Retro review of Midnight in Paris
Summary: The film ‘Midnight in Paris’ is much more than a romantic comedy. It’s a reminder that, in our digital age of accelerated innovation, spendthrift consumerism, and occasional lack of appreciation for older art and historic artifacts, sometimes playing with antiquated tech and old media—from jazz records to classic novels—can be a helpful way to make sense of the present … as long as we don’t get lost in the past.
Stories about our relationship with tech
It was Joseph Campbell who first brought my attention to the power of myth at work in film. Like previous art forms (such as epic poems or great novels), cinema is an artistic medium that conveys stories of heroic journeys. Of course, these stories appear most noticeably in genres like fantasy, science fiction, and superhero movies. (Think Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, or Tony Stark.)
Quite often, we see a common theme behind these tales. In essence, it’s the relationship between human beings and their technological innovations, whether old or new. For example, those technologies may be antique tools (magic wands in Harry Potter), futuristic devices (light sabers in Star Wars), or AI machines (robotics in Iron Man). In this light, I’ve written about some of my favorite films. (For example, see my list of great sci-fi flicks.)
However, genres outside of traditional fantasy, science fiction, and superhero movies don’t always get the same attention they deserve when they deal with this theme. So I wanted to write a retro review about a very different film, this time from the romantic comedy genre. And it’s a film that likewise says something valuable about the relationship between humanity and technology. That being said, let’s look at Midnight in Paris (2011).
Midnight in Paris – A retro review
“The past is not dead. It’s not even past.”
– William Faulkner (quoted in Midnight in Paris)
Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson as Gil Pender, an aspiring novelist with a nostalgic love for older art and historic artifacts, particularly from the 1920s. Unfortunately for Gil, most people around him don’t share his nostalgia for the past. Consequently, Gil not only feels out of place in 21st-century culture; he also feels out of time.
In today’s digital age of multimedia, computers, cellphones, and screens, Gil longs for an analog age of vinyl records, jazz instruments, and—perhaps most tellingly—classic books. As an unapologetic bibliophile and aesthete, his idols include Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and Salvador Dalí. Without spoiling the whole plot, here’s a brief synopsis of Midnight in Paris.
Midnight in Paris – A brief synopsis
While wandering the Parisian streets at midnight, Gil gets magically transported to the 1920s. Suddenly, he’s riding around with the likes of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Not surprisingly, he thoroughly enjoys this excursion back to his favorite time period. After all, this blast to the past allows him to satiate his nostalgia for the history, literature, and music of the jazz era.
What’s more, this midnight trip gives Gil a much needed escape from his present situation. It turns out that he’s bogged down in a loveless relationship with his profligate fiancé. And the phony friends she hangs around with don’t make the situation any better. For instance, her most conspicuous friend is a pretentious pseudo-intellectual who loves to lecture everyone about topics he almost certainly has no clue about.
To make matters worse, her parents are philistines with no respect for French culture. Needless to say, their hostility toward all things French stands in stark contrast to Gil’s bibliophilic and aesthetic passion for 1920s Paris.
No wonder Gil desires to lose himself in a glorious past, where he can talk to modernist writers and dance to the swinging rhythms of jazz.
Time travel, technology, and past vs. present
Toward the end of his time-traveling adventure, however, Gil comes to realize something. Ultimately, his sentimental yearning for the past feels no better than others’ hostility toward it. One just seems to be the opposite extreme of the other.
In the end, Gil gains a philosophical—but equally practical—insight. There’s a middle ground between nostalgia and hostility regarding the past. The moral is almost Buddhist, or maybe Stoic. Namely, always remember the past, admire and learn from it, but do so in order to live your life mindfully in the present. In short, the past vs. present isn’t an either-or choice. We should learn from history to live fulfilling lives here and now.
Appreciating the past to inspire the present is, in fact, the life of the true artist. And this life is symbolized beautifully toward the end of the the film, as Gil, now back in his own time, strolls through the midnight rain (a symbol of new life), enjoying conversation with an attractive and artistically-minded lady (not his fiancé, with whom he wisely breaks up).
Perhaps Midnight in Paris is one of my favorite films because it’s much more than a romantic comedy. It’s a reminder that, in our digital age of accelerated innovation, spendthrift consumerism, and occasional lack of appreciation for older art and historic artifacts, sometimes playing with antiquated tech and old media—from jazz records to classic novels—can be a helpful way to make sense of the present … as long as we don’t get lost in the past.