Midnight in Paris

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2012)

"Midnight in Paris" is a film that immediately brings the viewer up to speed with what a large message of the film is. Think of the intro, before any person is even shown, where the screen flashes through several historical places and forms of art; all the while, music is playing that would give a sense of history and cheerfulness. The message that is being depicted is one of art, history, and a sense of passion, or romance. This message is further depicted in the main character Gil who is truly inspired and passionate about the beauty of Paris in not only the present, but even more so in its past. The icing of top of the cake for demonstrating this message would however have to be Gil's adventures into the past.
The main message in this film is strongly supported and easily picked out. The film never seems to stray far from the message if at all. The film itself was well written around the message. The film shows a good amount of combinations as well. The first is in Gil and his fiancée Inez; where she is the ultimately ignorant and he is open-minded and embraces the beauty in all that is around him. Another good combination is between the past and the present. The past represents a more enlightened in an art and romantic sense, and seemingly more laid back and living life by the moment. The past also recognizes all forms of art such as writing. The present is more scheduled and ignorant to the beauty in art. The present also seems to ignore older forms of art and strictly deals with the present. There are several other combinations in the film as well.
The introduction of the little black book that Gil buys at the market starts out as nothing, but grows. It first causes Gil to want to see a girl from the past again and to steal his fiancée's earrings. It would later cause him to take this girl from the past on a date where she would stay even later in the past. I also believe that it had a big part in Gil wanting to stay in Paris instead of going back to America. The general assumption that Paris is a city of beauty and romance hits Gil hard in the sense that he strongly believes and accepts it. This has a big effect on how Gil acts and thinks throughout the film. He expects to see beauty and romance, so he does everywhere he looks seemingly. I really liked how the film mixed both past and present to make its message clearer. I also really enjoyed the use of real life historical facts and people to make the film and story better. Probably my most favorite thing that is done in this film is the use of night as a lively time for the past.
"Midnight in Paris" is a historical, romantic film with a large focus on writings and arts of the past to provide a powerful message.