Midnight in Paris Literary Elements

Woody Allen

Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams

Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen, and Nina Arianda

Fantasy-Comedy

English

Midnight in Paris was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen (which it won), Best Picture, Best Directing for Allen, and Best Art Direction

May 20, 2011

Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum, and Jaume Roures

Paris, 2011 and the 1920's (during flashbacks)

The film is told through the point of view of Owen Wilson's character Gil Pender.

Romantic, Harsh, Historical, Mysterious, and Intriguing

Gil Pender (Protagonist) vs. Inez (Antagonist)

The major conflict of Midnight in Paris involves Gil's struggle to finish his novel while trying to figure out and mend his relationship with his fiancee, Inez. The major conflict of the film also involves Gil's struggle to let go of the past (the 1920's—a period which he is obsessed with—particularly) and live in the present.

The climax occurs when Gil and Inez finally break up.

Gil and Inez's breakup is foreshadowed throughout the film. Gil realizing that he has to let go of the past and live in the present is foreshadowed often in the film.

Just how different Gil and Inez are is consistently understated throughout much of the film.

Midnight in Paris is an exceptionally well-made and well-shot film, but it was not innovative in filming or lighting or camera techniques.

Allusions were made to the following films: Moulin Rouge (1952), The Exterminating Angel (1962), Tamara Drewe (2010), and Toy Story 3 (2010). Allusions were also made to history (primarily the 1920's), geography (particularly Paris), mythology, religion, and popular culture.

Gil lives in the present, yet is obsessed with the past and refuses to be in the present.

Gil's story and the real story of F. Scott Fitzgerald (one of the writers that Gil loves) runs parallel throughout the whole film.