Written by: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, Michael Sheen
Running time: 93 minutes
Premise: The film follows Gil Pender, a screenwriter, who is forced to confront the shortcomings of his relationship with his materialistic fiancée and their divergent goals, which become increasingly exaggerated as he travels back in time each night at midnigh t.
Why You Should See It
From legendary writer/director Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris provides many comedic and sincere moments as it juxtaposes the nostalgia of Gil with the cynicism of the Lost Generation. Though there isn't a lot of depth to the movie, there also aren't any parts where the movie drags and the 93 minute running time flies by.
From legendary writer/director Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris provides many comedic and sincere moments as it juxtaposes the nostalgia of Gil with the cynicism of the Lost Generation. Though there isn't a lot of depth to the movie, there also aren't any parts where the movie drags and the 93 minute running time flies by.
Plot Synopsis
Gil Pender, a successful but creatively unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter, and his fiancée, Inez, are in Paris, vacationing with Inez's wealthy, conservative parents. Gil is struggling to finish his first novel, centered around a man who works in a nostalgia shop, but Inez dismisses his ambition as a romantic daydream and encourages him to stick with the more lucrative screenwriting. While Gil is considering moving to Paris (which he notes, much to the dismay of his fiancée, is at its most beautiful in the rain), Inez is intent on living in Malibu. By chance, they are joined by Inez's friend Paul, a pedantic pseudo-intellectual who speaks with great authority but questionable accuracy on the history and art of the city. This is best revealed when he contradicts a tour guide at the Rodin Museum, and insists his knowledge of Rodin's relationships is more accurate than that of the tour guide. Inez admires him, but Gil finds him insufferable.
One night, Gil gets drunk and becomes lost in the back streets of Paris. At midnight, a 1920s Peugeot Type 176 car draws up beside him, and the passengers—dressed in 1920s clothing—urge him to join them. They go to a party for Jean Cocteau where Gil comes to realize that he has been transported back to the 1920s, an era he idolizes. He encounters Cole Porter, Alice B. Toklas, Josephine Baker, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who take him to meet Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway agrees to show Gil's novel to Gertrude Stein, and Gil goes to fetch his manuscript from his hotel. However, as soon as he leaves, he finds he has returned to 2010 and the bar has disappeared.
Gil attempts to bring Inez to the past with him the following night, but while they wait, she becomes impatient, and peevishly returns to the hotel. Just after she leaves, the clock strikes midnight and the same car arrives, this time with Hemingway inside it. He takes Gil to meet Stein, who agrees to read his novel and introduces him to Pablo Picasso and his mistress Adriana, to whom Gil is instantly attracted. Stein reads aloud the novel's first line:
“ 'Out Of The Past' was the name of the store, and its products consisted of memories: what was prosaic and even vulgar to one generation had been transmuted by the mere passing of years to a status at once magical and also camp.”
Adriana says that she is hooked by these few lines and has always had a longing for the past, especially the 1890's. Gil spends each of the next few nights in the past. His late-night wanderings annoy Inez, and arouse the suspicion of her father, who hires a private detective to follow Gil. Meanwhile, Gil spends more and more time with Adriana, who leaves Picasso for a brief dalliance with Hemingway. Gil realizes he is falling in love with her, leaving him in conflict. He confides his predicament to Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, and Luis Buñuel, but being surrealists they see nothing strange about his claim to have come from the future, finding it to be perfectly normal. They discuss the impossibility of Gil's relationship with Adriana, and each of the artists envisages a different masterpiece inspired by such an unusual romance. Later on Gil suggests to a young Luis Buñuel a movie plot, which is none other than the plot of Buñuel's own 1962 film The Exterminating Angel, and leaves while Buñuel continues to question the plot idea.
While Inez shops for furniture, Gil meets Gabrielle, an antiques dealer and fellow admirer of the Lost Generation. Gil later discovers Adriana's diary from the 1920s on a book stall by the Seine and discovers that she was in love with him. Reading that she dreamed of receiving a gift of earrings from him and then making love to him, Gil attempts to steal a pair of earrings from Inez to give to Adriana, but is thwarted by Inez's early return from a trip.
Gil purchases earrings for Adriana and, returning to the past, declares his love for her. As they kiss, they are invited inside a horse-drawn carriage by a richly-dressed couple and are transported back to the 1890s Belle Époque, an era Adriana considers Paris's Golden Age. They are taken to Maxim's Paris, and eventually to the Moulin Rouge where they meet Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, and Edgar Degas. When Gil asks what they thought the best era was, the three determine that the greatest era was the Renaissance. The enthralled Adriana is offered a job designing ballet costumes, and proposes to Gil that they stay. Gil, however, upon observing that different people long for different "golden ages", undergoes an epiphany, and realizes that despite the allure of nostalgia, it is better to accept the present for what it is. Adriana elects to stay in the 1890s, and they part.
