Happy 4th of July!  Here’s something I’ve been saving for a day off to write and for you to read because, well, its ‘day off’ material.

I have never been a big fan of Woody Allen movies but I could never really figure out why.  I’m not ‘into’ film as a hobby, I just watch movies for the entertainment value.  However, I do love music and I often run across interesting tunes in movies.

This is the case for the movie Midnight In Paris.  This is a Woody Allen film that, again, I just found to be OK.  But, there was this really interesting little jazz tune in the opening of the movie that stuck in my head.  Of course I used my phone to ID the song:  Sidney Bechet - Si Tu Vois Ma Mere (If You See My Mother).  I found the scene on YouTube (embedded below) with the song and ended up watching / listening to it a bunch of times.  Eventually it sunk in what Woody was doing - he created a complete story in that opening scene with lots of little clues as to the time, what was happening, what was about to happen (yes, even foreshadowing), etc.  This is how I now know that Woody Allen is a genius movie maker (yes I realize I’m late to the party).

Play the clip first, then note the following about what is going on and then watch it again:

• The scene starts early in the morning, note the person closing the curtains in the second scene to get a little more sleep before starting the day
• Woody now takes us on a virtual tour of what I imagine are some of his favorite places along with some famous places too (if you know Paris you will recognize a lot of them - Notre Dame, The Louvre, etc.)
• The early scenes are quiet and not a lot of people are out and about yet, exactly what you would expect early in the day
• The day gets busier and you notice that there a few more clouds as the day progresses
• You can tell the day is progressing but you’re not quite sure what time it is until Woody shows you a clock in one scene and then you know
• Around the mid-way mark (1:30 in) there is a still scene of nothing but roofs across Paris (here’s your foreshadowing) and then in the next scene it is raining
• The late afternoon shower lasts long enough to stop in a cafe somewhere for a late afternoon espresso (the way I imagine it anyway), then the rain clears for a pleasant evening in the City of Light
• The evening progresses into night and you close at the end of the song on, what else, the Eiffel Tower

This was so well done, but it took me a number of times watching it to actually catch these things.  So, Woody Allen, I have a new respect for you and will go back now and watch some of your films to see how many layers I can spot.  Well done!