The physician at the movies Peter E. Dans, MD Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris. © Sony Pictures Classics. Midnight in Paris angst-ridden Hannah and Her Sisters; Dianne Weist again, Starring Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, thistimeasagangster’stalentlessmollinthewitlessBullets Kathy Bates, and Adrien Brody. over Broadway; Mira Sorvino as that hardy Oscar-winning Written and directed by Woody Allen. Rated PG-13. Running perennial,theheartofgoldprostituteinanothersillycontriv- time 94 minutes. ance,Mighty Aphrodite;andPenelopeCruzasthetempestu- ousex-wifeinVicky Cristina Barcelona.Thathelpsexplain idnight in Paris,whichmaybecharacterizedasPurple why,despitehissordidpersonallife,actorsareexcitedtowork Rose of CairomeetsManhattan,representsareturnto withhim.Startingasacomedywriter(especiallyforthein- theMformWoodyAllendisplayedinsomeofmyfavoriteAllen imitableSidCaesar),astandupcomic,andanessayistforthe films: Play it Again Sam, Broadway Danny Rose, Love and New Yorker,muchofAllen’sworkhasbeenautobiographical Death,Manhattan,andAnnie Hall.It’shardtobelievethat andpsychoanalyticinnature,nodoubtdrawingheavilyonhis hehaswrittenanddirectedoverfortyfilmssincewritingthe estimatedthirtyyearsinanalysis. screenplayforWhat’s New Pussycat?in1965andthentaking Midnight in Paris has a lightness and good humor that overasdirectoraswellasscreenwriterforWhat’s Up, Tiger hasbeenmissinginmanyofhislaterfilmsand,asaresult,in Lily?thefollowingyear. fiveweeks,itbecamethehighestgrossingofanyofhisfilms Despite his shunning of the Oscar ceremonies except inNorthAmerica.Itopensbytreatingtheviewertoanhom- on two occasions, he has received twenty-one nomi- agetoParistothestrainsofsaxophonistSidneyBehcet’s,“Si nations and three Academy Awards. Fifteen actors tuvoismamere,”similartohisgreatcinematographicpaean have received Oscar nominations and five actors toNewYorkCityinManhattan.Unlikethelatter,itwasnot havewonOscarsforperformancesinhisfilms: shoton-sitebutinvolveswhatappearstobeaseriesofpicture DianeKeatonastheunforgettableAnnieHall; postcard views that show Paris to advantage as the City of Michael Caine and Dianne Weist for the Lightbothindayandinnight,aswellasintherain.Ihave 40 The Pharos/Autumn2011 visited Paris three times, and the sequence brought back a agesbesidesthosepicturedinthefilm.Forexample,hede- floodofhappymemories.Ironically,thefilm’smajorthemeis votesconsiderablespaceto“Paris medicale”withitsÉcole de toliveinthepresentandnotsubsistonnostalgiaforapastor Médecine,andnumeroushospitalsandillustriousphysicians goldenagethatmayneverhaveexisted. likeGuillaumeDupuytrenandPhilippeRicord,andespecially The Woody-proxy is played very well by a surprising PierreLouis.Hemakesagoodcasefortheperiodfrom1832 choice,OwenWilson,betterknownformorebroadcomedy to1860asbeingParis’sgoldenageofmedicinethatattracted asaslackerorasurferdude.Herehesensitivelycarriesoffthe thelikesofBostoniansOliverWendellHolmes,JamesJackson, roleofGil,ascreenwriterwho,althoughwellpaid,aspiresto Henry Ingersoll Bowditch, and John Collins Warren, who beanovelistbutissufferingfromwriter’sblock.Heandhis madeextendedstaysthere,becomingexposedtoadifferent fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) are visiting Paris with her formofmedicine,whichtheythenbroughtbacktotheUnited parentsJohn(KurtFuller)andHelen(MimiKennedy).Inezis Statestocreateourowngoldenage.McCulloughquotesOsler ashallowmaterialisticprincessandherparentsarethestereo- as saying in the 1890s that “modern scientific medicine had typicwealthyandobnoxiousAmericans.Theyclearlyinhabit haditsriseinFranceintheearlydaysofthiscentury.More a different planet than Gil does. They want to go shopping than any others, it was the pupils of Pierre Louis who gave andsightseeing.GilwouldrathersearchfortheParisofthe theimpetustothescientificstudyofmedicineintheUnited 1920s,whereheandInezmightresidewhileheconquershis States.” writer’sblock.Shewantsnoneofthat.Thistriorepresentsa Yet,asmuchasonewouldbethrilledtostudyunderLouis, movieset-uptogetusonGil’ssideandistheweakestpartof one would not want to inhabit a golden age of medicine in thefilm.Fortunatelywedon’tseethemmuchexceptasbrief Parisbeforeanesthesiaandasepsis.Infact,theprofessional bridgesbetweenGil’svisitstothepast. jealousies and political turmoil in France were such that by On a sightseeing expedition to Versailles, their estrange- Osler’stimetheplacetogowasViennaorBerlin,whichwere mentsurfacesasInezbecomesattractedtohercollegehero superseded by the United States in the twentiety century.It Paul (Michael Sheen), a pedantic pompous ass. When Paul ledmetoreflectonhowfortunateIwastobetrainedinthe suggeststhatGilandInezjoinhimandCarol(NinaArlanda) period of the 1950s and 1960s in what might be called the thateveningtogodancing,Giloptstostayinthehotel.Going Golden Age of Internal Medicine (before it