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Woody Allen on Woody Allen
Over the course of his long directing career, Woody Allen has portrayed contemporary American life with an unmistakable mixture of irony, neurotic obsession, and humor. Woody Allen on Woody Allen is a unique self-portrait of this uncompromising filmmaker that offers a revealing account of his life and work. In a series of rare, in-depth interviews, Allen brings us onto the sets and behind the scenes of all his films. Since its original publication, Woody Allen on Woody Allen has been the primary source of Allen's own thoughts on his work, childhood, favorite films, and inspirations. Now updated with one hundred pages of new material that brings us up to his Hollywood Ending, Woody Allen on Woody Allen is a required addition to any cinephile's library.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
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1773 people want to read
About the author
Woody Allen
267 books3,087 followersNoted American actor, screenwriter, and filmmaker Woody Allen, originally Allen Stewart Konigsberg explored the neuroses of the urban middle class in comedies of manners, such as
Annie Hall
(1977) and
Deconstructing Harry
(1997).
This director, jazz musician, and playwright thrice won Academy Award. His large body of work mixes satire, wit and humor in the most respected and prolific cerebral style in the modern era. Allen directs also in the majority of his movies. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and city of New York, where he lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_A...
This director, jazz musician, and playwright thrice won Academy Award. His large body of work mixes satire, wit and humor in the most respected and prolific cerebral style in the modern era. Allen directs also in the majority of his movies. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema, and city of New York, where he lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_A...
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December 22, 2018
"لقد نشأت في عائلة يهودية ، لكني لست شخصاً متديناً. ليس لدي أدنى اهتمام بالديانات ، بما فيها اليهودية. أنا أجد أن كل الديانات سخيفة وغير مرضية وغير صادقة تماماً. أنا لا أؤمن بوجود فرق بين اليهوديين وغير اليهوديين ، ولوكنت على جزيرة مهجورة ومعك طفلين ينتمي كل منهما لديانة مختلفة ، فلا أظن أن بإمكانك التفريق بينهما . إن الديانات إبتداع إنساني وأنا لست صغيراً، لكنني أعتبر العادات أمراً خفيفاً وممتعاً، كعادة الذهاب إلى المسرح أو المباريات ، عادات محددة وليست دوغمائية أو جامدة، بل هي ممتعة وغير مفروضة."— وودي آلن.
بيوغرافيا وودي آلن؛ مخرج أفلام سينمائية ، وكاتب وممثل و كوميدي، و مؤلف مسرحي وعازف جاز. يرصد ستيج بيوركمان في هذه البيوغرافيا السينمائية فكر وودي السينمائي والانساني ، والكثير من حصيلته الثقافية من أدب الأفلام أو دلالاتها، واهتماماته المختلفة في الأدب عامةً والفن، وحياته الشخصية و ما مسها من نمو أو اضطراب في فترات مختلفة من حياته" أكثر الفترات حرجاً في حياته هو الانفصال عن ميا فارو . " إضافة إلى رصد عاداته في الكتابة و طرق اختياره للممثلين ووسائله المختلفة أو رؤاه المتعددة في الانتاج والإخراج السينمائي، وصناعة الفيلم، وشغفه اللامتناهي في موسيقى الجاز والبلوز، وانعكاس هذا الشغف على أفلامه. وكرهه أو بغضه للجوائز السينمائية أو الأكاديمية .
ترتكز موضوعات أفلامه بشكل رئيسي على: الأدب، الجنس، الفلسفة، علم النفس، الهوية اليهودية وتاريخ السينما . وشكلت مدينة نيويورك التي يقيم فيها مصدراً من مصادر إلهامه .
" إن صنع فيلم أشبه بمعركة كبيرة. لكن حقيقة وجود صراع تساعدني؛ أنا أفضل أن أتصارع مع الأفلام على أن أتصارع مع أشياء أخرى.—وودي آلن.
يعشق سينما إنغمار برغمان وكل ماهو سويدي، وتأثر بالأفلام الكوميدية للأخوة ماركس، وأحب أفلام الجريمة الغامضة والكوميديا الرومانسية .
كتابه المفضلين هم : سولو بيللو من أدباء جيله، وفيليب روث؛ من أهم الكتاب المعاصرين المفضلان لديه. من الكتاب القدماء: فلوبير ، و كافكا . ويحب سالينجر.
في الأدب الروسي أحب تولستوي، وتورغينوف ودويستويفسكي و المفضل لديه تشيخوف . بعض أفلامه كانت تحمل ملامح روائية وجودة "دوستويفسكية" كما في : أزواج وزوجات، وهانا وأخواتها، وجرائم وجنح.
شعراؤه المفضلين : ييتس وريلكه.
