I love Woody Allen. To me, he is an unparalleled genius. I’ve been a fan of his films for years and I have always felt connected
to him. He & I share a birthday, he is
a year younger than my mother and he grew up in Brooklyn like my parents. In the past few years I’ve studied Woody’s
life & process. What fascinates me most
is his work ethic. He has literally been
employed continuously since he was 16 years old. No other filmmaker in history has made a film
per year for over 40 years. I literally
don’t know how he does it, especially at age 77 ½.
Yesterday, I witnessed firsthand how people still show up
for Woody in New York City. His new film Blue Jasmine opened Friday and there
were sold out shows and crowds outside of theaters on the East Side and as usual on the Upper West Side at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, where I go every year to see the new Woody. I spoke to one man who said simply,
“It’s a New York thing.” I think it is much more than that.
Woody Allen is considered a comedy legend by many but what
few know is that he is actually much more interested in drama. When Woody talks about his favorite films, he
doesn’t mention Billy Wilder, but Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa. And he’s not very sentimental. He said he has never been able to get through
Casablanca because it is boring. This is fascinating through the lens of
image. For years, the public demanded
him to be funny and criticized him when he first tried drama in Interiors. Years later, one of his most successful films
(and his personal favorite) is MatchPoint which is in no way funny. In Blue Jasmine he masterfully blends
comedy & drama, showing how they are not that far apart. The reviews are great and I hope
that Cate Blanchett grabs a bunch of awards for her brilliance.
Woody Allen is considered a comedy legend by many but what
few know is that he is actually much more interested in drama. When Woody talks about his favorite films, he
doesn’t mention Billy Wilder, but Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurosawa. And he’s not very sentimental. He said he has never been able to get through
Casablanca because it is boring. This is fascinating through the lens of
image. For years, the public demanded
him to be funny and criticized him when he first tried drama in Interiors. Years later, one of his most successful films
(and his personal favorite) is MatchPoint which is in no way funny. In Blue Jasmine he masterfully blends
comedy & drama, showing how they are not that far apart. The reviews are great and I hope
that Cate Blanchett grabs a bunch of awards for her brilliance.
I think sometimes about how long Woody will keep doing what
he does every year. Woody’s parents
lived until 96 and 100 so he’s got great genes. I voraciously look forward to another 20 years of Woody’s work – funny or
not. For everything you always wanted to
know about Woody, I highly recommend two books by his longtime biographer Eric
Lax: Conversations with Woody Allen: His Films, the Movies & Moviemaking and Woody Allen: A Biography.
I'm looking forward to Blue Jasmine. I let the critics opinion win me over with To Rome With Love and never saw that.
ReplyDeleteAs far as "the New York thing" goes, I was thrilled to see Mighty Aphrodite in a Manhattan theater on its opening weekend (with Damien T., btw.) and it certainly added something to my experience.
Don't listen to critics anymore. To Rome with Love was so hilarious at times, I couldn't breathe. There are four concurrent story lines and one is weak but the other three are delightful. And Roberto Benigni is in it. 'Nuff said.
DeleteNew York will always be Woody's town, even if the film doesn't take place there...
My first Woodys were Play It Again, Sam (he wrote it so I consider it his), and to a lesser extent, Take The Money And Run. It played edited on local TV, but they couldn't cut the funny. I missed the next films he directed until Annie Hall came out. It came out at the perfect time for me, just out of high school and having recently discovered a passion for movies. I was on board ever since, with Stardust Memories becoming a personal favorite. I loved the showbiz-indie side of it, and I got that he was tired of people responding badly to his efforts to branch out.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to say that, until Match Point, for me Crimes and Misdemeanors was the pinnacle of his melding of the dramatic and the comedic.
I could go on and on, but must stop.
#1 - Please go on and on. I can talk all day about Woody.
Delete#2 - I love "they couldn't cut the funny" and may steal it.
#3 - Woody not only wrote the screenplay for Play It Again, Sam but wrote the original play that he performed in on Broadway with Diane Keaton & Tony Roberts, who would later all star in Annie Hall (which is my 5th favorite film of all time). That's also how Woody & Keaton met so it TOTALLY counts.
#4 - I've read A LOT about Woody and Crimes & Match Point are his faves too, so you two have a lot in common.