Midnight in Paris: an exploration of self-discovery

Midnight in Paris starring Owen Wilson was definitely worth seeing. I appreciated this film a) because I hadn't heard anything about it going into it, b) I like Owen Wilson as an actor, and c) the content was light yet had a surprisingly good amount of depth to it.

Summary: The film traces the mental/physical/emotional/personal journey of Gil, who's a struggling writer engaged to Inez (played by Rachel McAdams), a shallow and aloof woman who doesn't seem to care about Gil at all really. They travel to Paris, tagging along with Inez's parents who are there on business. Gil falls in love with the city and lets it take hold of him in a fantastical, whimsical way, and inform not only his writing but his true goals for his own life. The film spans different eras, unearthing famous art, music, culture and writing from each time period. Gil is inspired by all this art and uses these visions into past eras to leverage his own writing and passions. In short, it's a story of personal discovery, a story of finding who we really are--not just who we think we should be.

So what to say about this film... Firstly, growing up surrounded by art (thanks, Mom!), I definitely appreciated all the allusions and portrayals of famous figures I had heard so much about throughout my life (lovely cameo by Adrien Brody as Salvador Dali). But aside from the content and plot of the story, I enjoyed the form or style of the film--the way the various components (cinematography, lighting, sound, editing, etc) told the story. It managed to be light and whimsical, yet carry a message intrinsically linked to reality, a message we can all relate to--what are we doing with our lives? Who are we surrounding ourselves with? How can we maximize our own potential and be happy with who we are and what we do?

By the end of the film--even though it's somewhat open-ended to an extent--Gil has accessed deep characteristics of himself, and has made some important decisions for his life. His character shows growth in a new wave of confidence and self-realization, but there's still an openness to what else may come in the future. I think the film was definitely appropriate for our world right now--especially for those of us who are undergoing a similar journey to find our true identity and what we want out of life and our careers. There are a lot of unknowns, and there always will be. The film touches on this with a well-balanced mix of optimism and simultaneous truth and acceptance.

Go see it and tell me what you think!

The Infidel: A cross-cultural dramedy that will probably (unfortunately) remain relevant for a while...

I stumbled upon this winner OnDemand and while it wasn't the most fun to watch (in terms of sheer entertainment factor (even for a comedy)), the content definitely left me pondering for a while. It's a British film from 2010, that tells the story of Mahmud Nasir, a British Muslim who inadvertently discovers that he's actually been adopted into his Muslim family, and was in fact born Solly Shimshillewitz (no idea how to spell that)--a Jew. Mahmud, even though he's more/less casual with his religion, freaks out and proceeds to undergo a major identity crisis. He consults his Jewish neighbor for advice--which leads him to discover things like matzoh ball soup and Yiddish instead of the Torah and synagogue--all the while trying to prove his strength in Islam to impress his son's future father-in-law.

The film does a good job making light of a topic that is--and has been--very heavy and complicated for a long time (to say the least). In the end (spoiler alert) Mahmud ends up siding with the way he was raised, not the way he was born, and it's not because he's denying his Jewish roots, he does his fair share of open-minded "research." Regardless of why he chooses to remain Muslim, I appreciate that the character shows an open mind, an interest to learn, reveals how similar these two communities are, and ultimately how fabricated all the hatred is. The take-away is that we can actually find friends out of those we originally (and prematurely) considered enemies. We can find similarities where there were once differences, and we can ultimately house "opposing sides" within one body.

Hmmmmm.....

See it and tell me what you think!