Running head: RHETORICAL ELEMENTS IN FILM

Rhetorical Elements in Film

Gwyneth Harris

Ivy Tech Community College

ENGL 111- J1FEssay #3-Rev. #1

Professor Cooper1596

March 29, 2017

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Abstract

The film, Midnight in Paris, written and directed by Woody Allen, contains the rhetorical

elements pathos, ethos, logos, and kairos. Through the use of historical figures, art, music,

literature, cityscape, and culture, Allen sets an ideal atmosphere to communicate an important

lesson. It is the lesson that by balancing love for the past with hope for the future, a person can

only discover happiness by following a path they create, not by pursuing a romanticized view of

the historical world.

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Rhetorical Elements in Film

The film Midnight in Paris, written and directed by Woody Allen, uses rhetorical

elements throughout the story to communicate morals and ideas that viewers may

recognize in their own lives. It can be seen as a film that promotes self-analyzation, the idea of

the story being one that may resonate within a wide variety of people. A moral is laid out to the

public: to find happiness, a person must follow a path they create; it does not lie in a

romanticized time or place. Pathos, ethos, logos, and kairos are elements that clearly define this

message throughout the film. The four elements, combined with art, music, literature, and history

are manipulated to further transport the viewer into a fantastic and romantic atmosphere. The

base of the story lies in emotion and imagination.

Pathos, the element supporting both emotion and imagination, is woven throughout the

characters and storyline of the film. Through the imagination of the human mind, a romanticized

view of the past is created. When the main character, Gil, finds himself in the past, emotions

become tangled, and it puts him on the path to realizing the longing he has always felt is

obtainable if he is willing to risk his comfortable life for it. It is a choice many viewers may have

experienced as well, and, in this way, Allen successfully connects the emotional mind of the

viewer to the struggles of the character. Allen communicates through Gil that throughout life

many people constantly weigh the choice of whether to follow their hearts or their minds. Played

throughout the film, Cole Porters song, Lets Do It sung by Conal Fowkes, invites the idea of

letting go and allowing the heart to take its course with the lines, Lets do it, lets fall in love

(Conal Fowkes, 2011, track 5). The key is balance, and in the film, Gil realizes he has let his

logical mind keep him in the comfort of an easy reality for too long. The plot reveals a battle

between the elements pathos and logos, as emotions are threatened by the logical mind.
Logos, the use of logic, is conveyed through the main character as he struggles to weigh

the comfort of his current life and the fantasy of the past. Realistically, viewers know as well as

Gil that the two worlds cannot continue to live parallel to each other. The worlds are kept
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separate by a dramatic contrast in atmosphere. In the logical and known reality, the romantic

music is lost, and the sun casts everything in bright light. No music is played in the present day

until he stumbles upon the woman in the flea market. The use of music suggests the possibility of

a bridge between the harshness of daytime life and the romantic fantasy of the past. As the

logical mind fights to keep Gil on a path he knows will be easy for him, figures from the past

guide him toward realizing the future that he will ultimately feel satisfied with. Woody Allen

knows a search for purpose is a common journey many people take. In the article, Life

Schemes: A Framework for Understanding the Search for Meaning, Suzanne Thompson (1988)

writes:
A life scheme is a cognitive representation of one's life, much like a story, which

organizes one's perspectives on the world and oneself, goals one wishes to attain, and

events that are relevant to those goals. Severely negative events can challenge parts of

the life scheme, disrupting one's sense of order and/or purpose. Finding meaning is a

process of changing the life scheme or one's perception of the event, so that feelings of

order and purpose are restored. (p. 260)

