Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored nor endorsed by Sony Pictures Classics or any other business/organization. All views are the author’s own.
Out of all the movies that I have watched and chosen to write about, I doubt anyone had this one in mind. Mostly because it is not one that has been in the public consciousness since it came out over 10 years ago.
But hey, that’s what makes this movie an interesting one to write about! I’ll explain why I wrote this post below. Without further ado, here is the post on Midnight In Paris.
In Case You Don’t Know
Midnight In Paris is a comedy (I think it is) film directed and written by Woody Allen. Who is a pretty good director, but as a person, well, it depends on who you are looking at for information. (Here’s a little nudge to give you a general sense).
The film is about Owen Wilson time-traveling. (Wow, I’ve never heard of that before!)
But in all reality, Gil Pender (played by Owen Wilson) is a modest screenwriter on vacation with his fiance and in-laws in Paris when he discovers that he can travel back in time to the 1920s, where he gets to interact with famous creatives such as Ernest Hemingway, Luis Buñuel, among others. Along the way, he gets caught up in this love triangle scandal… thing. The whole thing gets pretty confusing as the movie flies by, but it’s pretty entertaining!
I watched the movie in my AP Lit class because my teacher was feeling generous and did not feel like having us do an elaborate class competition which would have obliterated by Term 3 grade. So here we are!
But in all reality: we watched the film because of our focus on works from the Lost Generation of the 1920s, like The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby, both of which show the disillusion of people following the War as they struggle to make do with their mental and physical capabilities.
Going back to the movie, I thought it was a nice little flick to get away from a lot of films these days with much heavier topics and concepts (like Oppenheimer)
Let me go more in-depth:
Decent Representation of the Past
Now obviously it will be extraordinarily difficult to get a 1:1 replica of what Paris was like in the 1920s. But the movie does a pretty good job at visualizing what it was like based on what we do know. 1920s Paris was a time of going from bar to cafe, interacting with both locals and expats in public but also in private.
A side note: I found it interesting to see Gertrude Stein’s salon in action. The concept of a salon fascinates me to a certain degree, seeing a bunch of different creatives, many of which are known to the common reader today, casually interact with each other about philosophy and life in general. It makes my historical perception hop with joy, as it’s not often you see such a decent portrayal on the big screen. Much of what we know of 1920s Paris for expats come from Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast, a memoir which I want to read one day, alongside Nathanial Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables
How accurate is the movie? I don’t know, but it does do a pretty good job at drawing the viewer into the setting. Which moviemakers want to accomplish.
A Harmless Flick
This is probably the first film and tv show that I have watched in a long time that did not have any death involved. Most films have at least some gore, violence, death…
Or maybe that’s just what I watch. Who knows.
But whatever the case is, there is no serious conflict in the movie. All of the characters interact fine with each other. (Except for the protagonist and his fiancé, but ahem that’s the point). The point I am making is that there really is not much insane tension that makes the viewer want to curl up into a ball. It’s pretty up and going, which is nice to see every once in a while.
Some Issues I (or others may) have:
“The Montage is Overrated”
At the beginning of the film, Allen opens up with a 3 minute montage of video footage of Paris both at day and night, showcasing the beauty that is Paris. My teacher forewarned our viewing with: “I know there’s 3 minutes of nothingness, and you will all shut up and enjoy the scene”. I’m paraphrasing of course.
Once you start it, it’s not that bad. By the 2.5-minute mark, it gets a bit tedious. But I found it soothing to not have to suddenly jump into a movie, rather carefully stepping your toes into the setting, then the time, before finally the story starts.
When you look at reviews online, people will comment how the 3 minutes is wasted and to at least make it shorter. I disagree with that line of reasoning. Let there be something unique for once in the world of cinema! We could all use some more originality
Where did the time fly?
Most of Woody Allen’s films are around 90 minutes long, and Midnight in Paris is no exception. It almost feels too short. Suddenly we’re wrapping up the movie after being at a major conflict of the story.
If this was a children’s movie, that’s one thing. But it felt like a speed run competition almost. Trying to see how fast all of the pillars of the story could be attained. Which, while fine for those with horrific attention spans (such as yours truly), it felt sudden with a lot of character development not going much further beneath the surface than other things.
This might just be me, but I feel like even an additional 10 minutes would have been enough to really bring the movie to the next level, and make it not seem as rushed as it really was.
The Verdict
Midnight in Paris is a lovely little flick of a movie. There isn’t any grand moral or lesson of the movie. It’s just mindless fodder. But it’s good in what it does, entertain viewers for an hour and a half.
Do I recommend it? Sure. It’s a neat movie to watch one. But if you don’t, you’re not missing out on anything. It’s just another listing in the vast catalog of 2010s films with a little more historical humor than others of its caliber.
Author’s Note
How are we now basically in April? It feels like yesterday 2024 just started.
I have a few exciting things in the works for April, so I am not completely lost on ideas. Will they feel a bit bland? Maybe, but I learn from what I do and only become stronger.
If you haven’t done the Reader Survey, please do so! I would love to get feedback on how I can make the blog even better. Also, in case you haven’t noticed (yet), ZachsThoughts is in the middle of moving forms from Tally to directly in-house. It has been a really fun (sarcasm) time migrating everything and I hope the new forms make it easier both for end-users and me.
That’s all for today folks. See you soon!
Midnight in Paris is available for rent/purchase on Amazon Prime Video.
