Midnight In Paris A Critical Review

Woody Allen's cinematic tribute to the age of Dali and Hemingway revolves around a
family that travels to Paris for business and a young couple to be married and their life-changing
experiences in the City of Lights. This review aims to outline the theme, setting, characterization
and symbolism of Allens latest cinematic release.
The setting of the movie is like a daydream for American Literature students. Owen
Wilson is playing Allen's second self, as the laidback Gil, a bumbling and profoundly successful
mediocre screenwriter who still dreams about the day when he writes a great novel and joins the
pantheon of American writers.
Somewhat clueless, Gil is smart and seeking wisdom and truth in another era, which is
the usual type of character Allen plays in his movies. By overlapping the materialistic cravings
and lack of cultural interests of Gils fiance and her parents, Allen highlights some of the main
difference in the values of French and the American cultures. Americans glorify commerce and
the French adore culture.
Midnight in Paris is Allens parallel to his The Purple Rose of Cairo movie, a whimsical
time machine that allows him to bask in joyfully in the artistic Paris of his dreams. Gil would
love to live in Paris, but Inez, his one-dimensional fianc, is the typical upper-class stiff woman
that would only live in the suburbs, like her parents. One night, as hes walking around by
himself he gets lost and as church bell tolls midnight, an old car pulls up filled with partygoers
who invite him to join their party. A few minutes later he finds himself in the same room with
Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and finds Cole Porter playing the piano. Afterwards they all go down
to meet Hemingway who pledges to show Gils manuscript to Gertrude Stein.
After trying unsuccessfully to bring Inez along through the time portal, Gil keeps coming
back to the 1920s every night and receives good advice from Stein about his book and becomes
genuinely attracted to Adriana (Marion Cotillard), the former mistress of Braque and Modigliani
who is now Picassos muse. And so begins a flight of fancy adventure for Gil who comes back
and forth into the realm of his literary idols and receives a measure of approval from them, not to
mention the encounters with such titans as Dali, Picasso, Man Ray, T.S. Eliot and filmmaker
Luis Bunuel.
Allen makes no effort to explain this magical time-traveling theme, he just moves
forward as he did in his 1985 movie The Purple Rose of Cairo. We dont have to decide if what
happens is real or not, its not important. The movie is a graceful doodle in which Gil is swept
away by the old car night after night and finds himself deep into the Jazz Age and all its idols.
His story was going to be about a man who ran a souvenir shop and here we find him in the time
and place he is most longing for. The entire theme of the movie revolves around a man with a
strong tendency to draw back into the past instead of confronting the present.
The magic unfolds without any digital effects and Allen doesnt suggest that Gil is even
dreaming or fantasizing. He is just there, in the past with all the great artists, depicted not as they

actually were, but as Gil wants them to be. Its his and Allens adventure, as admirers of great
musicians and writers, who are trying to revive the pantheon.
It is ultimately a symbolic story of about a young man's love for Paris and the illusion
people have that an existence different from theirs would be more valuable. It is a well crafted
allegory about romance, pleasures and lessons that come with worshipping another artist's era.
Like most Allens movies, Midnight in Paris comes with a moral lesson, this time slightly selfdepreciating: everybody wishes they lived in another time and place, even those in that other age.
This is painstaking truth because we know from Allens references that he is lost over and over
again in dreams of the past.
Although its all done artfully in old Allen one-liner style, the format however allows the
writer, who has never hided his praise for his heroes, to reflect on how people have always
idealized earlier times in history and cultural movements, as if they were intrinsically superior to
whatever there was at the time. Surely you dont think the 20s is a Golden Age? Adriana asks
Gil, who has always thought so. Its the present. Its dull, she says.
Midnight in Paris is Allen's 41st movie, written and gracefully directed by him. Most
critics consider him a genuine treasure of world cinema. This is nothing to argue about, either
you agree with it or not. Film critic Matt Goldberg admits that Midnight in Paris is one of
Allens best movies in the last decade and one of those rare comedies where he doesnt include a
neurotic character, but allows the movie to unfold in a funny and thoughtful way. New York
Times critic A. O. Scott finds Allens movie charming and marvelously romantic and also
believes Allen used some of his gracious silliness, which may have, to a certain extent,
compensated for the shadowy expressions of romanticism.
What's simply irresistible about Midnight in Paris, about its buoyant platitudes along
with its facile insights, is the candid playfulness of the entire story. Just as Luis Bunuel did,
Woody Allen is becoming friskier with time. His latest venture is definitely a place where all the
weeds have cut out. Everything is rosy.

Works cited:
Goldberg, Matt. "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS Review." Collider. 10 June 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011.
<http://collider.com/midnight-in-paris-review/95785/>.
Scott, A. O. "Midnight in Paris, by Woody Allen, With Owen Wilson - Review NYTimes.com." Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies - New York Times - The New
York
Times.
19
May
2011.
Web.
06
Dec.
2011.
<http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/movies/midnight-in-paris-by-woody-allen-with-owenwilson-review.html>.