My Favorite Woody Allen Film

Rating: 9/10 (27 October 2013)

Woody Allen is a revered and maddening figure in my world. Revered because he is an absolute genius; maddening for the same reason. Even if you have never seen a film he has written and directed, you have no doubt heard his one liners: "Don't knock masturbation, it's sex with someone I love." "I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." "I'm not really the heroic type, I was beat up by Quakers." His jokes have a delivery that mocks the greats like Rodney Dangerfield and Bob Hope yet Woody Allen's unique on screen persona imposes at least a superficial level of earnestness and faux-intellectualism. It's especially maddening to think he's so freakishly prolific! Since 1969 he has written and directed at least one film a year. Not all of them cinematic gold but considered he has been nominated for an Oscar 18 times for writing, directing and producing I'd say a good chunk of his filmography is pretty darn good.
In fact while my exposure to his filmography is less than complete, there's truly not a film I wouldn't see again. The worst I've seen was a little known box office bomb by the name of Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) with a post Mad About You (1992-1999) Helen Hunt. It felt like a failed TV pilot but nevertheless was entertaining enough to slug through. If it were on TV about as often as The Mummy Returns (2001) I'd probably watch it again if nothing else were on.
The best Woody Allen film I personally have seen is 1975's Love and Death. Like Curse of the Jade Scorpion it wasn't nominated for anything of significance. It didn't curry much favor with audiences either making just north of $20 million and while the critics enjoyed Love and Death it still remains one of Woody Allen's lesser known films. Yet while it's lesser known it's certainly not lesser loved. Vincent Canby of the New York Times calls Love and Death one of Allen's "most consistently witty films." It enjoys a 100% Fresh rating on Rottentomatoes.com and most "early Allen" enthusiasts swear by the Russian literature satire.
Woody Allen's sixth directorial effort starts and ends centered on the life of Boris Grushenko (Allen), an impertinent yet cowardly Russian scholar who isn't too fond of going to war with the French and Napoleon. "She's (Russia) not my mother. My mother's standing right here, and she's not gonna let her youngest baby get shrapnel in his gums," Boris cries as he has pushed by his stout-hearted family to join the war effort. Once he's thrown into the fray, hijinks ensue in a Marx Brothers meets War and Peace kind of way. But while faced with the insanity of war, all Boris can think about is his lovely cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton) who he's had the hots for since childhood.
Love and Death evokes memories of Duck Soup (1933) and The Great Dictator (1940) only with less political satire and more philosophical and humanistic satire. One of the reoccurring jokes involves Boris and Sonja taking inopportune moments to argue philosophy using jargon literally lifted from the existentialist writings of G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky. Philosophy gets skewered along with the thick tomes of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the historical significance of the Napoleonic wars and the films of Sergei Eisenstein and Ingmar Bergman. Who knew you could cram so many high-minded material into an 85 minute movie who's big battle scene involves Woody wearing a cheerleader outfit and a guy walking around yelling "get your red hots."
While Allen has fallen out of favor since his heyday in the 1970's and early 80's (much of which is credited to his tumultuous personal life), his movies still create a blip on the cultural radar every once in a while. Friends my age were introduced to his comedic work through Midnight in Paris (2011). A movie that brought to mind another favorite of mine, The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985). His latest Blue Jasmine (2013), while closer in mood to Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) is nevertheless a stupendous film.
I think most, if not everyone could find a Woody Allen film they'll enjoy. Perhaps there's a Quizilla that will assign you one based on your personality. Or perhaps you should just watch as many as possible and pick your favorite. That's what I did!
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