بالنسبة للفن؛ ولعه الكبير في الفن المعاصر والتشكيلي ؛ من الفنانين المعاصرين الذين يحبهم جداً : سي تومبلي وريتشارد سيرا. كما يحب الفنانين الذين أجمع الناس على حبهم مثل : مارك روثكو وجاكسون بولوك. ويستمتع بالفن الذي تقدمه ثلاث مدارس: التعبيرية الألمانية، ويحب ما يطلق عليه " فنانو حقبة آشكان الأمريكية"، إنهم أمريكيو القرن العشرين الذين بنوا متوسط المشاهد مثل : قطار الأنفاق، الأفنية الخلفية، والمواقع النثرية. وكالكثيرين هو مجنون بالانطباعية الفرنسية لأنه يجدها تعبر عن أعلى مراحل المتعة الخالصة . أحب كثيرين ولكن كما صرح في أحد حواراته : أنا مجنون على وجه الخصوص بپيسارو، لأن لوحاته باريسية تماماً. كما صرح بأنه يحصل على الكثير من إلهامه من الفنانيين التشكيليين الذكيين ك جيم دين و إدوارد روشا . ولو قدر له امتلاك أي لوحة، فسيفضل امتلاك لوحة للعاصمة باريس، ولن يرفض لوحات سيزان أو بيير بونرد.
في الجاز : بدأ عزف الجاز بآلة الكلارينيت بعمر الخامسة عشر تقريباً، و لا يزال يعزفها حتى الآن . يفضل جاز نيو أورلينز. ومن بين عازفي الجاز الحديث يحب من أجمع الناس على حبهم مثل ثيلونوس مونك. وكذلك تشارلي باركو، و جون كوليترين، وأورنيت كولمان. لكن من تربع على عرش القائمة دائما هو بد بويل.
من أقواله :
"إن الهوس مبالغة طريفة لما يجب أن يكون طبيعياً."
من أجمل البيوغرافيات السينمائية التي قرأتها حتى الآن. وودي آلن شخصية مركبة ومعقدة في الباطن . جداً مثير للاهتمام.
بيوغرافيا وودي آلن؛ مخرج أفلام سينمائية ، وكاتب وممثل و كوميدي، و مؤلف مسرحي وعازف جاز. يرصد ستيج بيوركمان في هذه البيوغرافيا السينمائية فكر وودي السينمائي والانساني ، والكثير من حصيلته الثقافية من أدب الأفلام أو دلالاتها، واهتماماته المختلفة في الأدب عامةً والفن، وحياته الشخصية و ما مسها من نمو أو اضطراب في فترات مختلفة من حياته" أكثر الفترات حرجاً في حياته هو الانفصال عن ميا فارو . " إضافة إلى رصد عاداته في الكتابة و طرق اختياره للممثلين ووسائله المختلفة أو رؤاه المتعددة في الانتاج والإخراج السينمائي، وصناعة الفيلم، وشغفه اللامتناهي في موسيقى الجاز والبلوز، وانعكاس هذا الشغف على أفلامه. وكرهه أو بغضه للجوائز السينمائية أو الأكاديمية .
ترتكز موضوعات أفلامه بشكل رئيسي على: الأدب، الجنس، الفلسفة، علم النفس، الهوية اليهودية وتاريخ السينما . وشكلت مدينة نيويورك التي يقيم فيها مصدراً من مصادر إلهامه .
" إن صنع فيلم أشبه بمعركة كبيرة. لكن حقيقة وجود صراع تساعدني؛ أنا أفضل أن أتصارع مع الأفلام على أن أتصارع مع أشياء أخرى.—وودي آلن.
يعشق سينما إنغمار برغمان وكل ماهو سويدي، وتأثر بالأفلام الكوميدية للأخوة ماركس، وأحب أفلام الجريمة الغامضة والكوميديا الرومانسية .
كتابه المفضلين هم : سولو بيللو من أدباء جيله، وفيليب روث؛ من أهم الكتاب المعاصرين المفضلان لديه. من الكتاب القدماء: فلوبير ، و كافكا . ويحب سالينجر.
في الأدب الروسي أحب تولستوي، وتورغينوف ودويستويفسكي و المفضل لديه تشيخوف . بعض أفلامه كانت تحمل ملامح روائية وجودة "دوستويفسكية" كما في : أزواج وزوجات، وهانا وأخواتها، وجرائم وجنح.
شعراؤه المفضلين : ييتس وريلكه.
بالنسبة للفن؛ ولعه الكبير في الفن المعاصر والتشكيلي ؛ من الفنانين المعاصرين الذين يحبهم جداً : سي تومبلي وريتشارد سيرا. كما يحب الفنانين الذين أجمع الناس على حبهم مثل : مارك روثكو وجاكسون بولوك. ويستمتع بالفن الذي تقدمه ثلاث مدارس: التعبيرية الألمانية، ويحب ما يطلق عليه " فنانو حقبة آشكان الأمريكية"، إنهم أمريكيو القرن العشرين الذين بنوا متوسط المشاهد مثل : قطار الأنفاق، الأفنية الخلفية، والمواقع النثرية. وكالكثيرين هو مجنون بالانطباعية الفرنسية لأنه يجدها تعبر عن أعلى مراحل المتعة الخالصة . أحب كثيرين ولكن كما صرح في أحد حواراته : أنا مجنون على وجه الخصوص بپيسارو، لأن لوحاته باريسية تماماً. كما صرح بأنه يحصل على الكثير من إلهامه من الفنانيين التشكيليين الذكيين ك جيم دين و إدوارد روشا . ولو قدر له امتلاك أي لوحة، فسيفضل امتلاك لوحة للعاصمة باريس، ولن يرفض لوحات سيزان أو بيير بونرد.
