When given the task to break down a film I’ve seen and enjoyed into its story arc, the immediate one that jumped to mind was Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which I saw last night and was completely breathtaken by, but it’s not the best example as it takes place all in one setting with only 4 characters. I considered one of my favorites from childhood, like Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, but ultimately landed on a movie that I was made to watch many times in French class during high school: Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. This movie teeters on corny, with a somewhat ridiculous fantasy world, but I recently rewatched it this summer and was surprised by how much I actually still enjoy it. It’s lighthearted and immersive. As we discussed, the trademark of a movie with a good story arc is one that you will watch and rewatch and enjoy every time, and I do that with Midnight in Paris.
If you’re not familiar with Midnight in Paris, it is a comedy-fantasy movie about a successful Hollywood screenwriter who is on vacation with his wealthy fiancée and her parents in Paris. They are all very mean to him, constantly mocking his eccentric, philosophical attitude and dreams of being a fiction novelist. He wants to move to Paris and pursue a more artistic direction for his career path, whereas his fiancée, Inez, is insistent that they live in Malibu and that he continue his lucrative screenwriting career.
Gil is further challenged by Inez’s friend Paul. Paul is very annoying, described both as “pedantic” and “pseudo-intellectual”. He has a need to explain everything (incorrectly) constantly, and analyzes Gil’s “problems” to his face. Inez sees Paul as a genius, though, and on days when Gil doesn’t want to spend time with him she abandons him for Paul. Inez, her parents, and Paul all belittle Gil incessantly, but he simply says nothing, wanting to remain polite.
When Gil leaves a wine tasting after midnight, drunk, lost, and tired of a whole evening in Paul’s presence, he is offered a ride from a group of partygoers in a Tin Lizzy. They somehow take him into 1920s Paris, which is his favorite era of art history. There he meets his literary idols like the Fitzgeralds, Hemingway, and Gertrude Stein, as well as other artist like Picasso, Salvador Dalí, and Josephine Baker. Gil’s pitiful self esteem is revolutionized when all of his heroes support his work and offer to read it for feedback. He goes to get his manuscript and somehow makes his way back into the present.
Gil wants to share his adventure with Inez, but after waiting at the same spot the next night, she leaves angrily, calling him “crazy”, to go spend time with Paul instead. Gil, though, returns to the 20s, where he meets Adriana, a model posing for Picasso. Adriana herself is an artist- a fashion designer who studied under Coco Chanel. Gil is thrilled when Adriana reads his book and seriously flatters his talent. He believes he is in love with her now, but is conflicted about whether he is in love with two people simultaneously or whether he simply isn’t in love with one of them. He is beginning to question whether he loves Inez.
A couple days later, Gil discovers an antiques stall at a street market. He bonds with the vendor, who shares his interests, and she sells him a journal, which was owned by Adriana. In the journal, Gil finds the page she wrote the day she met him, and she has mentioned that she had a dream that night that he “brought her a pair of earrings and then they made love all night long”. After a hilarious scene in which Gil is caught trying to steal Inez’s earrings to take to Adriana, he succeeds in bringing her the mentioned gift. They kiss, but then a horse and buggy appears, and escorts them to the 1890s (“La Belle Epoque”), which is Adriana’s favorite era.
Gil and Adriana are taken to a can-can show at the Moulin Rouge, where they meet Gaugin and Degas. Adriana is thrilled to meet her artistic idols and expresses to them her love for the era, but is confused when they themselves reply that they want to live in the Renaissance. Gil has an epiphany and pulls Adriana aside to tell her about it.
Gil (in an awkward Owen Wilson kind of way) tells Adriana that he knows now that everyone romanticizes the past and very few are happy with the present they live in. He needs to go back to the present and embrace his life there, fix his mistakes and live the life that he wants without blaming it on the time period. Adriana doesn’t agree, and leaves to take a job in the 1890s. Gil returns to the 20s to pick up his manuscript from Gertrude Stein, who mentions that Hemingway found it odd that his story’s protagonist “doesn’t realize his fiancée is having an affair with the pedantic one”.
Gil confronts Inez about the affair with Paul. She admits to it but begins blaming Gil, saying it’s his fault because he’s so boring and weird. Gil, now a changed person, realizes that he and Inez have nothing in common, so he casually breaks up with her and leaves. In the last scene he is walking in the rain alone, but then is joined by the street market vendor from earlier, and they begin talking about their shared interests.