Having re-written the first two chapters Gil retrieves his novel from Stein, who praises his progress as a writer and tells him that Hemingway likes it but questions why the main character has not realized that his fiancée (based on Inez) is having an affair with a pedantic character (based on Paul). Gil returns to 2010 and confronts Inez. She admits to having slept with Paul, but dismisses it as a meaningless fling. Gil breaks up with her and decides to move to Paris. Inez's parents agree with Gil when he tells her that they are not right for each other. Amid Inez's pique, Gil calmly leaves, after which Inez's father confesses to her and his wife that he had Gil followed, though the detective mysteriously disappeared (It is revealed that he was transported to the 18th century). Taking a walk across the Seine at midnight, Gil meets Gabrielle and, after it starts to rain, offers to walk her home and learns that she shares his love of Paris in the rain.
- from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_in_Paris
Gil Pender, a successful but creatively unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter, and his fiancée, Inez, are in Paris, vacationing with Inez's wealthy, conservative parents. Gil is struggling to finish his first novel, centered around a man who works in a nostalgia shop, but Inez dismisses his ambition as a romantic daydream and encourages him to stick with the more lucrative screenwriting. While Gil is considering moving to Paris (which he notes, much to the dismay of his fiancée, is at its most beautiful in the rain), Inez is intent on living in Malibu. By chance, they are joined by Inez's friend Paul, a pedantic pseudo-intellectual who speaks with great authority but questionable accuracy on the history and art of the city. This is best revealed when he contradicts a tour guide at the Rodin Museum, and insists his knowledge of Rodin's relationships is more accurate than that of the tour guide. Inez admires him, but Gil finds him insufferable.
One night, Gil gets drunk and becomes lost in the back streets of Paris. At midnight, a 1920s Peugeot Type 176 car draws up beside him, and the passengers—dressed in 1920s clothing—urge him to join them. They go to a party for Jean Cocteau where Gil comes to realize that he has been transported back to the 1920s, an era he idolizes. He encounters Cole Porter, Alice B. Toklas, Josephine Baker, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, who take him to meet Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway agrees to show Gil's novel to Gertrude Stein, and Gil goes to fetch his manuscript from his hotel. However, as soon as he leaves, he finds he has returned to 2010 and the bar has disappeared.
Gil attempts to bring Inez to the past with him the following night, but while they wait, she becomes impatient, and peevishly returns to the hotel. Just after she leaves, the clock strikes midnight and the same car arrives, this time with Hemingway inside it. He takes Gil to meet Stein, who agrees to read his novel and introduces him to Pablo Picasso and his mistress Adriana, to whom Gil is instantly attracted. Stein reads aloud the novel's first line:
“ 'Out Of The Past' was the name of the store, and its products consisted of memories: what was prosaic and even vulgar to one generation had been transmuted by the mere passing of years to a status at once magical and also camp.”
Adriana says that she is hooked by these few lines and has always had a longing for the past, especially the 1890's. Gil spends each of the next few nights in the past. His late-night wanderings annoy Inez, and arouse the suspicion of her father, who hires a private detective to follow Gil. Meanwhile, Gil spends more and more time with Adriana, who leaves Picasso for a brief dalliance with Hemingway. Gil realizes he is falling in love with her, leaving him in conflict. He confides his predicament to Salvador Dalí, Man Ray, and Luis Buñuel, but being surrealists they see nothing strange about his claim to have come from the future, finding it to be perfectly normal. They discuss the impossibility of Gil's relationship with Adriana, and each of the artists envisages a different masterpiece inspired by such an unusual romance. Later on Gil suggests to a young Luis Buñuel a movie plot, which is none other than the plot of Buñuel's own 1962 film The Exterminating Angel, and leaves while Buñuel continues to question the plot idea.
While Inez shops for furniture, Gil meets Gabrielle, an antiques dealer and fellow admirer of the Lost Generation. Gil later discovers Adriana's diary from the 1920s on a book stall by the Seine and discovers that she was in love with him. Reading that she dreamed of receiving a gift of earrings from him and then making love to him, Gil attempts to steal a pair of earrings from Inez to give to Adriana, but is thwarted by Inez's early return from a trip.
