From October 2010 to October 2011 I revisited each film from writer, director, and actor Woody Allen in preparation for 2011 – the 40th anniversary of the release of what is considered by many to be Allen’s first film, Bananas. Of course he did release a few films prior, but it was Bananas that was the first to begin the yearly string of releases that came to be known as the quintessential Woody Allen film.
Allen has for years been one of my top five favorite directors, and looking back at his long career (one film per year for 40 years) it’s really quite astounding. Sure, it’s true that most of the time Allen doesn’t branch out nearly as much as other filmmakers. But there is a particular and familiar universe that he has created and lives in 99% of the time, and it’s a style all his own, a world where he invites you into every year – to meet new characters, and the stories they have to tell.
My reviewing skills are admittedly not very strong, and the famous quote from Truman Capote – “it isn’t writing at all – it’s typing” – is never more prevalent than with these short reviews, but none the less this was very fun for me to revisit all these movies again over the past months – and exciting to share at least a few of my basic thoughts to the world (ha!) on one of my top five favorite filmmakers. The timing couldn’t be more fitting as well not only because of the 40th anniversary of Bananas, but because that year saw the release, surprisingly enough, of Allen’s biggest financial success in the United States – Midnight in Paris. These are in order of release, beginning with 1971’s Bananas and ending with 2011’s Midnight in Paris.
Woody Allen
A Ghostlife Retrospective
Everyone Says I Love You
With an open mind, you could find this movie to be incredibly fun. When I first saw it, I did enjoy it, but I don’t think I appreciated the way it deserves to be. I’m not really sure of what decade this is influenced by, but its a musical in the style of films from somewhere between the 1930’s and 1950’s. The fun twist is that all the musical sequences are sung by the actors, none of which are trained vocalists in any manner. So that’s funny, you see? HA! The plot basically involves some various romances amongst a rich extended Manhattan family of self-proclaimed liberal Democrats. The extended part of the family includes Joe (Allen), the ex-husband of Steffi (Goldie Hawn), who travels to Venice for the summer with his daughter DJ (Natasha Lyone) and falls, with DJ’s assistance, into a relationship with Von (Julia Roberts). Other romances include the on-the-rocks engagement between characters played by Edward Norton and Drew Barrymore, a teen crush between Natalie Portman and a local neighbor, and of course the marriage between Hawn and Alan Alda. Everything here is just pitch perfect (other than the singing of course). From the sets, the scenery of Venice, Paris and New York, the casting, even the costuming is spot on somehow. It’s a bright, colorful, cheery and fun movie, and is one of his very few that I like to say is breezy from beginning to end. And something about the ending, where an ex-husband and ex-wife can still share wonderful moments together as friends and parents, including what I would say is the best shot of any of his films with Allen dancing with a flying Goldie Hawn under a moonlit Paris night – just very charming and beautiful stuff. It’s all quite refreshing really, and proof that this movie is indeed a fantasy from another time on many many levels.
A-
1995