Sunday, February 12, 2012

Engineer, Writing analysis of Midnight in Paris

Midnight in Paris is a brilliant narrative film directed by Woody Allen who is also the screen writer and released in 2011. The film is based on an earlier article written by Mr. Allen in the 1960’s about the “The Lost Generation.” The scenario is based on a single character played by Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) who is a screen writer attempting to write a novel. Gil is in Paris with his fiancĂ© and trying to get a trusted source to critique his book. Gil is enchanted with the charms of Paris and when he is transported into a time in the 1920’s, he finds himself amongst the midst of famous writers and artists of the lost generation.

This film appears to be a loose adaption of Mr. Allen’s idea about the lost generation in the 1920’s taken from a literary source which was his article written in 1960. Mr. Allen uses certain symbols such as the sound of the bell, the modern car changing to an antique car at midnight to transport Gil to the 1920’s, to show the symbolic meaning of things in a dramatic context. Gil is so fascinated by meeting and getting to know the life story of famous artists and writers that he keeps going back each night. Gil totally identifies himself as a writer through his association with the writers in the lost generation.

The film is a third person narrative as the nonparticipating narrator tells a story from the consciousness of a single character which is Gil. Gil finds a trusted source in a famous writer Gertrude Stein who reads his novel and offers useful comments. Also, Gil is infatuated by Adrianna who lives in the ‘20s and she loves the Belle Epoch of 1890’s Paris. Finally, Gil breaks up with his girlfriend and decides to stay back in Paris which is a fitting end to this romantic comedy.

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