A Threesome with Woody Allen

There is no doubt in my mind that Woody Allen is one of the darlings of the cinematic world, and given that today i had no classes, i thought i would indulge myself in a Woody Allen marathon, this consisted of rewatching two of Allen's most loved classics, and his most recent effort, which was significantly less well recieved.

Vicky Christina Barcelona, released in 2008 and set as the title suggests in barcelona, the film was considered by many to be a return to form for Allen. his first real critical success since Match Point. An interesting facet of the film is its use of naration, which incidentally makes it great for watching while working! The narration is warm, and allows the film to be slightly more condensed than if it was necessary to 'set the scene' before every scene. The narration also makes it possible for the film to have large jumps in time, again without needing to waste time 'setting the scene', here the narration is an efficient way of maintaining the pace of the film, and allows the narrative of the film last a whole summer without appearing to drag. The real star of the film is Penelope Cruz; whose Oscar nominated performance as the psychotic ex wife of the films leading man is simply something else.

Next Midnight In Paris is simply stunning, i have raved about this film before, and the film talks about nostalgia, our relation with the past, and how as humans we always yearn for  the past. The film follows an american writer who passes into the 1920's, where he meets a woman who yearns for the Belle Epoque era of Paris. The film shows strong performances from its leads, however it is the writing and story, in addition to the stunning imagery of Paris, which gives the film its charm. The film is considered one of Woody Allen's best in recent years, and garnered 4 Oscar nominations, winning one for best original screenplay.

Finally we come to To Rome With Love, a film which takes 4 vignettes about romance in the italian capital and attempts to tie them all together. The film does this with only middling success, and this is a formula which very rarely works, for example New Years Eve, Valentines Day and What To Expect When You're Expecting. However unlike these films, To Rome With Love manages to be very entertaining, contains many inside jokes for anyone having lived in Italy, and shows stunning imagery of the city, in addition to strong performances, especially that of allen himself, in his first acting role since 2006's Scoop.

Here are two strong and one especially entertaining films, which combine imaginative writing and strong acting with stunning imagery and visual delight, and i await with anticipation this summers Blue Jasmine, set in San Francisco and New York, and will be his first film set in the US since 2009's Whatever Works, and stars one of my favorite actresses, the divine Cate Blanchett.

 

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