Midnight in Paris (Allen, 2011)

[kaytee]

Midnight in Paris is Woody Allen at his best. Charming, witty, experimental, passionate all at the same time. Owen Wilson embodies Woody Allen's persona and carries the movie throughout. Paris has never looked this pretty. Too bad its not getting any push for the awards season. Get ready for a lesson in Art History.

Highly Recommended

[fizz]

Nice...I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for this to be released here but if it isn't out by the end of the month, I'll just watch it on my own.

[animatedude]

Nice...I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for this to be released here but if it isn't out by the end of the month, I'll just watch it on my own.

i don't know why it wasn't here...i got tired of waiting i KFFed it and i thought it was a typical woody Allen movie, nothing ground breaking like Match Point.

[kaytee]

Groundbreaking? This is Woody Allen at his best and when have his movies been groundbreaking unless you count Everything you always wanted to know about Sex.

[ayaa1977]

Romantic, dreamy, poniant, corky, and uplifting. My favorite Woody Allen films since Annie Hall. I love the way it portrays Paris. It makes you believe it's the City of Romance, the City of Light and all these cliches. The. Cast is so good, and Owen Wilson has never been better. Great Jazz soundtrack and score. It is an all around a pleasant film experience, and I can't wait to see it again. This is by far one I'd the best films of 2011.

My Rating: Highly Recommended

[fizz]

Midnight in Paris is filled with Allen's trademark talk heavy discourses on life and literature and is beautiful and radiant like none of his past work. Darius Khonji is largely to credit for this - he makes the city look alive bathing it in the warm golden glow of the sun during the day and shifting to moody scenes of dimly lit alleys and rain at night. At its core this is a time travel film without the complications that are inherent in such a setup and the ode to nostalgia is charming but never as much fun as it seems to be. Where the script is headed is quiet obvious and both the humour and the film itself are at best...mild. Like Hugo, it is fascinated by the past but doesn't take any bold strides with the setup like that film did - this is nothing more than a short trip down the memory lane of early 20th century bohemia with a literary who's who (Heminghway, Dali, Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others all make brief appearnaces). Like an infatuation its wonders are shortlived and only temporary. At best, a minor Woody Allen film.

Rating: Good

[ayaa1977]

[ this is nothing more than a short trip down the memory lane of early 20th century bohemia with a literary who's who (Heminghway, Dali, Picasso, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others all make brief appearnaces). Like an infatuation its wonders are shortlived and only temporary. At best, a minor Woody Allen film.

I would have to strongly disagree with you on that Fizz. This film starts as trip down nostalgia lane as you said, it goes there to show how fascinated Owen Wilson's Gil with a certain point of the past which he think is the golden age for everything that is beautiful and authentic. When we get there with him, it leaves us wandering in his fascination just for a bit then bring us back and forth between his dream that came true and his "unsatisfying" reality, but then it spiral into a bit of a rabbit hole when we discover that in fact no one is satisfied with his present and everyone at any point of time is probably nostalgic to some illusion of a golden time somewhere in the past. I see this film as deconstruction of nostalgia in a way that is light and fluffy if not so subtle.
I really connected to this film because I too feel nostalgic to a point of my life that I think that I was the happiest and most fulfilled, even though if I really reflect on it and think hard of whatever I did, felt, or happen to me then, it would probably shatter that picture or at least have it somewhat distorted. Thank God I don’t keep a journal.

[fizz]

I get the themes - its just conveyed in a very trite, obvious manner. I didn't need that speech at the end, when they are in the 1890's at the Moulin Rougue about how everyone has an era that they wish they could belong to etc. I enjoyed the film as a I watched it, but in the end I don't think it amounted to much - for a better Woody Allen film set in the same period, watch the excellent Sweet and Lowdown with Sean Penn as a Jazz musician. Midnight just took a very known fact (nostalgia is a bitch) and made a film about it. Also, the literary appearances got tiring after the second trip to the past (though I absolutely loved Brody as Dali!). I can live with a film that employs whimsy to create lightness but here it was the central concept of the film.

