Midnight in Paris

Imagine going on a short trip to Paris, where your mornings and afternoons are filled with cultural activities until the clock ticks midnight and suddenly you're in the Twenties. The roaring Twenties indeed, and yes, you're still in Paris. Of course you're gonna meet the most fabulous people that were alive in that era: Ernest Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (especially Zelda is hilarious), Pablo Picasso. Sounds like a fairy tale right? It actually is Woody Allen's newest movie: Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen casted Owen Wilson (who I always kind of under-appreciated, for his choice of films) to play himself. Yes, Owen Wilson does a quite good version of Woody Allen. The chaotic way of acting, the fast talking, the awkwardness, his fear of death and the left-wingness. Even his voice sounds exactly like Woody Allen's. I bet he's watched Annie Hall many times to learn it from the master ;)

Anyway, while watching Midnight in Paris I felt like I was in a dream for 90 minutes. How often have I wished I was born a few decades earlier? Though I always wanted to be young in the sixties, I have to admit the twenties wouldn't have been bad either. Especially not in bohemian Paris. I would stroll through Montmarte, visit little vintage shops, go to the best cafés in town and listen to the greatest jazz musicians that lived. And if I also had the luck to meet the icons of that age, like Hemingway (performed like a real macho, as they said he was), Cole Porter and Gertrude Stein, my vision of heaven would be complete.

Midnight in Paris is romantic and funny. You feel empathy for Gil whose wife Inez (Rachel McAdams) is the complete opposite of him and she falls for this extremely annoying Mr. Know All. Fortunately, Gil doesn't care that much because he has met the beautiful Adriana (Marion Cotillard, our generation's Audrey Hepburn if you ask me. She's sophisticated, eccentric and elegant)in the twenties. Adriana feels something for Gil as well. One night, when they are strolling around Paris, they see a carriage which takes them even further in time. They arrive in 'La Belle Epoque' (around the turn of the 20th century), Adriana's favourite era.


I have to stop myself at this point before I tell the complete plot of the story. I'm sorry if I have already ruined the film for you (cause you didn't want to know all this already) but I'm just really crazy about the story ;) If you watch the film really critical, you'll probably say that it's quite unusual that Gil suddenly sees an oldtimer who takes him a century back. But hey, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of fantasy and imagination, right? The other poor thing is the acting performance of Carla Bruni. She definitely didn't have any impact on me and her part is quite meaningless.

Woody Allen has done a great job making this movie. Although he's a New Yorker in heart and soul, he shows us that Paris is fabulous as well. And though it's almost unbelievable, I honestly think it was even better in the twenties.