Midnight in Paris

The temperatures are dropping, well for Miami that is, and winter is definitely here.  It is during these cold and chilly nights that I enjoy getting staying in to curl up and watch a good movie, and this weekend I did just that.  


Lucky for me there are so many good movies to choose from, and this time I watched Midnight in Paris, an amazing film by Woody Allen.  This movie is so great because it brings together one of my favorite places, Paris, one of my favorite pastimes, art and writing.

The cast, as in all of Allen's films is superb. The movie starts with a young couple played by Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams on a vacation in Paris.  They are engaged and should be loving the city of lights, but as Gil (Wilson's Character) prefers the city by moonlight, Inez (McAdams) would rather take in the sights by day.




Gil is a film writer, and is having a hard time finishing his first novel.  Lucky for him, one night, at midnight he happens to find himself in a special vintage limousine that unknowingly transports him to the past, where his idols are lurking.  



At night, Gil finds himself attending parties, and meeting luminaries of the Paris 1920's intellectual scene such F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein.  All of these are played by the very familiar faces seen below.

Familiar faces played by even more familiar faces: Kathy Bates as Ira Stein, and Adrian Brody as Salvador Dali

Ernest Hemingway as played by Corey Stoll to the left. Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald played by Alison Pill and Tom Hiddleston

Gil finds a muse of his own: Adriana played by the gorgeous Marion Cotillard.

During his midnight madness, Gil also meets the very beautiful muse of all of the famous painters, Adriana, played by the magnificent Marion Cotillard.  But don't feel to bad for his fiance Inez, she herself is also having the time of her life with an old friend of hers, who is also in Paris. 
 

Inez meeting her friend Paul in Paris.

For the rest of his stay in Paris, Gil is able to live out every writers' fantasy.   He has Gertrude Stein give him pointers on his book, he finds the inspiration from his new paramour, Adriana, and finishes his novel with great satisfaction. For me this was the best and most entertaining part of the film.  Seeing this amazing cast play all these geniuses from the past was amazing.

Gil and the Fitzgeralds

In the end, Gil and Inez do not make it.  She's too self absorbed for someone so poetic and naive.  This decision is for the best.  Gil decides to stay in Paris, a paradise for writers, and his longstanding fantasy. He ditches his career in Hollywood, and in the end gets to wander around Paris, at midnight.  


I won't give away too, too much.  You will have to see the ending and the rest of the movie yourself.  It's worth it, if anything for the amazing cinematography.  A definite must see.


Love Always
Dani K