Living Nostalgia

It is rare for a new movie to immediately become a favorite, but Midnight in Paris did not leave me much choice. The script was well written, the acting sublime, and the soundtrack left me in a Parisian daze. However, what was most compelling was the notion of a “golden era.”

Throughout the film, multiple characters muse about going back to a time they each deem “the golden era.” For the main character, Gil Pender, it is Paris in the 1920s—being part of the Lost Generation. For Adriana, a member of the Lost Generation, however, it is the Belle Époque in the 1890s. Those who lived during the Belle Époque said the Italian Renaissance.

The notion of nostalgia is a very interesting topic to base a movie on, but Midnight in Paris approached it in just the right way—honestly. Other eras are always romanticized, which can be both good and bad, as Gil Pender experienced. It’s exciting and insightful to be somewhere you shouldn’t, but it’s an unsustainable feeling. Nostalgia is alluring but (figuratively) living in the past does not compare with living in the present. As Gil so wisely puts it, “that’s what the present is…it’s a little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying.”

Midnight in Paris is unique also in that it is a film about the concept of nostalgia, not simply showing people feeling wistful. The plot allows Gil to long for the “golden era” presently, then actually experience what it was like in that time period. He chose to stay present. Adriana, however, chose a different route, opting to stay in the Belle Époque. She felt her life would dramatically improve in a previous era.

Who is to say it would not? The one thing that remains constant no matter when you reside in time is mystery. Literally living in the past must paint a very different picture than the retelling of that age. Then, eventually, your once past becomes your very present. It is rare to find a film with such subtle paradoxes.

While it is not his truest-to-form film, Midnight in Paris is certainly one of Woody Allen’s best. No matter how many times you watch it, the entire film stays fresh. The entire cast delivers authentically. And, if nothing else, I will never get sick of Adrian Brody repeating, “Dali!” in reference to himself, over and over and over.