[ayaa1977]

I think that is a problem with all his films comedy in particular, that they have so much whimsy and lightness to them, and that can be problematic for many to fully appreciate them. I knew (as I pointed out) that the film lacks subtlety when it comes to hammering home it message, but that did not take from my enjoyment of the film while watching it or afterward. Yes I would rather if Mr. Allen have trusted my intellect enough not to blurt it out to me at the end, but then he is an old man will into his 70's, and it is hard for that generation sometimes not to be all garndfatherly like and spew some oldtimer's wisdoms at you. That is why I would give him some slack there.

Finally, I said that this film is my favorite of his since Annie Hall, but after thinking I would take that back and say it's actually my third favorite after Annie Hall and Match Point. Although I still haven't seen crime and Misdeminers and many of his 80's classics.

[fizz]

Match Point is a marvellous film - not only one of his best, but one of the best films to come out of any director in the last decade. Which is why when you hear/read people say this (Paris) is his best work in X years (insert your number there), you have to ask - why do they apply the chronological count to only Woody Allen and no other director (at least not so strictly). Is it because of his volume of output? In which case, I think its unfair...

[animatedude]

i love "Match Point" so much but when last year Gurinder Chadha was promoting "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" in the UK, she was asked on BBC radio to give a few examples of bad movies, she mentioned "Match Point"! 

[ayaa1977]

i love "Match Point" so much but when last year Gurinder Chadha was promoting "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" in the UK, she was asked on BBC radio to give a few examples of bad movies, she mentioned "Match Point"!  

Well she is certainly entitled to her own opinion even if it is wrong. What did you expect? a universal love orgy to this film just because you adore it?? All well regarded films even masterpieces have their haters, usually it will be people like you, and I am not being mean just stating what usually happen on the forum. Now you see how is it like to be on the other side Dude  

[X.]

Darius Khonji is largely to credit for this - he makes the city look alive bathing it in the warm golden glow of the sun during the day and shifting to moody scenes of dimly lit alleys and rain at night.

Khondji's work in the film has gone largely overlooked, so your comment is greatly appreciated. What's fantastic about his lighting specifically (besides the classical framing) is the subtlety of the warm, late sunset glow, which you pointed out. It permeates every scene. Even during the scenes in daylight, you will note that he sneaks in a warm lamp in the background (the hotel room scene with the characters in pure white robes is a case in point). The film *feels* romantic mainly due to the lighting and color choices Khondji makes. And to give Woody due credit, he has always sought master cinematographers to photograph his films (from Gordon Willis to Sven Nykvist to, now, Darius Khondji).

Anyway, I am in agreement with your comments for the most part. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is a delightful romp and its romanticism of the past is endearing. Being a lover of literature and art, it was great to be in on the jokes, particularly the impressions of Hemingway and Dali. MIDNIGHT deserves praise for being literate and fun, but it did not last in my memory as other great films I saw in 2011.

[fizz]

I think at some points the film was a bit too radiant. For the first time ever, I had to get up and tone down the image brightness on my TV because...it was just so radiant! But I loved how it looked regardless. The opening postcard montage was enough for me and the Mrs to start planning our France trip...

[shariqq]

Wonderful, whimsical movie that so easily puts a smile on your face, and not because it is being funny but because it is just so innocent and loving. Owen Wilson as the gullible, nice guy in love with the past is such an identifiable character that for anyone who loves anything (movies, books, art, music, a city, history, fashion). His character goes through a quasi-dream-reality state that we'd all love to go through - I know I would. And that is what makes the movie such a wonderful time at the cinema. Here's someone so in love with the time he ends up in that he isn't just happy to be there, he is actually geeking out! The music, the colors, the actors and historical characters (I LOVED Dali and Hemmingway! "I am Dali!" / "Who wants to fight?").

Thoroughly enjoyable, and in my opinion, a much better movie than Hugo. To me, I felt Scorcese made Hugo just for himself, and his love for cinema. This though feels like a shared love and an ode to a beautiful Golden Era held in high regard. A movie that is made for all those who love anything to do with the past.

My Rating --> 4 of 5 :: Recommended