Romantic ride into the past
Much of the action in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris takes place in the charming city

SO, the eccentric, brilliant Woody Allen is still at it and in Midnight in Paris, he goes to town with the romance and arty ambience that has come to be associated with this City of Lights and demolishes some of its stereotypes with chuckling gay abandon.

When two lovers Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) and Inez (Rachel McAdams) land in Paris, the veneer of that arty city hits them like a bomb.

No prizes for guessing. Gil is a budding scriptwriter from Pasadena, and coming face to face with great writers like Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Huddleston) and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) and artists like Salvador Dali (Adrian Broody) puts him on Cloud 9 but there’s no place for fiancé Inez, who drifts into another stream.

There’s sexy Adriana (Marion Cottilard), who shuttles between Hemingway and Fitzgerald like the proverbial butterfly, and then settles quite inexplicably on our budding scriptwriter.

What next? Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael Sheen), who accompany Gil and Inez to Paris, also part ways but there are other glamorous women to grab their attention, like a charming museum guide (Carla Bruni) and Gabriela (Lea Seydoux).

The central theme is nostalgia versus modernism and much of the action takes place in the charming 1920s and in the rain (reminiscent of Gene Kelly and "Singin in the Rain"). The music by Stephanie Wiembel is delightful and Darius Khondji’s caressing camerawork is just exalting. Old favourites like "Let’s Fall in Love" are sure to warm the cockles of some not-so-young hearts and there cannot be Paris without that rollicking Can-Can and the Charleston. It is an ensemble cast led by the French First Lady Carla Bruni in a brief role no doubt. But Owen Wilson does an excellent as a confused American in Paris ably supported by Marion Cottilard and Rachel McAdams Kathy Bates and Adrian Broody are quite wasted in lesser cameos.

Allen’s screenplay, of course, is littered with some scintillating lines like Hemingway’s "Paris is a moveable place" and big names like Rodin and Dali are scattered about like mustard by the chuckling Allen. The last Allen film this writer saw was the whacky Vicky Christina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris is as delightful. Just do not miss it.

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