We just finished up "Midnight in Paris" and I have to say, the movie was really good and quite funny. It was nominated for a lot of awards this year so it definitely intrigued us and was one we put on our Netflix que. The main characters of the movie are Gil (played by Owen Wilson) and Inez (played by Rachel McAdams). You also get to see the likes of Kathy Bates, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Sheen in this Woody Allen film that reflects that quirkiness that are in all of his movies. In general, the movie is about a couple, Gil and Inez, who couldn't be more different than one another, and who are in Paris with Inez's parents. Gil and Inez both have a different view of how they want their life to turn out and have different ideals on what a perfect life would be.
The movie starts out with many scenes of Paris. Almost 4 minutes of it. We weren't sure if that was going to be the whole movie or not, but eventually the characters to come into play. Woody Allen is setting the stage for Paris. He is putting it into perspective of how Gil sees it and how I believe he wants the audience to see it in the most romanticized light. Gil wants to give everything up and move to Paris. He also feels as though he would have been happier in a different time period. His fiance, Inez, wants to live in Malibu and wants Gil to work in Hollywood. She wants him to become something she constantly criticizes him for. Everyone is against him in this movie, including her parents. He can't catch a break and to his fiance, he can't do or say anything right. Nothing he has to say is interesting and if he does say something, he gets shot down. She finds another man to be much more fascinating and just melts into everything he says while telling Gil to be quiet if he even adds anything to the conversation. I did notice that for over half of the movie, Inez's character wears the same type of outfit with a long shirt and belt, but in different ways. I feel this says something about her character and the way her personality comes through. She doesn't like change and if there is to be change, it is only according to her and under her terms.
Gil is constantly berated until he goes back into the time period that he feels was most suited for him. Paris in the 1920's. One night after departing from his fiance, he enters into this world of authors and painters such as Hemingway, Stein, Fitzgerald, Picasso, etc. He continues to do this every night after at midnight where a car will pick him up. It was the time period he imagined he would be most happy in and in a way he was in that moment. His writing was encouraged in this time period. He met fascinating people, but most importantly he met a woman who was fascinated by him. This is where he felt he truly lived. What he discovered though, was that people in this era considered an earlier time period to be the Golden Age. Everyone was constantly seeking something else that they believed would make them happier. His "love interest" in the 20's wanted to live in the 1890's as that is where she felt she would be the happiest. Gil comes to the realization and makes the statement of, "The present is unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying." He realizes that it isn't the time period in which he was born in that didn't fit who he felt he was, but the circumstances in which he has put himself in. He realizes he has the opportunity to make a change and a choice.
He tells his fiance that he wants to stay in Paris and they break up. At the end, he comes across a shop worker he had met earlier in the movie. You could see the chemistry between them when they first met and at the end of the movie. She had passion about the music he liked and didn't mind walking in the rain. Something he had wanted to do earlier in the movie but Inez didn't want to. He had found someone who liked the same things he did and liked him for him. They leave in the rain together walking and just talking. It doesn't show them falling in love, but just plain having a conversation. A realistic and humble way to end the movie.
There are a lot of intriguing camera angles as well. Many times you feel as though the character is talking to you rather than talking to the other character. Those moments were pivotal moments in the movie where they really wanted to grab your attention, suck you in to what the character was saying, or was a turning point in the film.
This movie was very interesting. Sometimes I feel that I belonged in a different time period or it would have been fun to live in a different time period, but we need to focus on our present- why we are here right now and what our purpose is. If there is something unsatisfying about our lives, we are the only ones who can make that change for ourselves. Just because something is romanticized in the movies or in history doesn't mean that it was the Golden Age. People back then wanted to be in a different time period, too. People will look back in future years thinking that we are living in the Golden Age. Maybe. So, what I get from this is, appreciate what you have and what you have been given. If you are unhappy with any of it, make the changes in your life so that you might find satisfaction.
Click here if you are interested in watching the trailer for the movie:
Picture courtesy of teaser-trailer.com
Unbelievable article. Better written than you see in a magazine or newspaper!!!!
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