Let me just begin by saying I hate all Woody Allen films. I can’t stand his comedy, his style, basically just him in general. But considering how obsessed I am with the Lost Generation, I figured I’d give this film a try.
Let me tell you, it was gold. Even if you’re not an uber Lost Generation fan like me, you can’t help but fall in love with the film and the ideas it presents. There has been some time or another where we have all sat down and thought ” I was born in the wrong era”.
That’s exactly what Owen Wilson thinks in this film. An aspiring novelist, he writes screenplays to keep his fiance happy. He has a great life in the present, a beautiful (if not stupid and rude beyond belief) wife, prospects, a big house in Florida,but he dreams of one place: Paris in the 20’s in the rain.
On night he goes out for a walk, and an ancient car transports him back in time to meet his idols, and a few of their friends. The film features cameos from Hemingway, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Dali, Picasso, and many more.Each character is represented perfectly, from Hemingway’s pessimistic and blunt dialouge, to Scott’s fascination with Zelda’s ditzy personality. Night after night he meets with these people, and becomes one of their inner circle.
It’s strange how Owen Wilson is almost a mirror image of Nick from the Great Gatsby. he seems to fit in with the crowd, but no matter how much he loves being a part of their world, he will never truly belong. And oh how he loved it, especially after he met Marion.
Picasso’s lover, the flapper,fell in love almost instantly with the young writer. However it seemed more like understanding than love. She too believed she belonged in another time, she thought Paris was in it’s prime in the 1900s.
Owen Wilson tries to get her to see that she’s living in the golden age of Paris, but try as he may when a carriage comes and transports them to the 1900s, he can’t persuade her to return back to the 20s with him. He then makes the grand realization of the movie. The past always has a beckoning glow to it because it’s something different and exciting, but there was no perfect time, there wasn’t even a better time than the present.
The one of the grand themes of The Great Gatsby is wanting to return to the past, and realizing that you can’t.
“‘You can’t repeat the past….’
“Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!'”
Although Owen Wilson has the ability to stay in the twenties and live the life he’s always dreamed of (the superior choice I would have made), he decides to take control of his own life in the present, and sets out carve a new for himself in this brave new world.
So I implore you, watch this film that is really really good, despite it’s director Enjoy the beauty of Paris and the complete and utter confusion that is Salvador Dali.
I’ve been browsing your blog and I LOVE this movie and the Great Gatsby is my favorite book!!!! You have awesome taste.
You’ve thoroughly convinced me to watch this movie now. I am also obsessed with Paris, though I’ve never been. Fingers crossed for changing that when I’m abroad next year! I’m also, like Clayton, a fan of Hemingway. I cannot wait until I have the chance to sit in a café in Paris sipping on absinthe. Living in the past is an interesting concept. I too, from time to time, have felt like I’m in the wrong time period.
I love reading your blog! I also have a kind of weird obsession ( I don’t know if it is an obsession or respect) for the lost generation and especially Paris. I am a huge Hemingway fan and read a lot of his books. The art from the time with Dali and Picasso is also amazing. I can not stop obsessing over it. Paris also has an allure about it. I have been there and want to go back so badly! There is just something about that city that makes people want to go to it just as your title says. Sometimes I wonder if it is the city or the people in the lost generation that make me enjoy it.
I never saw this movie, although I have to say the summary you gave makes it seem like so much fun (a time-travelling car? I can’t be the only one who thought of Back to the Future)! It also seems almost like it relates to the stereotype of hipsters today, always saying they were “born in the wrong generation”, and it’s funny to think of people in the 1920s saying the same thing. But while visiting would be nice, I don’t think I would ever want to stay in a past time period–I like my rights to own property and have whatever job I want, thank you very much!