i cannot explain adequately just what it is about Woody Allen movies that i find so wonderful. of course, he is well-respected (21 Oscar nominations, with 3 wins) and i'm sure plenty of critics have described why his films work so well. i, however, cannot put a finger on it. i just watch them and discover i am...well, delighted is the word that comes to mind.
A little while ago i watched one of his earliest movies, Bananas, about a youngish man whose girlfriend dumps him because there's "something missing" and in order to win her back, he joins the cause of revolution in Venezuela, a cause his ex-girlfriend strongly supports. It's already a far-fetched notion, but add to it elements like ordering 1,000 tuna sandwiches from a small diner for the rebels, Allen's character becoming the president of Venezuela after a coup, and Howard Cosell literally commentating on the events of the coup as though it were a sporting event, and suddenly the balance tips from being obscure and odd to being so bizarre one cannot help but just sit back and laugh at the ridiculousness.
Next was 1979's Manhattan, a more serio-comic movie where Allen is torn between his 17-year-old girlfriend and the mistress of his best friend. Again, a seemingly absurd premise, but this time made somehow very human in the telling of the story. Allen's tendency is to take what should be comic supporting characters, and turn them into protagonists. Imagine Dwight Schrute, strip away some of the inanity, and give him a story of his own. Allen makes these stories work. i think it wise not to get too much into my own analysis of Manhattan, in part because i wouldn't know where to start, but mostly because i think far superior writings could be found from real critics.
very soon i'll write another post on some things i've watched more recently.
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