I was planning to see Calamari Union by
Kaurismäki, only to discover that the dvd I bought in Oslo was
empty. The same with Crime and Punishment. No discs! Damn you,
Platekompaniet! So yes, that was a bit annoying... Oh well. I rather put
on Midnight in Paris.
People have told me it reminded them of my
comic book, The Left Bank Gang, so I was curious to see it. There's even a
scene of Zelda Fitzgerald talking about being bored. I should sue
Woody Allen! I actually enjoyed the film, after giving up on Allen
around Shadows and Fog, and disliking the couple of his films I've
seen after that. Typically, he shows the romantic side of Paris, as
he also did in Everyone Says I love You. There are no people crowded
together on the Paris metro in a Woody Allen film. Woody Allen has
probably never taken the metro in Paris in his life, he can afford
cabs. It sometimes rains, that's as far as he goes. Raining in a
romantic way, of course. I found it a bit unfortunate that he, in a
conversation in the film, too obviously states the message of the
story: the inherent lies of nostalgia. Thank you, Mr Allen, I think I
got that on my own. And the quarrel between Owen Wilson and his
girlfriend where they walk in and out of the shot is a scene we've
already seen in a million Woody Allen films. Okay, maybe not a million. But it's a funny,
appealing film, looking almost a bit too pretty.
I had similar feelings about it, very enjoyable but heavy-handed in parts. The Michael Sheen character had some fun scenes - I suppose insufferable pseuds are another regular element in Woody's films.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the new Woody documentary? It's worth a look. He's quite involved, so it's not just people talking about how fantastic he is. It reminded me that I have quite a few of his best-loved films still to see.
Will be interested to know what you think of Submarine, I always enjoy your film write-ups.
Thank you. No, haven't seen the Allen documentary yet - It could be interesting. And yes, Submarine is coming up.
ReplyDeleteI saw Midnight in Paris in cinemas and liked it all right, but kept thinking how we Woody Allen fans always react similarly to any movie of his that wasn't a total trainwreck: 'Hey! This one wasn't so bad! Pheeeew!'
ReplyDelete...like we've totally forgotten the time when his movies used to blow us away....
I was kinda disappointed at Buñuel being a normal guy in the movie, as opposed to Dali's fruitcake. He was an amateur boxer who liked to dress like a nun for parties. Surely he could have been a bit more colourful? The Exterminating Angel joke was meh.
I thought the Hemingway scenes were funny. I've never read anything about Bunuel and haven't seen Exterminating Angel so any jokes about that film went over my head. Got the one about The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, though.
ReplyDelete"Midnight in Paris" is okay, middling Woody Allen, watchable but not a film you're likely to remember. "Left Bank Gang" was far superior.
ReplyDelete