MYST POST #1: Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris

I've heard a lot of good things about Midnight in Paris and I have always been a big fan of Owen Wilson but I just never got around to seeing it. I haven't seen many of Woody Allen's films but I saw a little bit of Annie Hall and when I watched just the first part of this movie I could tell it was done by the same person. I like that style that he consistently has in his movies. I don't know what I thought I would get out of this movie when I sat down to watch it, but it definitely exceeded any expectations I had for it. I even learned some new things about 1920s culture and important people of that era. So not only was this movie enjoyable it was also educational for me.

The movie basically starts off with Gil (Owen Wilson) and his fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams) on vacation in Paris with her parents. You can tell right away that the couple doesn't seem right for each other. Inez wants the upper class American suburban life and Gil's dream is to move to Paris and write his novel. On a late night walk by himself one night, Gil decides to stop and sit on some classic parisian stone steps and as the clock strikes midnight an old car from the 20s drives down the road, stopping right in front of him. The people in the car call over to him and insist that he join them, and Gil being the spur of the moment kind of guy he is, hopped in the car and proceeded to the 1920s. They arrived at a party and here he met Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, along with Cole Porter. Later he realizes that he can be transported back to this era every night if he goes to the same spot, and ends up meeting 20s icons like Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. While going on his nightly adventures he meets a girl named Adriana and quickly falls in love with her and after spending more time with her she shows him what he is looking for in his present 20th century life.

The editing in this movie is done very well and I couldn't help but notice all the camera techniques that we learned about in class. There is one scene were Gil meets Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald and he thinks that they are all crazy mentioning people who had died many years ago, like they were the ones throwing the party. Then the scene moves to a bar where flapper girls are dancing all around and you can see Gil among the crowd, looking around amazed and confused. Then all of the sudden we see a close up of his face that shows pure shock and terror in his eyes. He finally realizes that he has somehow traveled back to the 1920s and is now hanging out with all his literary idols. The camera pans over to Zelda having a good time, dancing and drinking and then pans back to Gil with the same dumbfounded look. Then quickly in that same close up shot we see his face slowly change to a smile and gives a slight shoulder shrug like "What the hell, I might as well enjoy myself while I'm here." There are no words needed in this scene to express how he is feeling, we can just see it from look on this face.

I ended up really enjoying this movie being a history buff and also sucker for a good romantic comedy. I thought it was really well done and I liked the theme of nostalgia and wanting to live in the "Golden Age". Everyone has a different idea of what the "Golden Age" is and wants to live in a different time period other than the present because the present just isn't good enough. What I find funny is in fifty years 2015 will be the "Golden Age" for someone else. That aside I give this five out of five stars because it was an all around great movie.

5 out of 5 stars