Perhaps it is in the human condition to long for the past, for times of simplicity, happiness, and progress. “Midnight in Paris,” directed by Woody Allen, runs with this theme of nostalgia.
The film begins with Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson), the protagonist and a successful screenwriter, vacationing in Paris, France with his fiancee, Inez (played by Rachel McAdams). Though Gil is an excellent screenwriter, he desires to finish his novel in Paris and confesses to long for the past, specifically Paris in the 1920s, to the confusion of the ones closest to him. One night, drunk after a dinner with his fiancee’s family and friends, Gil wanders around the streets of Paris and quickly becomes lost. While he rests on an unfamiliar street, midnight strikes and an elegant automobile pulls up on the street. Invited by the car’s riders, Gil enters the car and is transported to Paris in the 1920s. In a swirl of events, he meets great artistic figures like Salvador Dali (played by Adrien Brody), F. Scott Fitzgerald (played by Tom Hiddleston), and Ernest Hemingway (played by Corey Stoll). In the midst of the joy time travel, Gil faces conflicts with himself about love and his place in the present.
“Midnight in Paris” is charming and whimsical. With warm and colorful montages of Paris and a winsome soundtrack, the film makes it easy for the viewer to be transported into Paris in the present and the past. The playful humor present in the film is balanced well with Gil’s reflections on himself and his dissatisfaction with the present. Woody Allen’s portrayal of the various artists, writers, film-makers, and intellectuals of the 1920s show the fickleness and oddities of human nature. Gil also serves as a placeholder for an audience member, grappling to answer questions about having one true love and staying in the present.
Rather than merely being a compelling film for adults, “Midnight in Paris” would easily please and interest adolescents and young adults. The film’s simplicity and the indecisiveness of its characters may be irritating at times, but overall, “Midnight in Paris” is worth watching.