في الجاز : بدأ عزف الجاز بآلة الكلارينيت بعمر الخامسة عشر تقريباً، و لا يزال يعزفها حتى الآن . يفضل جاز نيو أورلينز. ومن بين عازفي الجاز الحديث يحب من أجمع الناس على حبهم مثل ثيلونوس مونك. وكذلك تشارلي باركو، و جون كوليترين، وأورنيت كولمان. لكن من تربع على عرش القائمة دائما هو بد بويل.
من أقواله :
"إن الهوس مبالغة طريفة لما يجب أن يكون طبيعياً."
من أجمل البيوغرافيات السينمائية التي قرأتها حتى الآن. وودي آلن شخصية مركبة ومعقدة في الباطن . جداً مثير للاهتمام.
September 23, 2023
وودي آلن، هو قطعا ليس أفضل مخرج في العالم، لكنّه الوحيد في عالم سينمائي لا يمكن أن نطلق عليه سوى عالم آلن!. هذا العالم لم ينبثق من العدم وإنّما هو خلاصة السينما الصامتة والإعجاب ببرگمان وفلليني والحنق الشديد على السينما الأميركية. وودي، ورغم حصوله على أوسكارات كثيرة فهو لا يقول في أفلامه حلولًا سحرية وإنّما يشارك مشاهده، هواجسه الشخصية وتساؤلاته وجنونه، في رحلة البحث عن العقلانية في عالمٍ لا عقلانيّ إباحيّ، أو ديني صوفيّ.
معظم أفلامه، في نيويورك وشخوصها مثقفون، يتناقشون بقضايا وجودية وفلسفية على مائدة الشراب، ولديهم خلفية ممتازة عن الأدب والفن والموسيقى والتحليل النفسي؛ وهذا كفيلٌ بأن أعجب بعالمه.
بسبب، إخراجه وكتابته وتمثيله ووضعه لموسبقى معظم أفلامه، يُنتقد بأنَّه يكرر نفسه كثيرًا؛ وهذا شيء صحيح إلى حدٍّ كبير؛ فالرجل صانع لعشرات الأفلام بجغرافيا صغيرة وممثلين محدودين إلى حدٍّ ما، عن طبقة اجتماعية واحدة، وخلفية دينية واحدة تقريبا، لكن مَنْ يشاهد أفلامه كلّها سيجد وودي آلن، أكثر مما يجد أفلامُا متفرقة، سيتعرّف إلى مفكر مهم من خلال تنويعات متباينة أحيانًا ومتشابهة في أحايين أخر.
كأن شخصيات وودي -كلها- من برج العذراء؛ ملولة وينقصها الوفاء ولا تحركها سوى الرغبة، لكنّها ساحرة!، تتناقش في الموسيقى الكلاسيكية، وتستغرق دهرًا أمام لوحة، كما سحرت لوحة «المسيح ميتًا» لهولباين، دوستويڤسكي! ومأخوذة بالتحليل النفسي، قد لا تصادفها إلا في حلم أو في عالم وودي نفسه...
***
الكتاب، هو مجموعة حوارات مع وودي آلن، كلّ حوار يخص فيلمًا من أفلامه، وفق تسلسل زمني، وهذا ما اتاح لي مشاهدة كلّ الأفلام التي ذكرت في الكتاب (أشاهد الفيلم أولًا ثم أقرأ الحوار الخاص به)، والحوارات تتحدث عن الممثلين والفنيين والرؤية الإخراجية وأحداث الفيلم ووجهة نظر وودي آلن في أفلام قديمة ومخرجين آخرين وبعض الرؤى الفكرية والوجودية والدينية.
معظم أفلامه، في نيويورك وشخوصها مثقفون، يتناقشون بقضايا وجودية وفلسفية على مائدة الشراب، ولديهم خلفية ممتازة عن الأدب والفن والموسيقى والتحليل النفسي؛ وهذا كفيلٌ بأن أعجب بعالمه.
بسبب، إخراجه وكتابته وتمثيله ووضعه لموسبقى معظم أفلامه، يُنتقد بأنَّه يكرر نفسه كثيرًا؛ وهذا شيء صحيح إلى حدٍّ كبير؛ فالرجل صانع لعشرات الأفلام بجغرافيا صغيرة وممثلين محدودين إلى حدٍّ ما، عن طبقة اجتماعية واحدة، وخلفية دينية واحدة تقريبا، لكن مَنْ يشاهد أفلامه كلّها سيجد وودي آلن، أكثر مما يجد أفلامُا متفرقة، سيتعرّف إلى مفكر مهم من خلال تنويعات متباينة أحيانًا ومتشابهة في أحايين أخر.
كأن شخصيات وودي -كلها- من برج العذراء؛ ملولة وينقصها الوفاء ولا تحركها سوى الرغبة، لكنّها ساحرة!، تتناقش في الموسيقى الكلاسيكية، وتستغرق دهرًا أمام لوحة، كما سحرت لوحة «المسيح ميتًا» لهولباين، دوستويڤسكي! ومأخوذة بالتحليل النفسي، قد لا تصادفها إلا في حلم أو في عالم وودي نفسه...
***
الكتاب، هو مجموعة حوارات مع وودي آلن، كلّ حوار يخص فيلمًا من أفلامه، وفق تسلسل زمني، وهذا ما اتاح لي مشاهدة كلّ الأفلام التي ذكرت في الكتاب (أشاهد الفيلم أولًا ثم أقرأ الحوار الخاص به)، والحوارات تتحدث عن الممثلين والفنيين والرؤية الإخراجية وأحداث الفيلم ووجهة نظر وودي آلن في أفلام قديمة ومخرجين آخرين وبعض الرؤى الفكرية والوجودية والدينية.
