Sweeping generalizations are often employed when discussing the lengthy filmography of Woody Allen. Whether referring to his “older, funnier films” of the 70s and 80s, or the bleak period of Bergmanesque introspection that followed. Husbands and Wives marked a turning point, and the 90s proved to be a strong decade for Allen. Since the dawn of the new millennium, however, the impressively prolific filmmaker has become increasingly erratic and the new rule of thumb is that the films in which Allen acts are weaker than those in which he employs a surrogate.

Allen remains the centre of his own universe and as a result his main characters continue to be neurotic intellectuals with a proclivity for younger women, and the success of these films often hangs on how convincingly the lead, be it Larry David, Will Ferrell or Owen Wilson, pulls off their Woody impersonation. Recent years have also, and perhaps more surprisingly, seen the filmmaker leave the confines of his beloved New York to explore some of Europe’s most exciting cities. We have been treated to films set in London, Barcelona and now Paris, while he continues to employ many of the world’s finest actors.

To-date, all Allen’s films open the same way: black screen, white lettering in the same understated font while a classic jazz record plays in the background. Midnight in Paris opens instead with a montage of picture postcard images of Paris, albeit with jazz on the soundtrack. Once the tune ends, only then does the screen go black and the familiar credits appear, over which we hear Gil (Owen Wilson) enthusing about the magical energy of the city, while his fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) remains markedly unconvinced. Though subtle, this marks a deliberate break from convention for Allen.

Gil is a successful yet dissatisfied Hollywood screenwriter, who is dragged to Paris to visit his future in-laws, only to fall in love with the city’s beauty and creative spirit. When they run into old friends from the US (Nina Arianda and a wonderfully irritating Michael Sheen), Gil escapes into the night, only to be whisked away on a delightfully magical adventure. To say any more about the film’s plot would spoil its many surprises, suffice to say that as Allen has shown in particularly THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO – he is not adverse to fantastical flights of fancy.

Midnight in Paris is an absolute delight and Allen’s best film in many years, boasting a fine ensemble of talent that includes Marion Cotillard, Adrien Brody and Tom Hiddleston. The film is reverently appreciative of the writers, painters and thinkers who made Paris a thriving hub of artistic expression almost 100 years ago, yet also warns us against nostalgic folly. Allen urges us to appreciate our own time, to make today special for future generations to appreciate, as in the end – and as much as it must pain Allen to concede – the present is all we have.