This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates The Eclectic Woody Allen

Woody Allen has been nominated for the Oscar 21 times. And he's on the verge of adding another. He's won twice for writing for ANNIE HALL and HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. He took home the directing award for HALL, and even earned an acting nod for his performance in that Best Picture winner. His movies, whether slapstick or crime stories or somber dramas, all deal with our interactions as human beings and how we reflect that on ourselves. On face value THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO is from another planet than CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, but they both feel like they came from the same artist. Allen dialogue, wit and contemplations about life come through in all his work.

For this lineup celebrating this eclectic artist, we have his latest sex romp. We have a social climbing killer. We have a successful social mountaineer killer. We have a satire on the magic of cinema. And we have the love affairs of three sisters.

Following his crime story string, VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA brought Allen back to the crimes of the heart territory that he is most associated with. Vicky, played in a star-making turn by Rebecca Hall, and Cristina, played by Allen's latest muse Scarlett Johansson, head off to Barcelona, where they meet handsome painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem). The engaged Vicky has a one-night stand with the artist before Cristina starts a more long-term relationship with the Spaniard. Throwing the entire affair into turmoil is the reemergence of Juan's passionate, but unstable, ex-wife Maria Elena, played by Penelope Cruz in her best English-language performance. The simple story captures the spirit of carpe diem. The reserved Vicky has a stable life, but is it fulfilling? Cristina sacrifices stability for excitement, but will she ever find what she wants? Neither of them get as much out of life as Maria. Yet, genius is often just a step shy of madness. As I said in my original review, "Not as meaty as MATCH POINT and not nearly as corny as SCOOP, this course in the Allen menu is somewhere in the middle… But when the chef is someone like Woody Allen, there is enough flare and surprises that you find yourself wanting a second helping."

Now for the meat. MATCH POINT served as the return of Allen to his top form. Compared to his 1989 film, CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, this crime tale doesn't contain the humorous subplot of the earlier film. Allen is known for his use of irony, and here it's the dark variety. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers plays a darker version of the outsider that Allen would have played years before. Chris Wilton is a tennis pro trying to work his way into British high society. At the club, he befriends trust-fund baby Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who introduces him to his sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). With a rich new girlfriend, Wilton is on his way up. However, putting a kink in Wilton's social climbing is the beautiful American Nola Rice, played by Johansson. Chris and Nola share more in common than he and Chloe, but Nola, the fledgling actress, can't give him what he truly desires more than love. Through his pitch-perfect dialogue, characters and plotting, Allen tackles morality issues such as luck, greed and moral rationalization. While not outwardly humorous, Allen does poke fun at the British upper crust, giving Mortimer the film's funniest moments. However, as I said in my original review, "[Allen] is not afraid to be truly tragic and take his premise in surprising and daring territories."

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS deals with many of the same issues in MATCH POINT. However, Allen takes a Shakespearian approach to his plotting. The story of a king is mirrored by the story of a peasant. Martin Landau gives one of his finest performances as respected eye doctor Judah Rosenthal. He has the perfect life on the surface; an appearance he'd do anything to keep. He's been having an affair with flight attendant Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston), whom is threatening exposure. His brother suggests murder, but could he live with the guilt? In the subplot, struggling documentary filmmaker Cliff Stern (Allen) contemplates starting an affair with fellow producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow). Cliff wonders if he could handle the guilt of cheating on his wife Wendy (Joanna Gleason). Vying for Halley's affection is Cliff's brother-in-law Lester (Alan Alda), an arrogant, womanizing sitcom producer. This dark look at starting and ending affairs, and the rationalized morality of great men is one of Allen's bleakest films. As the two plotlines brilliantly merge in the end, the filmmaker has profound things to say about the evil of man that God allows. As I said in my original review, "Like Dostoevsky, Allen asks us if great men are above normal morality, or are they just selfish lucky bastards?"

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO is a fantasy comedy that spoofs our love affair with the movies. To quote my original review, "Allen takes the central conceit and really goes with it, bringing out themes of freedom, escapism, love, our love affair with the movies, hardship, living in fantasy versus living in reality and life in general." Farrow's Cecilia is a waitress in the 1930s working hard to provide for her cheating out-of-work husband. Every day she goes to the movies to forget her real life worries. Then miraculously, her new favorite character Tom Baxter, played by Jeff Daniels in his best performance, steps out of the screen and declares his love for her. However, real life isn't like the movies, and Tom learns this lesson all too quickly. His disappearance from the film has put the other characters' lives in limbo, and upset the movie studio and the actor who plays him. When the actor Gil Shepherd comes to fix the problem, Cecilia finally gets to meet the man behind the man she has fallen for. Is reality better than fantasy? This is the central issue that Allen deals with. Farrow and Daniels are perfectly matched whether they're Cecilia and Tom, or Cecilia and Gil. Allen, working at his ironic best, crafts a hilarious tale about how getting caught up in the magic of the movies can stop us from living for real sometimes.

HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is the last film to earn Woody Allen an Oscar. Considered by many to be his best film, HANNAH is certainly his most optimistic. As I said in my original review, "When the haze of time clouds memory, it’s hard not to have Woody Allen’s films blend a bit… But when looked at more closely, each film has something distinct to say." Hannah (Mia Farrow) is the motherly sister to Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Diane Wiest). She is content with her husband Elliot — a feeling her sisters do not share, or does her husband. Elliot, played in an Oscar-winning performance by Michael Caine, secretly lusts for Lee, whom is unhappy with her overly serious husband Frederick (Max von Sydow). Holly is a fledgling actress, unlucky in love. When Hannah sets her up with her ex Mickey (Allen), the date turns disastrous. But Mickey has other things on his mind now; he believes he's dying, which sends him into a spiritual crisis. Filled with Allen's trademark touch of irony, HANNAH is not Allen's funniest film, but one of his most emotionally poignant. He brings us into the minds of his confused characters and allows us to see their insecurities and their unfulfilled desires. In the end, Allen's central theme here is to lighten up. It's ironic the happiness his characters find when they just stop looking for it so hard.

To join the celebration just head to the videostore, update the rental queue, check out Zap2It.com for TV listings, or buy the films on DVD at the below links.