Contemporary Paris, with its hurried, shivering people caught off guard by the ever-surprising rain; Paris, where the regal Dior store presides over the entire Place Vendôme; Paris, where the Eiffel Tower sparkles with lights that evoke mixed feelings of both aversion and boundless admiration.
Paris of the 1920s, the city of Picasso, Hemingway, and Dalí’s genius; Paris, known as “the movable feast,” where artists gathered in the open house of Gertrude Stein, seeking guidance or simply artistic company; Paris of the bohemian lifestyle, of late-night parties, passionate and free-spirited love, and surrealism.
Paris during “La Belle Époque,” at the end of the 1800s, with cabarets and the can-can; Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec would soothe his loneliness by sketching the first advertising posters at his table in the Moulin Rouge; Paris of Gauguin and Degas, of long, voluminous dresses, layered like a millefeuille.
All of these are captured in the enchanting story that Woody Allen paints in Midnight in Paris, a magical tale bringing together Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Carla Bruni Sarkozy as a tour guide, Marion Cotillard (charming as always), Adrien Brody as Salvador Dalí, and the famous French comedian Gad Elmaleh as a private detective on a hilariously peculiar case.
Beyond the mesmerizing scenes of contemporary Parisian streets and the signature storytelling of Woody Allen, the music undoubtedly completes the picture, note by note, evoking the essence of a city that, as the film suggests, leaves you torn between loving it more by day, bathed in light, or by night, shrouded in mystery. The only thing you’re certain of is that you love it. C’est tout.
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