splintered into outforwalk,hehearsmidnightstrikeandallofasuddenF. subspecialties)thatincludedexposureatColumbiatoDavid Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston) and wife Zelda (Alison Seegal, Arthur Wertheim, Dana Atchley, and the physicians Pill)pickhimupina1920sroadsterandhetimetravelstothe recruitedbyRobertLoeb;atHopkinstoMacHarveyandhis world he seeks. There he meets Ernest Hemingway (Corey faculty,includingVictorMcKusick,LeighCluff,LockConley, Stoll),whoamusinglydeclaimshiswork,andGertrudeStein and Dick Ross; at the Thorndike to Max Finland, Ed Kass, (Kathy Bates), who agrees to read his manuscript. He also andLouWeinstein;andlatertoGordonMeiklejohnandPaul meets Salvador Dali, played wildly over-the-top by Adrien Beeson.Imighthavehopedthatmydaughterandotherre- Brody,aswellasPabloPicasso(MarcialDiFonzoBo)andhis centlymintedphysicianscouldhavebeenexposedtothelikes mistressAdriana(MarionCotillard).Whenthelattersplit,a ofthem.Yet,liketheParisofLouis,Iwouldn’twantthemfor thoroughly besotted Gil hopes to stay with Adriana in that theirpatients’saketolingerlonginthatera,givenhowlittle world,butitturnsoutthatherconceptofagoldenageisLa we could do for patients in too many areas compared with Belle Epoque, to which they then time travel. There she in- today.Inshort,whatAllenmaybesayingisthatwecan’tgo troduceshimtotheParisofHenrideToulouse-Lautrec,Paul backtothatgoldenage,norshouldwewantto,butmustmake Gauguin,andEdgarDegas,aworldinwhichhefeelslessat ofthepresentourowngoldenage. home.MixinManRay,T.S.Eliot,LuisBuñuel,JeanCocteau, Addendum:Ican’tresistgivingaplugforAΩA’sLeaders Henri Matisse, Cole Porter at the piano, and the dancers at in American Medicineseries,endowedbyDavidSeegal.2It’sa Maxim’sandyouhaveanveryappetizingartisticbouillabaisse. setofvideointerviewswithpast“giants”ofmedicine,someof ThescreenwritingisvintageWoodyAllen:clever,literate,and whichhavebeendiscussedinThe PharosbyOliverOwen,3–8 funny. Watch for Carla Bruni, the wife of French president and which can provide some interesting course material for NicolasSarkozyasasympatheticmuseumguide. bothhistoryofmedicineandclinicalskills. AstoAllen’sthesisaboutagoldenage,bychance,shortly after seeing the film, I listened to the audiotape of David References McCullough’snewbook,A Greater Journey,1aboutAmericans 1. McCulloughD.TheGreaterJourney.NewYork:Simonand who went to study and experience Paris from the 1830s to Schuster;2011. 1900. It too has a heady assortment of famous characters 2. Leaders in American Medicine. alphaomegaalpha.org/lead- starting with James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Sumner, and ers.html. SamuelF.B.Morse,andendingwithAugustusSaint-Gaudens. 3. Owen OE. Robert H. Williams, M.D. The Pharos Fall 1998: McCullough makes clear that Paris had a series of golden 42–43. The Pharos/Autumn2011 41 The physician at the movies Kristin Scott Thomas in Sarah’s Key. Photofest. © Weinstein Company. 4. Owen OE. Russel V. Lee, M.D. The Pharos Summer 1999; bepersistentandbelieveinone’swork.Havinghadthesame 46–47. numberofrejectionsfortwoofmybooksbeforeacceptance, 5. OwenOE,AveryME.GertrudeB.Elion,D.Sc.(Hon.),1918– I can relate, but obviously not to its economic and artistic 1999.ThePharosSummer2000;35–39. success. 6. OwenOE.DavidM.Kipnis,M.D.ThePharosSummer2001; Themovieopensonahappynoteinanapartmentinthe 19–20. Marais, the predominantly Jewish quarter of Paris. Young 7. Owen OE. David C. Sabiston, Jr., M.D. The Pharos Winter Sarah Starzynski (Mélusine Mayance) and her little brother 2002;36–38. Michelareticklingoneanotherandgigglingunderthecovers 8. OwenOE.MatthewWalker,M.D.ThePharosSpring2003; when they are interrupted by the police at the door. Having 20–23. rounded up almost 4,000 men on May 10, 1941, the French have been directed by their German overseers to conduct a Sarah’s Key round-up of women and children. Before leaving the apart- Starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Melusine Mayance, and Aidan ment,Sarahandhermotherareallowedtotakeablanket,a Quinn. sweater,apairofshoes,andtwoshirts.SarahtellsMichelto Directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner. Rated PG-13. Running wait in the closet until they return. She gives him food and time 111 minutes. water,locksthecloset,andholdsontothekey.Inthestreet, theyarejoinedbythefatherwhoisnotveryhappywithSarah’s arah’s Keyisbasedonanovelofthesamenamewrittenby decisionbutispreventedfromre-enteringthehouse. TatianadeRosnay.1IttellsthestoryofaJuly1942round- AttheVéld’Hiv,theyareallherdedtogetherinafacility upSinwhichtheFrenchpolicearrested13,152Jews,including with only ten lavatories (all of which were sealed to prevent 5,802womenand4,051children.Theyweredetainedfordays escape)andonewatertap.2Thesuncomingthroughtheglass intheVélodromed’HiverorVéld’Hiv,anarenabuiltforwinter skylightcombinedwiththebodyheatfromsomanyprison-