MIDNIGHT IN PARIS [2011]

FOR THE FRENCH-HEARTED
(but not for the French)

2011, USA
Woody Allen
8 // 10

Are we one step closer to an ultimate Paris romantic comedy? Is any of that Parisian fantasy actually real? Rhinoceros? There's only one way to find out!

I visited Paris for the first time at the age of fifteen. It was October and I still can remember every single smell and scent of that trip. Nothing in your life is ever the same after visiting Paris at the age of fifteen. But even I would have to admit to a massive bias if my Parisian experience was limited to only those four days in the sepia tinted past. As it happens though, I do get a chance to visit the French capital every now and again these days and my feelings towards the city remain as strong as ever. It simply IS that type of place. And Midnight in Paris is one of the best testimonies of that fact, so far. Still not as good as Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, but close. Close enough.

There's one thing about Allen's love for Europe I particularly like. I think the best way to describe it would be to call it a complex-free American perspective. His homages to Paris or Venice are not tainted by the inferiority complex that could spoil all the joy of watching his films for the European audience. What Allen does very well is to feel and understand the genius loci, to get familiar with scents and flavours and the sounds, and use them as building blocks for his own stories. Is he discovering Paris in Midnight...? No. Is he reinventing it? No. Is he making us look at the city in a way we've never seen it before? Nope, not really. So what's so good about it then? Well, I guess the fact that Allen knows how not to cross the line. The romantic plot is fairly typical, but it doesn't get too cheesy. There's a degree of Allenesque intellectualising, but without getting neurotically heavy. There's a play on some of the most popular Parisian stereotypes but without going too far, without an overload. So all in all, it becomes a perfect postcard. Pleasant, recognisable and yet with a healthy dose of originality, successfully avoiding the abyss of the kitsch hell. And just like a postcard, it remains firmly a Paris treat from one non-Parisian to other non-Parisians. You won't find on a postcard the traffic jams, the crowds in the subway or the Arabs with a strong accent trying to sell you plastic crap in the streets. A postcard doesn't aim for the truth, and it's not the truth you expect from it. As long as you agree to the rules of the game, everything is in its right place.

Allen does manage to go a bit deeper, however. Sightseeing aside, there's also a message here. A one, that seems to comment a bit on the general human nature but also on the current (hipster?) trend to love everything vintage. What Allen brings to our attention is our false picture of the past. What we all seem to ignore is that the past we love, as the 'better times', was as much of a present to the people then as our world is to us today. And that they must have had exactly the same feelings about it. And what the ending of the film is trying to tell us is that, while it's absolutely fine to love the past, we've got our lives here and now and we should always remember to make the most of it. After all, it's going to be a golden era to our great-grandchildren and we are fortunate enough to live in it.

The special (unsurprising) mention goes now to the cast. It's rather nice to see Owen Wilson in a less stupid role for a change (he seems to have a Jim Carrey problem, I think. A proper acting talent, but not enough chances to show it). It's definitely nice to see Tom Hiddleston without his superhero entourage as well. Casting Katy Bates as Gertrude Stein - pure genius (no "I'm your biggest fan" line though, unless I missed it) and Michael Sheen is also quite brilliant. I might have been a little bit underwhelmed by Marion Cotillard though, since that particular choice seems a little bit too obvious and not really challenging her to show us anything more than being just another French girl in an American film. Maybe, just maybe, there could have been a place there for a new face. However, if I had to choose my personal favourite, the awart would go hands down to Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali. The understated comedy value of his performance is a true genius. If somebody decided to recast him in the role and make it into a full feature film about a rhinoceros riding surreal superhero, I'd totally watch that. Hollywood, make it happen, please.