August 15, 2008
In honor of Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Great in depth (Or as indepth as the evasive Allen ever gets anyway) look at Allen's career. Despite the fact that he claims to never watch his films once they're completed Allen's recall is nothing short of startling and unlike the similarly mammoth Altman On Altman no film in Allen's Career is given a short shrift. He raises a spirited defense for even his most loathed films. Great Read.
PS. I really don't see how Sweet and Low Down, Everyone Says I Love You, Alice, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Husbands And Wives (GET IN THE FUCKING CAR YOU INFANT) and Deconstructing Harry (I'm aware I'm literally the only one on the planet who doesn't hate it, I think it works a big ol fat mia culpa and a pretty good Philip Roth parody to boot) are bad films. I just don't.
2000's Woody... Yeah aside from Match Point (Which I really like if only because I'm resigned to the fact that it's the best "Ripley" adaptation I'll ever see) that's complete ass. won't argue there.
PS. I really don't see how Sweet and Low Down, Everyone Says I Love You, Alice, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Husbands And Wives (GET IN THE FUCKING CAR YOU INFANT) and Deconstructing Harry (I'm aware I'm literally the only one on the planet who doesn't hate it, I think it works a big ol fat mia culpa and a pretty good Philip Roth parody to boot) are bad films. I just don't.
2000's Woody... Yeah aside from Match Point (Which I really like if only because I'm resigned to the fact that it's the best "Ripley" adaptation I'll ever see) that's complete ass. won't argue there.
August 19, 2015
Може би заради дългото издирване на книгата „прегорях“ и я четох в момент, когато вече се бях откъснала от киното и поредицата „Амаркорд“. Преди време прочетох над 10 подобни книги за режисьори и актьори за кратко време и бях истински запалена по киното. Сега дори филми не гледам. И по-конкретно – позабравила съм доста от любимите си филми на Уди Алън (тези от края на 70-те и от 80-те години), а след „Алис“ (1990 г.) не съм гледала много негови. Обикновено с някои книги от „Амаркорд“ се захващах да „преговарям“ съответните филми от миналото, но мисля, че поне на този етап не ми се започва това с Уди. Може би в някой друг момент.
Изненада – не знаех, че книгата е под формата на интервюта. Мислех, че самият Уди директно разказва спомени (не че има голямо значение - компетентно задава въпросите Стиг Бьоркман). Може би ако беше пряко разказване, щеше да е още по-пестелив Уди Алън, изглежда не иска да занимава никого със себе си.
Поради това, че съм позабравила старите филми на Уди, не ми бяха много интересни подробностите за правенето на самите филми. Повече ме интересуваха специфични неща за личността му (не тип „клюки“ за личния му живот, слава Богу такива няма много) – за музиката и литературата, за ежедневните му навици, за общуването, религиите, Ню Йорк.
Общо взето друг го видях в сравнение с това, което съм си представяла за него от видяното като режисьор и актьор (не е казано, че герой = автор). Сега ми се стори спокоен и искрено премерен. Без излишно пенене. Работяга. Доброволен самотник. Когато не снима филми, пише сценарии. Живот-кино около 90 % (с 45 минути упражняване на кларинет всеки ден).
Онази лека невротичност от филмите тук виждах само в някои по-насечени изрази, в някои повторения в речта, например „Това беше идеята. Идеята беше точно тази.“
И във възгледите му повечето неща ми изглеждат опростени и спокойни. Наистина не видях онзи терзаещ се интелектуалец от Ню Йорк. Може би във филмите повече за/от любов се терзаят героите на Уди Алън. А тук той за любов не говори много (но пак нещо обикновено от рода на „просто се влюбих“). Определя се като сценарист/режисьор/актьор на комедии. А едно време толкова сериозно възприемах филмите му (въпреки смеха).
(Все пак мисля да гледам поне един от старите филми и един по-нов.)