Gil purchases earrings for Adriana and, returning to the past, declares his love for her. As they kiss, they are invited inside a horse-drawn carriage by a richly-dressed couple and are transported back to the 1890s Belle Époque, an era Adriana considers Paris's Golden Age. They are taken to Maxim's Paris, and eventually to the Moulin Rouge where they meet Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, and Edgar Degas. When Gil asks what they thought the best era was, the three determine that the greatest era was the Renaissance. The enthralled Adriana is offered a job designing ballet costumes, and proposes to Gil that they stay. Gil, however, upon observing that different people long for different "golden ages", undergoes an epiphany, and realizes that despite the allure of nostalgia, it is better to accept the present for what it is. Adriana elects to stay in the 1890s, and they part.
Having re-written the first two chapters Gil retrieves his novel from Stein, who praises his progress as a writer and tells him that Hemingway likes it but questions why the main character has not realized that his fiancée (based on Inez) is having an affair with a pedantic character (based on Paul). Gil returns to 2010 and confronts Inez. She admits to having slept with Paul, but dismisses it as a meaningless fling. Gil breaks up with her and decides to move to Paris. Inez's parents agree with Gil when he tells her that they are not right for each other. Amid Inez's pique, Gil calmly leaves, after which Inez's father confesses to her and his wife that he had Gil followed, though the detective mysteriously disappeared (It is revealed that he was transported to the 18th century). Taking a walk across the Seine at midnight, Gil meets Gabrielle and, after it starts to rain, offers to walk her home and learns that she shares his love of Paris in the rain.
- from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_in_Paris
Character Analysis
Gil Pender
Gil Pender is an unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter trying to write his first novel. Gil idolizes the Lost Generation because they wrote for pleasure and not money. Although he has wealth because of his writing, Gil is not very proud of it. He feels that a novel is more challenging and more fulfilling to write. Throughout the film, Gil and Inez frequently argue about the direction of his career. Inez loves the materialism aspect of having a successful screenwriter as a husband, but Gil wants to prove to himself that he can be a great writer. She constantly takes advantage of Gil’s dwindling self-confidence by dominating their conversations. The audience may quickly discover that their marriage is far from perfect, but Gil’s denial keeps him from noticing their shaky relationship.
When Paul (the pedantic one) first hears of Gil’s main character that works in a nostalgia shop, he remarks that nostalgia is denial of the present. Paul is insufferable, but he is kind of right here. A reminder of the past is pleasing, but trying to relive it is dangerous. Gil displays denial after he first travels back to the twenties and doesn’t believe he has time traveled (though many of us would also be in denial). However, Gil learns much from the artists in the twenties and becomes aware of his wife’s affair through his own writing.
At the beginning of Midnight in Paris, Gil seems to be lacking in self-confidence as he is repeatedly passive towards others that interrupt or talk over him. Also, he won’t let anyone else look at his writing. This changes when he asks Hemingway for advice on his novel. Hemingway reminds him that a great writer makes observations and the writer should be the only one to correct his or her mistakes. Gil should have confidence in himself to judge his own writing. Hemingway also teaches him about relationships saying that a man loses his fear of death when making love to his true love. Although Gil finds Inez attractive, he never felt that way with her. Later, Gil meets Adriana who responds favorably to his writing. He does not feel he is good enough for her because she has been with artists such as Hemingway and Picasso. Gil is able to overcome this and seems to have regained his confidence once he passionately kisses Adriana and mentions that he felt “immortal”.
Gil confronts his denial during his last night in 1920s Paris when he goes to the 1890s with Adriana. When she wants to stay, Gil realizes that no one is happy with their present because ultimately, life can be unsatisfying. Once he returns to the twenties, Gertrude Stein indirectly informs him of Inez’s affair. With his regained self-confidence, Gil breaks up with Inez and finds Gabrielle, who loves Paris in the rain just like him.
Gil Pender is an unfulfilled Hollywood screenwriter trying to write his first novel. Gil idolizes the Lost Generation because they wrote for pleasure and not money. Although he has wealth because of his writing, Gil is not very proud of it. He feels that a novel is more challenging and more fulfilling to write. Throughout the film, Gil and Inez frequently argue about the direction of his career. Inez loves the materialism aspect of having a successful screenwriter as a husband, but Gil wants to prove to himself that he can be a great writer. She constantly takes advantage of Gil’s dwindling self-confidence by dominating their conversations. The audience may quickly discover that their marriage is far from perfect, but Gil’s denial keeps him from noticing their shaky relationship.
