FeatureFilm
Midnight in Paris
- Rated: PG - Contains sexual references
- Running Length:1hr 34mins
Session Times
- Thu 23 Feb:
- Fri 24 Feb:
- Sat 25 Feb:
- Sun 26 Feb:
- Mon 27 Feb:
- Tue 28 Feb:
- Wed 29 Feb:
Summary
Most people have probably dreamed, at some point in their lives, of living in another time or another place. This is the airy conceit upon which Woody Allen has based his latest film, a charming piece of whimsy that glamorizes the Paris of the 1920s.
Gil and Inez are a mis-matched couple in Paris with her parents for a pre-wedding vacation. He is a successful Hollywood screenwriter with aspirations toward writing a novel. She is more interested in a house on Venice beach and quashes his dreams at every turn.
One night Gil decides not to go dancing with Inez and her irritating friends, and walks the night time streets alone until he is picked up by an old roadster filled with drunken revellers. Before long, Gil realizes he’s been transported to another era and the folk he’s rubbing shoulders with are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali and the enigmatic Adriana. He is embraced by these literary and artistic figures, and for once in his life finds himself a part of a community who understands him. As he becomes more immersed in his alternate life, Gil finds it harder and harder to spend time with his finace or to care about the things she finds important.
This is a fun film, if not one of the most challenging that Allen has produced. Younger viewers may have trouble with the historical figures, but for those of us who recognize and admire them, part of the fun is in identifying them.
Romantic, nostalgic and poignant, this may not be Woody Allen at his finest, but it is an enjoyable enough way to spend an hour and a half.