„Аз винаги наблюдавам. Не съзнателно, но обичам да наблюдавам хората на улицата, в ресторанта и неизменно си фантазирам за тях.“
„Всички религиозни разрешения и забрани за мен варираха от смешното до обидното.“
„… не може да не харесваш и Е.Е. Къмингс – той е толкова духовит.“
„Аз много обичам Чехов. Несъмнено. Той е един от любимите ми писатели, разбира се. Луд ��ъм по Чехов.“
„Има писатели от миналото, които много харесвам – Флобер, Кафка и т.н. Но бих казал, че Белоу и Рот са двамата ми любими съвременни писатели. Разбира се, като всички останали, и аз харесвам Селинджър, но неговите творби са малко.“
„Да, когато пораснах малко, непрекъснато ходех да слушам джаз. Непрекъснато! Не е минавала седмица, без да отида някъде да слушам джаз. После вече никъде не можеше да се чуе Ню Орлиънс джаз. Това отмина. Но ходех да слушам всички модерни музиканти – Телониъс Мънк, Джон Колтрейн, Майлс Дейвис и всички останали. Ходех в „The Blue Note” и в „The Half Note, и в „The Five Spot”, и във всички места в града, където се свиреше джаз, и съм слушал всички през годините. Но си оставам верен на музиката на Джели Рол Мортън, Кинг Оливър и Уилям Критофър Хенди.“
„Но дори когато свиря на кларинет или гледам филм, макар че не мисля съзнателно за сценария, подсъзнанието ми работи.“
„– Намираш ли процеса на правене на филми уморителен и изтощителен? / – Не, той си е просто такъв. Не се замисляш за това. Не си мислиш: „О, боже! Решения, решения!“ Това е то – да правиш филм. Не го осмисляш по този начин.“
„Винаги съм се опитвал да избягвам филмите ми да се превръщат в събития. Аз просто искам да работя – това е всичко. Да пускам филмите, за да ги видят хората, и да продължавам да правя нови филми.“
„Предлагал съм роли на хора, които са били открито против мен. И за мен това е било без значение. Просто тогава съм смятал, че съответният човек е подходящ за ролята. Нищо друго не ме интересува. Не ме интересуват политическата им принадлежност или религията им, или чувствата им към мен. Мисля, че това няма отношение. Ако могат да свършат работата – добре. Нямам нищо против никого, щом може да свърши работата.“
„… всъщност не смятам, че бих могъл да играя нещо друго. Не мисля, че съм актьор. Мисля, че съм определен тип комик и правя това, което умея.
„Бих могъл да стоя дълго в Париж, защото Париж е като Ню Йорк. Пълен е с всички онези неща, с които съм свикнал – шум, движение, ресторанти, художествени галерии, магазини, театри, спортни зали…“
„Ако излезеш с мен на улицата, ще останеш с впечатлението, че моите филми са хит и че хората се избиват да ги гледат, но не е така. Ако изляза от къщи на разходка и тръгна по Парк авеню, след една пресечка ще ме спре някой, след още две ще ме спре друг или пък някой ще извика от някоя кола. Мислиш си: „Господи, всички тези хора ме обичат?“ Обаче не идват да гледат филмите ми.“
„Когато излизаха първите ми филми, ходех в „United Artists“, където имаше купища рецензии. Четях всичките и повечето от тях бяха добри. Но после реших, че това е лудост. Чета някаква рецензия от Канзас и съвсем противоположна рецензия от Детройт и реших, че е по-добре да не ги чета. Научих едно нещо много рано. Ако просто работиш добра работа и не се разсейваш нито от неприятности, нито от удоволствия, нито от рецензии или изкушения, всичко си се подрежда само.“
„Има нещо хубаво в това да си част от човечеството и да се радваш на общуването с другите. Но аз никога не вечерям с хората, с които работя. Не говоря много с тях, не се сближавам много с тях и така ми е добре. Други обичат да правят точно обратното. Работят в едни филм с Хелън Хънт или Чарлийз Терон, или Шон Пен и искат да вечерят с тях, да станат приятели, да се сближат и т.н. Но при мен не е така. Не казвам, че едното е по-добре от другото. Моят начин на общуване със сигурност не е по-добър от техния. Просто е въпрос на личен вкус.“
Изненада – не знаех, че книгата е под формата на интервюта. Мислех, че самият Уди директно разказва спомени (не че има голямо значение - компетентно задава въпросите Стиг Бьоркман). Може би ако беше пряко разказване, щеше да е още по-пестелив Уди Алън, изглежда не иска да занимава никого със себе си.
Поради това, че съм позабравила старите филми на Уди, не ми бяха много интересни подробностите за правенето на самите филми. Повече ме интересуваха специфични неща за личността му (не тип „клюки“ за личния му живот, слава Богу такива няма много) – за музиката и литературата, за ежедневните му навици, за общуването, религиите, Ню Йорк.
Общо взето друг го видях в сравнение с това, което съм си представяла за него от видяното като режисьор и актьор (не е казано, че герой = автор). Сега ми се стори спокоен и искрено премерен. Без излишно пенене. Работяга. Доброволен самотник. Когато не снима филми, пише сценарии. Живот-кино около 90 % (с 45 минути упражняване на кларинет всеки ден).
Онази лека невротичност от филмите тук виждах само в някои по-насечени изрази, в някои повторения в речта, например „Това беше идеята. Идеята беше точно тази.“
И във възгледите му повечето неща ми изглеждат опростени и спокойни. Наистина не видях онзи терзаещ се интелектуалец от Ню Йорк. Може би във филмите повече за/от любов се терзаят героите на Уди Алън. А тук той за любов не говори много (но пак нещо обикновено от рода на „просто се влюбих“). Определя се като сценарист/режисьор/актьор на комедии. А едно време толкова сериозно възприемах филмите му (въпреки смеха).
(Все пак мисля да гледам поне един от старите филми и един по-нов.)
