quote springs to mind:

“Let every man be master of his time”

William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth