"You know nostalgia is denial, denial of the painful present."
Others may find romanticizing the past is completely dumb, but no for a man called Gil in Midnight in Paris. Gil has great success as a screenwriter, but wants to be a great novelist, a comfortable lifestyle and even intends to move to Paris.
Gil falls in love with the city and its history. He likes the idea of the past more than present because he thinks the 20s is the greatest time. Especially if it happens in Paris in the rain.
Such aspirations put Gil at odds with his overbearing fiancée, Inez. We can see at the very beginning that Gil and Inez aren't supposed to be together. They both not supportive to each other, but trapped in marriage plan.
When Gil decides to go for a walk alone in Paris, something magical happened: a classic car picked up and drives him to the golden age, yes 20's of Paris that he dreamed of.
There he met some famous figures like Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and also Adriana, Picasso's girlfriend that caught his eye.
This lady is not only beautiful, but also charismatic. Moreover, both are captivated by the idea of the past that makes them attracted to each other.
Story continues with Gil and Adriana have a second date. They are picked up by a carriage that bring them back in time to the Belle Epoque, period between 1871 and 1914.
Adriana wishes to stay in Belle Epoque that causes Gil to have a revelation and gains a different outlook on life. Gil suddenly realizes this is the moment he faces someone like him whose mind is 'stuck in the past'.
My two cents, Midnight in Paris is not about a man finding a true love, but he's looking for piece and place in his own world. The movie is essentially just him solving his internal conflict, but personally I really enjoyed Midnight in Paris so damn much. I was very surprised at how quirky and funny this film was.
On the other hand, I kind of feel connected to the story. I believe that many people, including me, have a 'stuck in the past' moment at least once. A feeling when we think our lives would be happier if we lived in an earlier time.
Thinking that we were born too late and wish have a power to shifting time periods, see it as the only solution to finding happiness.
But as Gil said, "the present is always going to seem unsatisfying because life itself is unsatisfying and cannot live up to our expectation. This is a choice between accepting reality or surreal insanity."
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