„Аз винаги наблюдавам. Не съзнателно, но обичам да наблюдавам хората на улицата, в ресторанта и неизменно си фантазирам за тях.“
„Всички религиозни разрешения и забрани за мен варираха от смешното до обидното.“
„… не може да не харесваш и Е.Е. Къмингс – той е толкова духовит.“
„Аз много обичам Чехов. Несъмнено. Той е един от любимите ми писатели, разбира се. Луд ��ъм по Чехов.“
„Има писатели от миналото, които много харесвам – Флобер, Кафка и т.н. Но бих казал, че Белоу и Рот са двамата ми любими съвременни писатели. Разбира се, като всички останали, и аз харесвам Селинджър, но неговите творби са малко.“
„Да, когато пораснах малко, непрекъснато ходех да слушам джаз. Непрекъснато! Не е минавала седмица, без да отида някъде да слушам джаз. После вече никъде не можеше да се чуе Ню Орлиънс джаз. Това отмина. Но ходех да слушам всички модерни музиканти – Телониъс Мънк, Джон Колтрейн, Майлс Дейвис и всички останали. Ходех в „The Blue Note” и в „The Half Note, и в „The Five Spot”, и във всички места в града, където се свиреше джаз, и съм слушал всички през годините. Но си оставам верен на музиката на Джели Рол Мортън, Кинг Оливър и Уилям Критофър Хенди.“
„Но дори когато свиря на кларинет или гледам филм, макар че не мисля съзнателно за сценария, подсъзнанието ми работи.“
„– Намираш ли процеса на правене на филми уморителен и изтощителен? / – Не, той си е просто такъв. Не се замисляш за това. Не си мислиш: „О, боже! Решения, решения!“ Това е то – да правиш филм. Не го осмисляш по този начин.“
„Винаги съм се опитвал да избягвам филмите ми да се превръщат в събития. Аз просто искам да работя – това е всичко. Да пускам филмите, за да ги видят хората, и да продължавам да правя нови филми.“
„Предлагал съм роли на хора, които са били открито против мен. И за мен това е било без значение. Просто тогава съм смятал, че съответният човек е подходящ за ролята. Нищо друго не ме интересува. Не ме интересуват политическата им принадлежност или религията им, или чувствата им към мен. Мисля, че това няма отношение. Ако могат да свършат работата – добре. Нямам нищо против никого, щом може да свърши работата.“
„… всъщност не смятам, че бих могъл да играя нещо друго. Не мисля, че съм актьор. Мисля, че съм определен тип комик и правя това, което умея.
„Бих могъл да стоя дълго в Париж, защото Париж е като Ню Йорк. Пълен е с всички онези неща, с които съм свикнал – шум, движение, ресторанти, художествени галерии, магазини, театри, спортни зали…“
„Ако излезеш с мен на улицата, ще останеш с впечатлението, че моите филми са хит и че хората се избиват да ги гледат, но не е така. Ако изляза от къщи на разходка и тръгна по Парк авеню, след една пресечка ще ме спре някой, след още две ще ме спре друг или пък някой ще извика от някоя кола. Мислиш си: „Господи, всички тези хора ме обичат?“ Обаче не идват да гледат филмите ми.“
„Когато излизаха първите ми филми, ходех в „United Artists“, където имаше купища рецензии. Четях всичките и повечето от тях бяха добри. Но после реших, че това е лудост. Чета някаква рецензия от Канзас и съвсем противоположна рецензия от Детройт и реших, че е по-добре да не ги чета. Научих едно нещо много рано. Ако просто работиш добра работа и не се разсейваш нито от неприятности, нито от удоволствия, нито от рецензии или изкушения, всичко си се подрежда само.“
„Има нещо хубаво в това да си част от човечеството и да се радваш на общуването с другите. Но аз никога не вечерям с хората, с които работя. Не говоря много с тях, не се сближавам много с тях и така ми е добре. Други обичат да правят точно обратното. Работят в едни филм с Хелън Хънт или Чарлийз Терон, или Шон Пен и искат да вечерят с тях, да станат приятели, да се сближат и т.н. Но при мен не е така. Не казвам, че едното е по-добре от другото. Моят начин на общуване със сигурност не е по-добър от техния. Просто е въпрос на личен вкус.“
March 31, 2021
A very nice book, it'a a continuous dialogue, and if you have seen at least one of Woddy's movies, then you are getting the same feeling while you read the book. It is an easy lecture that brings you closer to the way Allen sees the world. It's like an encyclopedia of filmography listing all kind of movies and directors and actors, like the entire movie world as he has seen it.
There are multiple interview sections but they are arranged based on movies directed by Allen. So with each interview you find out more about one movie and about the actions that led to that movie. After each interview you feel like you have to see the movie again in order to understand it better.
I like that he find directing as a job, he makes movies just to have something to work on, not to win prizes, not to be adulated by viewers or otherwise. He says a lot that his movies are not well appreciated by the US public, but in Europe he has a lot more success with them. Also I like that he let the actors to their job, it let's them be free and they perform exceptionally.
There are multiple interview sections but they are arranged based on movies directed by Allen. So with each interview you find out more about one movie and about the actions that led to that movie. After each interview you feel like you have to see the movie again in order to understand it better.
I like that he find directing as a job, he makes movies just to have something to work on, not to win prizes, not to be adulated by viewers or otherwise. He says a lot that his movies are not well appreciated by the US public, but in Europe he has a lot more success with them. Also I like that he let the actors to their job, it let's them be free and they perform exceptionally.
Read
September 17, 2008وودي آلن(9آذر 1314 بروكلين، نيويورك)، بيترديد يكي از برترينهاي تاريخ سينماست و پس از چها سال حضور در صحنهي سينماي جهان، كمتر سينمادوستي است كه با نام او و فيلمهاي درخشانش آشنا نباشد
زندگي خصوصي وودي آلن نيز سراسر خواندني و آكنده از ماجراهاي سينمايي و شبهسينمايي است و چه كسي بهتر از خود او كه زندگياش را با خلوص و سادگي به عرياني بيان كند
اين كتاب حاوي بيست و چهار فصل ميباشد كه در هر فصل دربارهي يكي از فيلمهايش توضيح داده است
فيلمشناسي وودي آلن به شرح زير ميباشد
Whatever Works (2009) (post-production) (written by)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) (written by)
Cassandra's Dream (2007) (written by)
aka Rêve de Cassandre, Le (France)
Scoop (2006) (written by)
Match Point (2005) (written by)
Melinda and Melinda (2004) (written by)
Anything Else (2003) (written by)
aka Anything else, la vie et tout le reste (France)
aka Vie et tout le reste, La (France)
Hollywood Ending (2002) (written by)
Sounds from a Town I Love (2001) (TV) (writer)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) (written by)
aka Im Bann des Jade Skorpions (Germany)
Small Time Crooks (2000) (written by)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999) (written by)
Celebrity (1998) (written by)
Deconstructing Harry (1997) (written by)
Count Mercury Goes to the Suburbs (1997) (story "Count Dracula")
Everyone Says I Love You (1996) (written by)
Mighty Aphrodite (1995) (written by)
Don't Drink the Water (1994) (TV) (play) (teleplay)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994) (written by)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) (written by)
Husbands and Wives (1992) (written by)
Shadows and Fog (1992) (written by)
Alice (1990) (written by)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) (written by)
New York Stories (1989) (written by) (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Somebody or The Rise and Fall of Philosophy (1989) (story "Mr Big")
Another Woman (1988) (written by)
September (1987) (written by)
Radio Days (1987) (written by)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) (written by)
Meetin' WA (1986) (writer)
aka J.L.G. Meets W.A.
aka Meeting Woody Allen (USA)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) (written by)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) (written by)
Zelig (1983) (written by)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) (written by)
Concept subtil, Le (1981) (story "Mr Big")
aka The Subtil Concept (International: English title)
Stardust Memories (1980) (written by)
Manhattan (1979) (written by)
Interiors (1978) (written by)
Annie Hall (1977) (written by)
Love and Death (1975) (written by)
aka Guerre et amour (France)
Sleeper (1973) (written by)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) (screenplay)
aka Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (USA: short title)
Play It Again, Sam (1972) (play) (screenplay)
aka Aspirins for Three
Bananas (1971) (written by)
Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971) (TV) (writer)
Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1970) (screenplay "What's New, Pussycat?")
Don't Drink the Water (1969) (play) (screenplay)
"The Kraft Music Hall" (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
- The Woody Allen Special (1969) TV episode (writer)
- Woody Allen Looks at 1967 (1967) TV episode (Woody Allen's material)
Take the Money and Run (1969) (original screenplay)
Casino Royale (1967) (uncredited)
aka Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) (writer)
What's New Pussycat (1965) (original screenplay)
aka Quoi de neuf, Pussycat? (France)
"The Sid Caesar Show" (1963) TV series (writer) (uncredited)
The Laughmaker (1962) (writer)
"Candid Camera" (1960/I) TV series (writer)
"The Garry Moore Show" (1958) TV series (unknown episodes)
"Caesar's Hour" (4 episodes, 1954-1957)
- Episode dated 2 March 1957 (1957) TV episode (writer)
- Episode dated 20 October 1956 (1956) TV episode (writer)
- Episode dated 11 April 1955 (1955) TV episode (writer)
- Episode #1.3 (1954) TV episode (writer)
"Stanley" (1956) TV series (writer)
"The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1950) TV series (unknown episodes)
... aka Colgate Summer Comedy Hour (USA: summer title)
... aka Colgate Variety Hour (USA: sixth season title)
... aka Michael Todd Revue (USA: subtitle)
"Your Show of Shows" (1 episode, 1950)
... aka Sid Caesar's Show of Shows (UK: rerun title)
- Episode dated 25 February 1950
زندگي خصوصي وودي آلن نيز سراسر خواندني و آكنده از ماجراهاي سينمايي و شبهسينمايي است و چه كسي بهتر از خود او كه زندگياش را با خلوص و سادگي به عرياني بيان كند
اين كتاب حاوي بيست و چهار فصل ميباشد كه در هر فصل دربارهي يكي از فيلمهايش توضيح داده است
فيلمشناسي وودي آلن به شرح زير ميباشد
Whatever Works (2009) (post-production) (written by)
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) (written by)
Cassandra's Dream (2007) (written by)
aka Rêve de Cassandre, Le (France)
Scoop (2006) (written by)
Match Point (2005) (written by)
Melinda and Melinda (2004) (written by)
Anything Else (2003) (written by)
aka Anything else, la vie et tout le reste (France)
aka Vie et tout le reste, La (France)
Hollywood Ending (2002) (written by)
Sounds from a Town I Love (2001) (TV) (writer)
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) (written by)
aka Im Bann des Jade Skorpions (Germany)
Small Time Crooks (2000) (written by)
Sweet and Lowdown (1999) (written by)
Celebrity (1998) (written by)
Deconstructing Harry (1997) (written by)
Count Mercury Goes to the Suburbs (1997) (story "Count Dracula")
Everyone Says I Love You (1996) (written by)
Mighty Aphrodite (1995) (written by)
Don't Drink the Water (1994) (TV) (play) (teleplay)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994) (written by)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993) (written by)
Husbands and Wives (1992) (written by)
Shadows and Fog (1992) (written by)
Alice (1990) (written by)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) (written by)
New York Stories (1989) (written by) (segment "Oedipus Wrecks")
Somebody or The Rise and Fall of Philosophy (1989) (story "Mr Big")
Another Woman (1988) (written by)
September (1987) (written by)
Radio Days (1987) (written by)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) (written by)
Meetin' WA (1986) (writer)
aka J.L.G. Meets W.A.
