"Midnight in Paris"
Woody Allen has revived his old classic wit and comedic horse to create a fine romantic comedy set in Paris. Of course, any fan of the master would not want to miss this. Paris is realised as the aspiration of the creator himself, with Owen Wilson,auto-biographically portrayed like Woody's character "Artie" in Annie Hall.
Feet first, Wilson jumps into character as an Allen type, on sabbatical from Hollywood script writing to test his mettle as a novelist. The trip to Paris with his fiancee is a baptism of sorts, and touches him with both the city's romanticism and history, and its intellectualism.
A hidden ode to the expatriate period of American and other artists in Paris in the 20's, Allen's film clicks with that surprise for the audience expecting a different farce.
Replete with the greats and a fantasy-surreal of time travel - juxtaposed with the life-making of a businessman's daughter in Paris joining him and her parents, and the already reached stability of success and money as a Beverly Hills industry writer, Allen, as Owen Wilson portrays him (Giles Portender? sic]) breaks loose.
Supporting with her steady and established good work, Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose", & "A Good Year") up-ends the fiancee (Inez -Sarah McFullen) as a light coquette - mistress Adrienne to the emerging artist Pablo Picasso, met at, where else? a Gertrude Stein salon. Other notables of the 20's - the FitzGeralds, Hemingway, artists Dali, Monet, etc; Cole Porter, almost every imaginable literati and artist Woody Allen could pop in are there (oddly absent - maybe trop gauche is Henry Miller with Anais Nin).
The movie succeeds with Wilson's funny and warming interpretation of Woody's auto-biographical character; and the eternal contrast to the secure life and success that his portending marriage creates. And of course, the romantic tableau of Paris in the sun, in the night, in the moonlight, in the rain.
Woody Allen has transcended and exposed his transcendental soul -- not wafting off yet - - but akin to Kurasawa's film as canvas escape.
Wouldn't ever put this as goodbye - it is funny, and recurrent in some themes - Woody's escape device reminds one of his Dr. Caligari bookstore short stories with magic cabinet - an old New Yorker piece with Madame Bovary; and of course, his character hits it off with Gertrude Stein
(actually prompted me to web-search again for a look at her statue and saw a short-haired photo of her at a site called http://www.jewoftheday.com).
But as we all age, and the film-maker is wished a good century or better -- this can be as close to his as one of Corot's autumn canvases.
See it, and enjoy it. Woody shines with all the past and current succesful devices of his film-making and some more.
Good as ever with full wit, dialogue, relationships and crucial for some -confrontation - with intellect -love- and well - life!
Cotillard plays adouble role in the fantasy, and a best & standard line of hers works well: "Iam sure you will love Paris!".
Feet first, Wilson jumps into character as an Allen type, on sabbatical from Hollywood script writing to test his mettle as a novelist. The trip to Paris with his fiancee is a baptism of sorts, and touches him with both the city's romanticism and history, and its intellectualism.
A hidden ode to the expatriate period of American and other artists in Paris in the 20's, Allen's film clicks with that surprise for the audience expecting a different farce.
Replete with the greats and a fantasy-surreal of time travel - juxtaposed with the life-making of a businessman's daughter in Paris joining him and her parents, and the already reached stability of success and money as a Beverly Hills industry writer, Allen, as Owen Wilson portrays him (Giles Portender? sic]) breaks loose.
Supporting with her steady and established good work, Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en Rose", & "A Good Year") up-ends the fiancee (Inez -Sarah McFullen) as a light coquette - mistress Adrienne to the emerging artist Pablo Picasso, met at, where else? a Gertrude Stein salon. Other notables of the 20's - the FitzGeralds, Hemingway, artists Dali, Monet, etc; Cole Porter, almost every imaginable literati and artist Woody Allen could pop in are there (oddly absent - maybe trop gauche is Henry Miller with Anais Nin).
The movie succeeds with Wilson's funny and warming interpretation of Woody's auto-biographical character; and the eternal contrast to the secure life and success that his portending marriage creates. And of course, the romantic tableau of Paris in the sun, in the night, in the moonlight, in the rain.
Woody Allen has transcended and exposed his transcendental soul -- not wafting off yet - - but akin to Kurasawa's film as canvas escape.
Wouldn't ever put this as goodbye - it is funny, and recurrent in some themes - Woody's escape device reminds one of his Dr. Caligari bookstore short stories with magic cabinet - an old New Yorker piece with Madame Bovary; and of course, his character hits it off with Gertrude Stein
(actually prompted me to web-search again for a look at her statue and saw a short-haired photo of her at a site called http://www.jewoftheday.com).
But as we all age, and the film-maker is wished a good century or better -- this can be as close to his as one of Corot's autumn canvases.
See it, and enjoy it. Woody shines with all the past and current succesful devices of his film-making and some more.
Good as ever with full wit, dialogue, relationships and crucial for some -confrontation - with intellect -love- and well - life!
Cotillard plays adouble role in the fantasy, and a best & standard line of hers works well: "Iam sure you will love Paris!".
posted by scotty of course at 9:45 AM
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