On one end of the master spectrum, you have people like Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, who are in complete control of the cinematic craft, but who tend to be more emotionally distant. On the other end, you have people like John Cassavetes, Woody Allen, and Richard Linklater, who tend to let life play out a bit more as it is. They set up a camera, and let the actors semi-improvise, hoping to capture real life. Allen essentially represents the “content” end of the age-old “content vs. form” dichotomy.
Music is incredibly important to Woody Allen, especially old jazz. Allen is an old-school record collector, and his own music library is reportedly rather vast. With very few exceptions, Allen’s movies do not contain original scores, and he tends to include musical cues directly out of his own collection. Allen is himself an accomplished clarinetist, and still performs to this day. His view on music tends to be one of pragmatism. Why write more music when the perfect music already exists? There is certainly an integrity to that, and it’s a great way to learn about some of the best music this country has ever made. I love early jazz. It’s surprising that only one of Allen’s films, 1999’s Sweet and Lowdown, should actually be about jazz.
I have to skip forward a bit, going to the 1990s now, but I implore that you look over the extensive Allen filmography, and make special note of 1989’s Crimes & Misdemeanors, also considered one of his best. It’s also one of his most profoundly moral films, and would give hint of his first penchant for tragedy. He would explore tragedy in later years. Just as a way of not invoking the ire of fans, I’ll also briefly mention Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, Alice, Bullets Over Broadway, and Stardust Memories.
In the 1990s, Woody Allen had a small resurgence, and had a string of hits thanks to the then-big indie film movement. One of my favorites of his is still 1996’s Everyone Says I Love You, easily one of the happiest movies of all time. It’s a family drama at its core, full of all the infidelities and romantic betrayals Allen is known for, but it’s also a joyous musical, wherein the characters often stop the action to sing well-worm American standards (the title is taken from a song from the Marx Bros. movie Horse Feathers). Any film made from 1995 to 1999 is pretty good. It’s only a four-year period, but that encapsulates five films.
In recent years, Allen’s films have eschewed broad slapstick in favor of his usual crumbling relationships, but his films have now taken on a more tragic edge. 2005’s Match Point, one of his better recent films, is about a scoundrel (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who cheats on his girlfriend with Scarlett Johansson, and then murders her to hide his infidelity. And he is not tortured by his bad deeds. He only wants what’s best for himself. Allen’s moral view of the world becomes tragically dubious in some of his later films. He has made several films about crime, and he seems to have a resigned and fatalistic view toward the dark parts of human nature.
Those dark films are tempered by playfully nostalgic movies like Midnight in Paris, another one of Allen’s best. In that film, a writer (Owen Wilson) finds that a certain nighttime street in Paris can transport him back in time to the 1920s, where he can hobnob with his literary heroes. This is a sweet film about the pains and pleasures of nostalgia.
Here’s how to make a Woody Allen film: Cast either yourself or someone else to play a version of yourself. Write an outline and a story, but not a screenplay. Hire many famous and talented actors, and workshop the material. Have them improvise certain scenes. Play jazz records from your own collection. Use the same font for the opening credits for each movie. Make your movie about a romance that seems ideal on paper, but ends up hurting someone. Base it on your own romantic trials. Set the film wherever you like, but don’t set it in Los Angeles. When you get an Academy Award nomination for the movie, be indifferent.
Here’s how to watch a Woody Allen film: Bemused, a mite frustrated, and eager to have a discussion.
Some would say Woody Allen is a hit-and-miss director, as most of his films are fair to good, and some are just outright stinkers (stay away from Hollywood Ending). He is, however, one of the most important of American directors. His voice is unique and strong in a world where quiet neuroses tend to be swallowed up by spectacle. One of the biggest giants in the film world is a short, chattering, heart-on-the-sleeve, nervous nebbish. Let’s get to viewing.
Homework for the Week:
Look over Allen’s filmography. Which of those movies have you seen? If you haven’t seen Annie Hall or Manhattan or Crimes and Misdemeanors, I encourage you see those first. When it comes to filmmaking, you you prefer the content to take precedent over the style, or the other way around? Can you watch a film by a filmmaker you do not admire as a person? How does knowledge of the filmmaker effect the way you see their work? And how can you watch Everyone Says I Love You and not be cheered up?
Witney Seibold is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly articles Trolling, Free Film School and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
