Woody's Wild Strawberries

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2011)

Woody Allen can utilize his satire to be original, his romantic comedy to stimulate, and his drama to make a point. Midnight in Paris is shaped by his vision of a Bergman style drama. His obsession with Bergman extends to his movies where he cracks jokes about his love for the Swedes. In Bananas (1971), Woody Allen becomes President of San Marcos and declares that the official language be Swedish. This is no doubt an homage to Ingmar Bergman, a writer/director who has more influence on Woody Allen's film career than anyone. This style is formed around tortured characters who live out their internal struggle by reliving past and fictional memories. When I saw that Rachel McAdams hair is blonde in Midnight in Paris, I thought, with a smirk on my face, "Ingrid Thulin."
Woody Allen's 41st movie is Midnight in Paris (2011). It's aroma is of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) mixed with hints of Deconstructing Harry (1997). The Purple Rose of Cairo comparison comes from the want of a character to be in another time. This template usually starts by defining two realities, which we will separate into the crushing reality of existence and the illusions.
The crushing reality comes in contact with the illusions, be it the allure of stars of film characters in classic cinema (The Purple Rose of Cairo) or the nostalgia of 1920's Paris in the rain and the artists and writers of the Jazz Age (Midnight in Paris). The characters are faced with a decision to reject or accept the illusions, the driving catalyst which propels the story forward.
The illusions are fantasy, this fiction life where wish fulfillment is the norm. The main characters struggle with illusions of romance, no doubt delusions. With these delusions, Woody Allen gives a nod to such Bergman films as Through a Glass Darkly (1961) and Cries and Whispers (1972).
The Deconstructing Harry comparison is the storyline of the writer who has fictional characters to haunt him. Harry Block remembers scenes from his book as well as his past. In Midnight in Paris, it is a fantasy for a different life which draws Gil to the streets of Paris. In Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957), Dr. Isak Borg is visited by a flood of illusions on his way to receive an honorary degree. Bergman beautifully displays the hidden places in Borg's mind. Woody Allen shows us his own version of Wild Strawberries, as the visit to Paris takes us into the fantasies of Gil's mind.