The Woody Allen Atlas
Written by: Lance Carmichael, CC2K Staff Writer
The Must-Sees
Stardust Memories 1980 (W)
If Woody is ever going to be tried in a court of law for narcissism, Stardust Memories is going to be Exhibit A. It’s the story of a successful filmmaker living in Manhattan who is invited to be the Guest of Honor for the weekend at a hotel in upstate New York (The Stardust) hosting a festival of his films, where everyone tells him they wish he’d stop making serious movies and go back to the early comedies he does so well. This movie’s critical reputation was kind of buried by a Pauline Kael review that pretty much accuses Woody of being a mean-spirited narcissist who has the gall to portray his fans as a bunch of leering, grotesque Philistines who never give him a moment of peace. That’s too bad, because while all those charges are true, it’s still a great film. Look, it’s so natural to root for a film’s protagonist that even in a film like American Psycho, we root for the amoral serial killer to not get caught. When you watch Stardust Memories, you don’t identify yourself with the crowds of grotesque Woody fans, which, realistically, he sees you as; you I.D. with Woody. The film’s beautifully shot, it’s funny, it’s dry, it’s subtle at times, it’s filled with great camera-work lifted right out of Fellini’s 8 ½ (once again shot by Gordon Willis–one of Woody’s greatest gifts has been his ability to get world-class cinematographers for his movies), and it lets you indulge your fantasy of what it would be like to be Woody Allen, which, let’s admit it, is one of the truly enjoyable things about his movies.
Zelig 1983 (W)
Woody’s only really experimental movie, Zelig has the dual distinction of being one of the first and certainly one of the best mockumentaries ever made. Woody plays the titular Zelig, who is the subject of the documentary. Zelig is a man with amazing chameleon-like powers that allows him to blend in to any social milieu he finds himself in, no matter how far-fetched. It’s a little too cerebral in the end to become as bittersweetly affecting as Woody’s best romantic comedies, but it shows one of the greatest moviemakers in history really stretching his cinematic muscles and finding he has the power to do whatever he wants. Fun fact for comedy fans: This is one of Bob Odenkirk’s favorite movies.
Manhattan Murder Mystery 1993 (W)
A fairly underrated entry in the Woody canon, Manhattan Murder Mystery is pretty much exactly what its title says it is: Manhattan with a murder mystery added in. Diane Keaton and Woody Allen make another memorable Woody-Diane screen pair, and Alan Alda once again turns in a great Alan Alda-in-a-Woody-Allen-film performance (only in Woody Allen movies can Alan Alda be considered the handsome romantic alternative wooing away the protagonist’s love interest). Diane Keaton thinks the annoying neighbor they just met (played by Hesh from the Sopranos!) killed his elderly wife, and she tries to drag the predictably timid Woody along in her amateurish investigation. It all went downhill incredibly fast after MMM, and it’s one of the few Woody Allen movies to successfully wring some genre suspense out of its premise, which makes it all the better.
Match Point 2005 (NW)
There isn’t another Woody movie within twelve years of Match Point this high up on the list, which makes Match Point all the more extraordinary. This movie came out of nowhere for Woody followers, most of whom (myself included) wrote him off as having entered a doddering senility of warmed-over, sub-mediocre movies years ago. Woody isn’t really funny anymore (though, to be fair, do you know a lot of hilarious 70 year olds?), and he’s squeezed as much saccharine out of New York as he possibly can, so it makes total sense that only a movie set in London that you would never in a million years suspect Woody Allen as having made if you didn’t see his name on the credits would be the one that would show signs of artistic life at age 70. It’s a small story, it’s a sturdy genre (erotic thriller), it’s tightly done, and it’s beautifully shot. Except for the fact that it shares the same basic story engine as Crimes and Misdemeanors–which, admittedly, is a big similarity, and one that has caused many otherwise impressed Woody followers to express reservations about the merits of this movie–this is unlike anything else in the Woody Allen canon. The scenes are short, economical, set in sumptuous upper-class London locations, and expertly twist the screws of the sturdy plot tighter and tighter. Woody proves he can still direct, and his sense of framing–which no one ever talks about, since there’s so many other, more obvious things that set him apart from all other filmmakers–is as spot-on as it was during his prime. Watch this film and count the number of close-ups; you might be able to do it on just two hands. The close-up is one of those things that sets film apart from theater–it allows an intimacy with the actor’s face you can’t get on the stage. This makes the timely close-ups he chooses to use that much more effective. It’s subtle, but it’s masterful filmmaking, which is what we should probably expect from someone who’s directed over 40 films.
Good but Not Great
Broadway Danny Rose 1984 (W)
If Manhattan was Woody’s love letter to, well, Manhattan, Broadway Danny Rose is Woody’s love letter to the lower rungs of showbiz. Woody plays Danny Rose, a hapless, two-bit talent agent with a stable of unemployable freaks and a big heart. Amusing but not life-changing. Also, there’s really no reason for this to be shot in black and white, but it is.
The Purple Rose of Cairo 1985 (NW)
A sub-genre of Woody’s films are his “Sweet Movies.” These movies tell small, chaste stories about good people and usually have one magical realism gimmick. In this case, Mia Farrow plays a sweet Depression-era woman married to a beastly alcoholic man (Danny Aiello–remember when Danny Aiello was big?) who goes to the movies for her escape. Her matinee idol (played by Jeff Daniels, of all people) literally walks out of the screen to rescue her from the doldrums of her life, to predictably sweetly funny results. Modest but amusing; an hors d’ouevre rather than a meal.
Alice 1990 (NW)
One-half of a great Woody Allen Manhattan dramedy. In another strong female role, Mia Farrow plays a Manhattan housewife married to a husband long-since bored of her. She strikes up an affair with another man and comes out of her passive feminine shell. If only there were an intertwining story about Woody Allen going through an existential crisis a la Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, or Husbands and Wives, and people would actually remember this one. Still worth checking out after you’ve seen his better films.
The Slightly-Dated but Still Good for a Woody Fix
Bananas 1971 (W)
Woody’s early comedies haven’t aged very well, mostly due to changing fashions in comedy and the dreadful lighting and directing, but Bananas is so zany and irrepressible, it’s hard to resist. You just have to get past the point-and-shoot filmmaking style–which you can do by thinking in wonder just how far Woody the Director evolved in his career. Also, The Specialist fans can look for a cameo from a very young Sylvester Stallone.
What’s Up, Tigerlily? 1966 (W)
You don’t see much of “60s Woody,” but he was once a popular comedian whose primary joke was what a dork he looked like when put next to Swingin’ Hippy Chicks. This was the first movie Woody “directed,” though really he just took a crappy Japanese spy movie and redubbed the dialogue. Obviously, it’s pretty hilarious, and there’s some cutaways to Woody as he “hosts” the film that are pretty funny. The Lovin’ Spoonful is the in-house band, which pretty much says it all.
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy 1982 (W)
Woody went back to the Period Slapstick movie well one too many times with this one. Coming after Annie Hall, Manhattan, and Stardust Memories, this was probably Woody’s one last half-hearted attempt to appease the legions of wrong-headed fans who were still clamoring for him to go back to making straight-up comedies. Several couples vacation at a summer house, and sex comedy happens. Also, I seem to remember Woody trying to fly some sort of bicycle-airplane. As you can hopefully tell from my description, this is pretty forgettable, but not horrible.