Woody Allen uses the words and thoughts of great artists and authors to prove the credibility of

the claim that human beings crave a strong purpose for existing.
In Allens film, Gertrude Stein stated, We all fear death and question our place in the

universe. The artist's job is not to succumb to despair, but to find an antidote for the emptiness of

existence (Allen, 2011). Ethos is brought in through the credibility of great minds, long admired

by many. The historical figures are Gils idols, and because of the value placed on these people,

he believes wholeheartedly the advice they have to give him. Like Gil, a viewer may get a sense

of integrity from the important figures introduced throughout the film, such as Pablo Picasso,

Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and Salvador Dali, among others. With the ideas of great

artists and writers of the past, Allen further pushes the meaning of finding ones own purpose

through the realization that people throughout time have always known of its importance.
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Sometimes, though, people do not realize they are unhappy until life throws unexpected

opportunities their way. Opportunities are around every corner in the film.
Kairos, the element of opportune moments, plays a large role in the movie. The element

is brought through in the hour the car pulls up to take Gil to the past. Upon arrival he almost

immediately meets the Fitzgeralds, who then introduce him to Ernest Hemingway. After

conversing with the writer, Hemingway introduces the idea of setting up a meeting with Gertrude

Stein. Ideal opportunities continue to present themselves throughout Gils journey as he forms a

connection with a woman at the flea market and happens to find a journal belonging to the

woman, Adrianna, who he has fallen in love with in the romantic nights he spends in the past. An

important opportune moment in the film is the fact that he happens to be in Paris at the time in

his life that he believes he needs it most. The element itself presents another moral- that the way

life unfolds relies heavily on moments of opportunity and the way people respond to them.

Interwoven throughout the entire film, all of the elements are held together by the ambiance of

the world the story is told in.

Music, art, and literature combine to transport Gil and the viewer to a world outside of

reality. Using dim lights and romance, the ideal place to escape reality is created. Woody Allen

wrote a line for Gil in the movie saying, You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever

gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a

great city. You can't (Allen, 2011). Artistic and cultural icons are significant alone, but when

placed together, as they are in the movie, the streets of the city come alive to create an

unparalleled sense of beauty and wonder that one will only find in Paris. It is the perfect scene to

tell a story of self-discovery. Ultimately, the lesson of self-reflection gets across to Gil by the end

of the movie.
The experiences presented to Gil result in a revelation. Motivation high and sense of self

restored, he takes the steps in reality to overcome the troubles that have been holding him back,

and sets off on a new adventure in life, creating his own reality instead of seeking an escape to a
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romanticized time and place. Wynne Parry suggests in an article about the movie that the past is

the push that Gil needs to realize the aspects he is missing in his present life, and it gives him the

courage he needs to take the steps to integrate his passions into his future (What Midnight in

Paris Tells Us About Nostalgia, 2012). While the figures help, it is he who, in the end,

discovers for himself how important it is to follow his passions in life and to look at the world

the way he chooses, not the way he has been told to by other people. The end of the film is an

end of a journey.
When one door closes, another one opens. Woody Allen uses the rhetorical elements to

successfully convey a message, one that teaches the importance of self-discovery and the

fulfillment that follows. The culture conveyed in the film supports the romanticized vision of

what has been and what could be. Through the use of the elements, Allen successfully creates a

story with characters that are easy to identify with, and communicates that almost everybody is

in control of their destiny and can choose the path they want to follow in life. As the finale of the

movie suggests, as one journey ends, another one begins.

References
Allen, W. (Writer/Director), & Aronson, L., Tenenbaum, S., & Roures, J. (Producer). (2011).

Midnight in Paris [DVD]. United States: Sony Pictures Classics. (Original release date

2011).
Conal Fowkes. (2011). Lets fall in love. On Midnight in Paris soundtrack album [CD]. Culver

City: Madison Gate Records

Parry, W. (2012, February 14). What Midnight in Paris tells us about nostalgia. Livescience.

Retrieved April 6, 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/18478-midnight-paris-oscars-

nostalgia.html
Thompson, S. C. (1988). Life schemes: A framework for understanding the search for meaning.

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 7(2), 260-280. Retrieved from ProQuest.