* * Many thanks, Barry! Loving time-travel as we both do, "the wife" and I are going to see it tonight :-)
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > At this point, when I hear that Woody Allen has a new movie out, my > first impulse is *not* to run out and see it. If anything, after "You > Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger," it's the opposite. But when I heard > that this one was set in and filmed in Paris, I could not help but hope. > That hope was fulfilled. > > It's a little like stepping into a time machine and going back to visit > the Woody Allen of "The Purple Rose Of Cairo" era, which in a way is > appropriate because the lead character steps into a time machine and > goes back to 1920's Paris. Like Allan in "Play It Again Sam," Gil (Owen > Wilson, as good a stand-in for Woody Allen as there has ever been) gets > to live out his biggest fantasy, hanging out after midnight with > Hemingway, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, > Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dali. With > them he's not the failed writer he suspects he is (and that his fiance > knows he is) in real life, he's a peer, and they treat him as one of > them. > > As these midnight walks into the past continue, Gil's real life becomes > less and less real, and his fantasy life (if in fact that's what it is) > becomes more and more real. In the 20's -- the "golden age" he's always > wanted to live in -- he's alive, and happy; back in 2010 he's more dead > than alive, and not at all looking forward to his fiance's plans for > their life together after they're married. Many > cognitive-dissonance-fueled conflicts arise, as Gil gets to experience > the fantasy era he's always dreamed of living in. Then things become > Woody Allen-esque when the woman Gil is falling in love with in 1920's > Paris (Marion Cotillard) confesses that she's always fantasized about > living in the Belle Epoque era, and poof! they're running into > Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gaugin, and Degas. And of course they fantasize > about an earlier era they'd prefer, too. It's an ever-cascading series > of fantasies about life in the past being better. And at the end -- as > all good fantasies should end -- it doesn't even matter if the fantasy > was real or not, because the present is, and it's better than any > fantasy. > > The cinematography is brilliant, as is the music. It's as pure and as > cool a vision as Woody Allen has ever crafted. And as usual, Woody can > get pretty much any actors or actresses in the world to work with him, > so the cast is amazing, from Kathy Bates (as Gertrude Stein) to Adrien > Brody (as Dali) to Carla Bruni (as a tour guide). "Midnight In Paris" > has qualities that we were afraid we'd never see in a Woody Allen film > again; it's funny, hopeful and even romantic. It's almost like a return > to a earlier, happier, and more elegant era. > > http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/ > <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/> > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRWfS2s2v4 > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRWfS2s2v4> >
