Midnight in Vancouver(PART 1 OF 3)
Midnight in Paris
Gil and Inez
Diane, did you enjoy the film "Midnight in Paris"?
Oh, yes, definitely. It was marvellous and quite fascinating.
What made you so fascinated?
Well..., it's like a time-machine story. The protagonist is a male writer called Gil, who is writing his first novel. His fiancée is called Inez.
Is she pretty and charming?
Well..., whether she is beautiful or not doesn't matter, Kato. Anyway, both of them are in Paris. One night, after a wine tasting and being a little drunk, Gil walks back to his hotel through the streets of Paris, but eventually he gets lost. As he stops at a set of stairs, nearby bells chime midnight.
...sounds like a male Cinderella story, doesn't it?
Something like that, but not quite. Only midnight chime is in common.
Then what happens?
Suddenly, an antique car pulls up, and to his surprise, the passengers turn out a group of champagne-drinking party-goers dressed in 1920s clothing. They all urege Gil to join them.
Does he step into the car?
Oh, yes, of course, he does because Gil admires and idolizes the 1920s in his novel.
So, Gil has been transported to the 1920s, hasn't he?
Yes, he has. Gil encounters Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and they take Gil to meet Ernest Hemingway, who agrees to show Gil's novel to Gertrude Stein, and Gil goes to fetch his manuscript from his hotel. However, as soon as he leaves the bar, he finds he has returned to 2010.
Oh, that's too bad for Gil.
But not really so because the same situation happens again the following midnight when Gil attempts to bring his fiancée, Inez, to the past, but she greets his excitement with annoyance and boredom, and peevishly returns to the hotel. Just after she leaves, the clock strikes midnight and the car pulls up again, this time with Hemingway inside it. He takes Gil to meet Gertrude Stein, who agrees to read his novel and introduces him to Pablo Picasso and his's mistress Adriana, a strikingly beautiful student of couture to whom Gil is instantly attracted.
Wow!...sounds quite interesting and fascinating.
So, that's the reason I really want you to see the film, Kato.
Oh, yes, I'd love to see it.
Midnight in Paris
Trailer 2011
<iframe width="400" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BYRWfS2s2v4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
SOURCE: "Diane in Montmartre"
(August 13, 2011)
Kato, you're talking about "Midnight in Vancouver," aren't you? How come you've just brought up "Midnight in Paris"?
'Cause, when I boarded JAL017 for Narita on September 27, I happened to notice the movie title---"Midnight in Paris" on the Menu of the Japan Airline Inflight Entertainment Network. You see, we talked about it back in August. But, I didn't have enough time to look for the DVD and view it.
So, you viewed "Midnight in Paris" on the flight for Japan, didn't you?
Yes, I did. It was quite interesting, and I really enjoyed it.
That's great. What impressed you most, Kato?
Well..., Diane, you talked about the first half about the movie, didn't you?
Yes, I did.
The last half interested me greatly.
What about it?
Well..., Gil meets Picasso's mistress, Adriana, in the past and comes to like her very much. Later in reality, Gil and Inez go to the flea market on the outskirts of Paris. While Inez shops for furniture, Gil meets Gabrielle, a charming antiques dealer who shares his fondness for the twenties. Gil later discovers Adriana's diary from the 1920s in a used book stall on the Seine and, with the aid of a friendly tour guide at the Musée Rodin to translate it, finds out that she was in love with him. Reading that she dreamt of receiving a gift of earrings from him and then making love to him, Gil attempts to steal a pair of earrings from Inez to give to Adriana but is thwarted by Inez's early return from a trip.
Adriana and Gil
So, Gil cannot give Adriana the earrings, can't he?
No, he can't, but later Gil purchases earrings for Adriana and, returning to the past, confesses his love for her. As they kiss on a deserted street, a horse and carriage appears. They are invited inside by a richly-dressed couple and are transported back to the Belle Époque, an era Adriana considers Paris's Golden Age. They are taken to the famous Maxim's Paris restaurant, and meet Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin and Edgar Degas. When Gil asks what they thought the best era was, the three determine that the greatest era was the Renaissance.
Yes, yes, yes,...that's right. I remember the scene.
The enthralled Adriana is offered a job designing ballet costumes, and proposes to Gil that they stay, but Gil realizes that despite the allure of nostalgia, it is better to accept the present for what it is. Adriana elects to stay in the past, and they sadly part ways.
Yes,...that's the sad moment, isn't it?
Yes, it is. Later, Gil retrieves his novel from Gertrude Stein, who praises his progress as a writer but questions why the main character has not realized that his fiancée (based on Inez) is having an affair with a pedantic character. Gil returns to the present and confronts Inez. She admits to sleeping with the pedantic man but claims that it can be forgotten when they return to California. Gil breaks up with Inez and decides to remain in Paris. Taking a walk at midnight, he unexpectedly meets Gabrielle, and offers to walk her home.
(To be continued)
