'Midnight in Paris': Real Life Vs. Fantasy

Quoting Midnight in Paris

No subject is terrible if the story is true, if the prose is clean and honest, and if it affirms courage and grace under pressure

'Midnight in Paris'

This quote comes from ‘Midnight in Paris’ and it belongs to Ernest Hemingway (played in the movie by Corey Stoll). The movie is a 2011 romantic comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Carla Bruni, Adrien Brody and Michael Sheen.

The movie has won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay and received four Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

The movie tells the story of an engaged couple, Gil and Inez whoo visit Paris with Inez’s parents. Gil is a writer, but Inez doesn’t trust his talent. During their visit in Paris, the two show different interests so they spend most time apart. One night, while walking on the street, an antique car pulls up and the passengers force Gil to follow them back in time, to the 1920s. He encounters Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein (who reads his novel), Pablo Picasso and his mistress Adriana.

 For a few nights, Gil goes the same place and almost fells in love with Adriana. During the day he realizes the difference between him and Inez grows. In present, he also meets Gabrielle, an antiques dealer and fellow admirer of the Lost Generation.

One night, Adriana takes him back to the 1890s Belle Epoque. There Gil meets Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, and Edgar Degas. But Gil loves the 1920s more, while Adriana wants to stay in the 1890s, a time she considers Paris’s Golden Age.

 Sadly, Gil realizes he has to accept the fact that he lives in the 21st century and comes back in the present where he splits with Inez and decided to remain in Paris. One night, while walking again in Paris, he meets Gabrielle and he offers to walk her home. Gil discovers Gabriella also loves Pris in the rain.

How about ‘Midnight in Paris’ winning an Oscar for Best Picture? We doubt it. As well as Hemingway, we could say the story is “clean and honest”, but this is not enough. But who knows? Maybe a trophy for the Best Original Screenplay.