Saw it this afternoon and liked it a lot. A real love letter to the city of Paris and its artsy past. I’m not a big Owen Wilson fan, but he was charming in this. The sets and backgrounds were so much more lush than standard Woody Allen fare.
My friend and I were wondering how many young moviegoers (say, under age 25-30) would know who the 1920’s artists and writers were? Would they know what “La Belle Epoque” refers to?
The moment when the cab stops and
the man leans out and says, “Tom Eliot” as he extends his hand… holy crap! To shake the and of T.S. Eliot? He was a *superstar *to me and my high school English class in the 1960’s. He’s still a superstar to me. Not to mention the others… Cole Porter, the Fitzgeralds, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali, Hemingway, Man Ray…
How would the “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” regulars do on this?
I saw it yesterday and thought it was charming. I got nearly all of the references but worried if my boyfriend would, he not being particularly literary minded or American (if that makes a difference). He really enjoyed it, possibly even more than I. The audience didn’t contain one person under forty that I could see and it did cross my mind many times that it probably won’t be a hit with “the younger generation” except for students who are studying the era.
Can someone explain the story behind Gil’s movie idea? He tells Bunuel to do a movie about a dinner, after which the patrons descend into barbarism, but Bunuel keeps asking “why don’t they just leave?” It makes me think Woody Allen is making a statement about a movie he doesn’t like, but I’m not sure.
I liked the movie as well. Too bad they never seemed to get to a food market or I might be able to convince my wife that we really don’t have to visit Paris, Woody showed us everything we want. Hah.
The film he is referencing (made by Bunuel in 1962) is The Exterminating Angel, in which people at a dinner party descend into barbarism rather than just leave.