Everyone deals with writer’s block, but wouldn’t be nice to have advice from the best of the best? That’s what Owen Wilson’s character Gil comes face to face with in Woody Allen’s film Midnight in Paris. Midnight in Paris is a romantic comedy directed and written by Woody Allen is about a successful screenwriter named Gil who is vacationing in Paris with his fiancé Inez played by Rachel McAdams and is having trouble finishing is first novel. While in Paris, every day at midnight he is transported to the 1920’s and comes face-to-face with history’s finest writers and artists such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso.
When I saw this film, I fell in love with it. As I film student, I love how Woody Allen showed us his love for Paris in the film with the cinematography. The first couple of minutes is a montage dedicated to Paris, one sees tourist attractions of Paris such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. He uses wide shots of the attractions and close-up shots of everyday life in Paris. From these shots, one can sense that the story is going to be about Paris not a story in Paris. The plot is great of blending in a story with one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It’s interesting to see a character from this day and age fall in love with a time that he has never known in person. Also from Gil to actually change history with Picassos’ mistress Adriana, played by Marion Cotillard, and how Gill falls in love with her. The plot is new and refreshing. The theme of nostalgia that the film is about is something everyone can relate to. Everyone in their life has had a moment of nostalgia and wished that they could go back to a time when they were happy. Gil wishes he could go back to the 1920’s where some of the best writers and artists were alive and thriving. I’m sure many college student can agree with me, I wish I was back in middle school. Middle school was a time for me where I didn’t have to think about college yet and I was just enjoying time with my friends before we graduated and went on to different high schools. Now, I have to focus on getting a job during college to pay off my tuition, making sure I get in all my assignments and worrying about being in the “real” world. So nostalgia is what everyone can relate to.
The one thing that I didn’t really enjoy was Gil’s and Inez’s’ relationship in the film. For me, it was kind of frustrating seeing Gill stay with Inez during the movie. Inez was very judgmental towards Gil and didn’t support him on the things that he was doing. I wouldn’t be able to handle someone being so judgmental towards me let alone my fiancé. Gil just argued back to her but never made any actions on ending the relationship. I didn’t like how Gil didn’t see until the end of the film that Inez was having an affair with Inez’s friend Paul during their time in Paris. Any person with eyes could see that Inez had a thing towards Paul. It just angered me that he didn’t end the engagement until the end, but better late than never?
It would have been interesting to see how Gil’s relationship would have been with Adriana if he had stayed with her. It was great to see Gil happy with a women who that was interested in him. She would listen to what he had to say and even was interested in reading his novel after just hearing the first sentence of the first chapter. In my opinion, they made a cute couple.
It wasn’t just be me that enjoyed the film. Reviews of the film on IMDb.com, people have said “Performances are outstanding all around, with Cotillard once again stealing every second she is on screen”. Tom Long from the Detroit News has said, “Midnight in Paris is loving embrace of the city, of art and of life itself.” Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 7.8 out of ten on the tomatometer. The film was not just popular with audiences but in the Academy Awards receiving a nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction, and winning the award for Best Original Screenplay. Owen Wilson received a nomination for Best Actor at the Golden Globes for his portrayal as Gil.
This movie is really for everyone. Every person can relate with the Gil and how he can go back to a time where things were great. I would highly recommend this film for any film majors since this film received many nominations at the Academy Awards. This movie is just great to see during a movie night with friends. It’s a new experience seeing this type of film.
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