When Paul (the pedantic one) first hears of Gil’s main character that works in a nostalgia shop, he remarks that nostalgia is denial of the present. Paul is insufferable, but he is kind of right here. A reminder of the past is pleasing, but trying to relive it is dangerous. Gil displays denial after he first travels back to the twenties and doesn’t believe he has time traveled (though many of us would also be in denial). However, Gil learns much from the artists in the twenties and becomes aware of his wife’s affair through his own writing.
At the beginning of Midnight in Paris, Gil seems to be lacking in self-confidence as he is repeatedly passive towards others that interrupt or talk over him. Also, he won’t let anyone else look at his writing. This changes when he asks Hemingway for advice on his novel. Hemingway reminds him that a great writer makes observations and the writer should be the only one to correct his or her mistakes. Gil should have confidence in himself to judge his own writing. Hemingway also teaches him about relationships saying that a man loses his fear of death when making love to his true love. Although Gil finds Inez attractive, he never felt that way with her. Later, Gil meets Adriana who responds favorably to his writing. He does not feel he is good enough for her because she has been with artists such as Hemingway and Picasso. Gil is able to overcome this and seems to have regained his confidence once he passionately kisses Adriana and mentions that he felt “immortal”.
Gil confronts his denial during his last night in 1920s Paris when he goes to the 1890s with Adriana. When she wants to stay, Gil realizes that no one is happy with their present because ultimately, life can be unsatisfying. Once he returns to the twenties, Gertrude Stein indirectly informs him of Inez’s affair. With his regained self-confidence, Gil breaks up with Inez and finds Gabrielle, who loves Paris in the rain just like him.
Adriana
Adriana has had dalliances with the likes of Hemingway and Picasso which means the woman knows her artists. After she takes a liking to Gil’s novel, Gil then picks her brain and finds out they have a lot in common. She likes him because he doesn’t have an enormous ego like some of the best writers and artists of the twenties. To her, Gil is naive and innocent while Hemingway and Picasso are cynical (probably because of war). Inez is also cynical which is probably why she and Gil have relationship issues. Adriana shows her love for Gil when she first hears of his engagement and leaves. As she walks out, her voice starts to quiver and it seems like she might cry. Unfortunately, their love could not last since they are from different times. When Gil has his epiphany, Adriana does not listen and chooses to stay in the 1890s where she believes France’s “Golden Age” took place.
Adriana has had dalliances with the likes of Hemingway and Picasso which means the woman knows her artists. After she takes a liking to Gil’s novel, Gil then picks her brain and finds out they have a lot in common. She likes him because he doesn’t have an enormous ego like some of the best writers and artists of the twenties. To her, Gil is naive and innocent while Hemingway and Picasso are cynical (probably because of war). Inez is also cynical which is probably why she and Gil have relationship issues. Adriana shows her love for Gil when she first hears of his engagement and leaves. As she walks out, her voice starts to quiver and it seems like she might cry. Unfortunately, their love could not last since they are from different times. When Gil has his epiphany, Adriana does not listen and chooses to stay in the 1890s where she believes France’s “Golden Age” took place.
Applying Aristotle's Poetics
Hamartia (flaw) - Gil's flaw is his nostalgia as it makes him almost completely unsatisfied with the time he is living in, but he realizes that sometimes, the present is unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying and he accepts that.
Anagnorisis (Critical Discovery) - Gil has an epiphany while in the 1890s with Adriana. Nobody is happy with their present and if they inhabit a time period they love, eventually they will grow tired of it.
Peripeteia (Reversal of Circumstances) - This happens when Adriana leaves Paris with Hemingway after learning of Gil's engagement and Gertrude Stein tells Gil about the problems in his novel which reflect the problems in his relationship with Inez.
Catharsis (Purgation of the audience) - The audience is very aware of Gil's tenuous relationship and once Gil breaks off the engagement, it shows that he has grown from what he learned from the Lost Generation in the twenties.
Hamartia (flaw) - Gil's flaw is his nostalgia as it makes him almost completely unsatisfied with the time he is living in, but he realizes that sometimes, the present is unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying and he accepts that.
Anagnorisis (Critical Discovery) - Gil has an epiphany while in the 1890s with Adriana. Nobody is happy with their present and if they inhabit a time period they love, eventually they will grow tired of it.
Peripeteia (Reversal of Circumstances) - This happens when Adriana leaves Paris with Hemingway after learning of Gil's engagement and Gertrude Stein tells Gil about the problems in his novel which reflect the problems in his relationship with Inez.
Catharsis (Purgation of the audience) - The audience is very aware of Gil's tenuous relationship and once Gil breaks off the engagement, it shows that he has grown from what he learned from the Lost Generation in the twenties.