Story Arc:
Gil’s external conflict is his unhappy engagement, not feeling satisfied with his career, and his entire social circle being made up of people he doesn’t like. The resolution of his external conflict is him breaking off all of his relationships (romantic or otherwise) and deciding to stay in Paris as well as pursue his dream career.
Gil’s internal conflict is his low self esteem and romanticization of the past. This is resolved by him realizing that he must stop running from his problems and that the “friends” who treated him badly don’t represent how he should feel about himself- there are others who support his work and his ideas.
The chaos is his time spent returning to the 1920’s every night, sneaking around, and debating whether he wants to be with Adriana or Inez, whereas the order is the time he spends staying in the present and living in reality.
Gil’s Character Timeline:
The biggest points here are Gil starting low- being unhappy but not having the willpower or motivation to do anything about it. Then he reaches a high point- being inspired and encouraged to pursue his dreams by his new friends. Finally he uses this to make a change in his life and reach a new order.
Character Archetypes
Heroes
Hero– Gil is the hero not only because he’s the protagonist, but he also displays the classic “death and resurrection”. He is the only character who seems to be able to willingly travel through time, and none of the other characters fully understand his experience. Thus, he is now separated from the ordinary world in both time periods.
Shapeshifter– Though Hemingway sometimes takes on the role of Mentor, he is primarily the Shapeshifter. Gil admires Hemingway, but Hemingway states multiple times that he does not necessarily like Gil or his work- he feels threatened by good writers and he has disdain for bad writers. He implies a few times that he doesn’t think that Gil is very masculine. Hemingway is often drunk, unpredictable, and can randomly become violent. Hemingway also has a brief affair with Adriana before losing interest in her, reinforcing the idea that he is able to do things that Gil can’t. One could argue that in this sense he also takes on the role of Shadow. However, he provides excellent insight on Gil’s work and their philosophical conversations shape a lot of Gil’s ideas. Hemingway seems to do what he wants for the sheer enjoyment of it rather than in the interest of Gil’s career of wellbeing.
Herald– a 1920s car always appears to take Gil to the past if he waits at the designated spot at midnight. It is always a different car with a different person inside. This car is the “call to adventure”. When Gil and Adriana travel to La Belle Epoque, it is a horse and buggy.
Mentor– Gertrude Stein is the mentor. Gil holds deep admiration for her. While he also admires Hemingway, he reveres Gertrude Stein as kind of a god and he takes her advice to heart. She is wise, but intentionally removes herself from social drama and primarily influences his career path. In some senses she could be the Threshold Guardian, as Gil must commit himself to finishing his book and rewriting all day long in order to impress her. He must commit to his work and make sure to get himself back to the past in order to keep his meetings with her.
Trickster– Zelda Fitzgerald is one of Gil’s Allies, but she’s also unique in ways that separate her from her husband Scott’s role in Gil’s journey. Zelda is chaotic with a loud personality, but also fun and rebellious in a charming way. Hemingway does not like her. She can be her own worst enemy when she gets wrapped up in her own wild ideas.
Ally– Although F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the first people Gil meets, he is not much more than an ally. He introduces Gil to others and is the kindest and most helpful person on Gil’s journey, but in the story he doesn’t shape Gil’s experience much more than being a friend.
Ally– it feels as though Adriana’s role in the story should be more than Ally, but she doesn’t fall into any other archetype. She helps Gil get to the realization that he does not love Inez, and she provides some insight for Gil, but ultimately she suffers from the same weakness he did at the beginning of the film and is not able to overcome it. In many ways it seems like she is merely a romanticization of what Gil’s “dream girl” would be, before he gains the insight to realize that pursuing her was just another way to run away from his problems. She was part of his old mindset. She is just like Gil, but rather than being a dynamic character, she is static.
Villains
Bully– all of the antagonists fall under this category. Inez is a bully in that she is often verbally insulting Gil, rejecting his ideas, telling him that she will never allow him to pursue any of his dreams, and actively trying to hurt him. Paul does the same thing. Both of them actively discuss how much they dislike Gil in front of him, and Paul goes the extra mile in helpfully offering to “fix” Gil and rid him of his pathetic ideas. All of Gil’s reasons for not doing what makes him happy are rooted in Inez and her family and friends discouraging his growth. None of them are evil though, necessarily, they’re just mean. Realistically mean.