Midnight in Paris Flashcards
Evidence: Inez leads Gil back the way they came on the bridge
- Inez forcing Gil to go on her journey
- doesn’t want to go on Gil’s journey
- Technique: direction of movement
Evidence: “Oh, God no! I could never leave the United States” - Inez
Context: Gil asked her if she could imagine living in Paris
- Inez is an obstacle to Gil’s journey
- Disgusted by Gil’s imaginative journey
- Technique: disgusted tone
Evidence: Inez covers Gil’s reflection with a frosted mirror
Context: talking about going to Versailles with Paul & Carol
- Gil’s journey is unclear to her
- their reason for being together is unclear
- their journey’s destination is unclear
- Technique: Visual metaphor
Evidence: “Do you really want to give it all up just to struggle?” - Inez
Context: Gil wants to give up Hollywood
- she will answer for Gil because he can’t decide for himself
- not really a question for him to answer
- she controls his journey
- Technique: rhetorical question
Evidence: “Nostalgia is denial… of the painful present” - Paul
Context: making fun of Gil in Versailles
- shutting down Gil’s imaginative journey
- irony - making fun of Golden Age thinking while in Versailles
- Technique: irony
Evidence: The Thinker statue
Context: bridge from Versailles & wine tatsing
- represents Gil’s current stage in his journey
- represents Gil
- Gil is indecisive
- Technique: symbolism
Evidence: “I can’t stand that guy” - Inez, leads Gil away from the man
Context: Wine tasting
- Inez ignored Gil when he said he didn’t like Paul
- her journey is more important than his
- Technique: direction of movement
Evidence: Gil stops walking with a stop sign behind his head
Context: walking around before trip to 20s
- all obstacles to his journey are literally in his head
- Technique: visual metaphor
Evidence: “Does that sound terrible?” - Gil
Context: meeting Hemingway in bar
- Gil’s biggest obstacle to his journey is his lack of confidence
- Technique: sheepish tone
Evidence: Gil standing at gramophone enveloped in persian rugs
Context: Market
- Gil is enveloped in past, in reverie
- his journey always leads back to 20s
- Technique: Mid shot
Evidence: “You have the power to hypnotise me” - Cole Porter song
Context: Market
- symbolises Gil’s obsession with 20s
- 20s hypnotises him
- his journey is not by choice but by obsession
- Technique: diegetic music & symbolism
Evidence: Gil leaves nostalgia shop with Inez
Context: leaving market
- moves away from warm tones of the shop to grey & harsh street to white stark museum
- Gil leaves what he should have to follow Inez’s journey
- Technique: lighting
Evidence: “Shhh, I’m trying to hear what Paul is saying” - Inez
Context: in Monet museum
- Inez cutting off Gil’s sentence is symbolic of her cutting off his journey
- Technique: aposiopesis
Evidence: “Sometimes I think he’s got a part missing” - John
Contect: talking about Gil at dinner
- Gil has a part of his life missing
- as a result a part of his journey is missing as he can’t explore it
- Technique: metaphor
Evidence: Gil only want to talk about his book around Inez
- book symbolic of past emotions
- Gil isn’t in love with Inez anymore but he needs to book to feel love as he did in the past
- Technique: symbolism
Evidence: “You inhabit two worlds” - Man Ray
Context: In the bar in 20s
- Technique: metaphor
- Gil lives in the present and the past
- Gil’s journey could lead in two directions
Evidence: “Well, I guess I am lost” - Gil
Context: Talking to Adrianna
- Technique: metaphor
- Gil admits to being lost on his journey
- he has no follow-through to his self-realisation
Evidence: “The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence” - Gertrude Stein
Context: talking to Gil about his book
- Technique: didacticism
- Gil needs to fix his problems himself instead of allowing himself to be controlled on his journey
Evidence: “He says that this generation is empty and has no imagination” - Adrianna
Context: talking to Gaugin 1890s
- Technique: irony
- every generation wishes they were in a different time
- Gil’s journey is not unique
- Gil’s journey is not by choice
Evidence: “If you stay here… and this becomes your present… you’ll start imagining another time was… your golden time” - Gil
Context: Talking to Adrianna in 1890s
- Technique: epiphany
- Gil is realising the same would happen to him
- Gil has finally reached his journey’s end in 1920s
- self-realisation
Evidence: Adrianna close to camera and Gil further away
Contect: Gil trying to convince her not to stay in 1890s
- Techniques: mid shot and close up
- Gil and Adrianna are no longer on the same journey
Evidence: “If I ever want to write something worthwhile I have to get rid of my illusions” - Gil
Context: Talking to Adrianna 1890s
- Technique: imperative language
- Gil realises he has to get rid of his obstacles and go on a new journey
Evidence: “You’re back on the right track” - Gertrude Stein
Context: Gil is back from 1890s and talking about his book
- Technique: idiom
- after his epiphany, Gil is back on the right journey
Evidence: Inez and her parents are wearing white bathrobes while Gil is wearing normal clothes
Context: Gil breaking up with Inez
- Technique: costume
- Gil is on a different journey to Inez and her parents
- Gil and Inez were never going to work out
- Highlights their differences
Evidence: Gil sitting alone at a cafe in a row of other people all sitting alone
Context: after breaking up with Inez
- Technique: mise en scene
- Gil finally fits in compared to when he always used to stand out
- Gil is on the right journey now
Evidence: Gil and Gabrielle are shot at the same angles
Context: Meeting her on the bridge
- Technique: mid shots
- they are equals
- they are both on the same journey
- they are in alignment with each other
What are examples from Midnight in Paris?
- Inez leads Gil back the way they came on bridge
- “Oh God no! I could never leave the United States!”
- Inez covers Gil’s reflection with frosted mirror
- “Do you really want to give it all up just to struggle?”
- “Nostalgia is denial… of the painful present”
- The Thinker statue
- “I can’t stand that guy”
- Stop sign behind Gil’s head
- “Does that sound terrible?”
- Gil enveloped in Persian rugs and gramophone
- “You have the power to hypnotise me”
- Gil leaves warm market to harsh street
- “Shhh I’m trying to hear what Paul is saying”
- “Sometimes I think he’s got a part missing”
- Gil only needs book around Inez
- “You inhabit two worlds”
- “Well I guess I am lost”
- “The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find the antidote for the emptiness of existence”
- “He says this generation is empty and has no imagination”
- “If you stay here… and this becomes your present… you’ll start imagining another time… was your Golden Time”
- Adrianna close to camera while Gil is further away
- “If I ever want to write something worthwhile I have to get rid of my illusions”
- “You’re back on the right track”
- Inez and parents in white robes while Gil in normal clothes
- Gil sitting alone at cafe in line
- Gil and Gabrielle are shot at the same angle
