At the recommendation of my friend Louis, I went and saw Midnight in Paris. Now typically I might not have seen it because I find Owen Wilson incredibly disingenuous and completely lacking in sex appeal. However, this latest Woody Allen film (whom I also strongly dislike. I mean, c'mon, he basically married his own daughter) coincidentally coincided nicely with my finishing Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Sun Also Rises.
If you have not seen Midnight in Paris yet, I highly recommend it. While in Paris,Owen Wilson's character Gil finds himself transported to the roaring 20's every night at midnight. The movie is loaded with famous artists, writers, musicians and socialites of the early 20th century. I found myself in such a state of glee every time a new character was casually introduced. So if you can suspend disbelief for 2 hours and have even the tiniest francophilic bone in your body, it's a wonderful film.
However, I would recommend brushing up on your art history beforehand. There are the obviously recognizable characters such as Salvador Dali (fabulously portrayed by Adrian Brody) but they also sneak in some slightly lesser known characters such as the Spanish surrealist filmmaker Luis Buñel and French artists Henri de Toulouse Lautrec.
But back to my original point, the reason my Hemingway reading was so conveniently timed was that I picked up on small Hemingway references I might not have otherwise taken note of. The actor who played Hemingway, Corey Stoll, did an excellent job conveying Hemingway's short, stark sentences and intense passion. (His rugged good looks didn't hurt either.)
The enthusiasically troubled Hemingway with friend and legendary bullfighter Juan Belmonte.
Wilson chillin' with F. Scott Fitzgerald and his famously unstable wife Zelda.
Rachel McAdams in a BEAUTIFUL Marchesa dress with director, Woody Allen at Cannes.
The trailer's rather useless but here it is.
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