aka Meeting Woody Allen (USA)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) (written by)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) (written by)
Zelig (1983) (written by)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) (written by)
Concept subtil, Le (1981) (story "Mr Big")
aka The Subtil Concept (International: English title)
Stardust Memories (1980) (written by)
Manhattan (1979) (written by)
Interiors (1978) (written by)
Annie Hall (1977) (written by)
Love and Death (1975) (written by)
aka Guerre et amour (France)
Sleeper (1973) (written by)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask (1972) (screenplay)
aka Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (USA: short title)
Play It Again, Sam (1972) (play) (screenplay)
aka Aspirins for Three
Bananas (1971) (written by)
Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971) (TV) (writer)
Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You (1970) (screenplay "What's New, Pussycat?")
Don't Drink the Water (1969) (play) (screenplay)
"The Kraft Music Hall" (2 episodes, 1967-1969)
- The Woody Allen Special (1969) TV episode (writer)
- Woody Allen Looks at 1967 (1967) TV episode (Woody Allen's material)
Take the Money and Run (1969) (original screenplay)
Casino Royale (1967) (uncredited)
aka Charles K. Feldman's Casino Royale
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) (writer)
What's New Pussycat (1965) (original screenplay)
aka Quoi de neuf, Pussycat? (France)
"The Sid Caesar Show" (1963) TV series (writer) (uncredited)
The Laughmaker (1962) (writer)
"Candid Camera" (1960/I) TV series (writer)
"The Garry Moore Show" (1958) TV series (unknown episodes)
"Caesar's Hour" (4 episodes, 1954-1957)
- Episode dated 2 March 1957 (1957) TV episode (writer)
- Episode dated 20 October 1956 (1956) TV episode (writer)
- Episode dated 11 April 1955 (1955) TV episode (writer)
- Episode #1.3 (1954) TV episode (writer)
"Stanley" (1956) TV series (writer)
"The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1950) TV series (unknown episodes)
... aka Colgate Summer Comedy Hour (USA: summer title)
... aka Colgate Variety Hour (USA: sixth season title)
... aka Michael Todd Revue (USA: subtitle)
"Your Show of Shows" (1 episode, 1950)
... aka Sid Caesar's Show of Shows (UK: rerun title)
- Episode dated 25 February 1950
November 9, 2009
برخی از آثار مکتوب وودی آلن، هم چنان که بسیاری از فیلم هایش، دوست داشتنی اند، و سرشار از نوآوری های طنز کلامی. و استی بیورکمن (سوئدی) که این گفتگوی تحلیلی را با وودی آلن انجام داده، به دلیل احاطه ی بی نظیرش به آثار سینمایی و ادبی وودی آلن، بهتر از هرکس دیگر به بررسی کارهای او پرداخته است. حسن دیگر کتاب این است که بیورکمن نظراتش را با خود وودی آلن در میان گذاشته و در بسیاری از نظراتش، تحسین و تایید آلن را هم برانگیخته است، اگرچه آلن در برخی موارد سعی داشته مساله را به گونه ای دیگر تعریف کند. برای کسی که دست کم یک سوم فیلم های وودی آلن را دیده باشد، و با آثار منتشر شده اش تا اندازه ای آشنا باشد، خواند این کتاب خالی از لذت نیست.
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August 9, 2008مجموعه مصاحبههاييست با وودي آلن، دربارهي زندگي و فيلمهايش. فقط كمي اين كتاب كهنه شده؛ چرا كه وودي آلي سالي يك فيلم ميسازد و تاريخ نشر اين كتاب براي 20 سال پيش است. قاعدتاً آثار اين دو دهه را در بر نميگيرد
March 31, 2008
He's rarely interviewed and this book has his work in his own words. He also provides many good book and music recommendations,
March 26, 2020
Ok I'll admit it, I was ready to love this book the moment I was able to get my hands on it. It has kept me wonderful company for the last two days. It has the brisk pace of those classic Allenian voice overs and you picture the author confiding frankly and wittily with you, the reader, as you are both walking the paths of Central Park in the Fall. In other words, the audio version, if it is read by the author, will be just as indispensable as the book itself.
There is brief commentary on each of Allen's many films and some (again, concise) discussion of how he approaches screenplays, shooting and editing. Inevitably, the book slows down with the description of the end of Allen's relationship with Mia Farrow and the investigation and media circus that followed. Woody Allen manages to keep the narrative going even as he provides more than enough evidence of his innocence. Any reader of good faith will be interested and, I believe, convinced by Woody's thorough and honest account.
There is brief commentary on each of Allen's many films and some (again, concise) discussion of how he approaches screenplays, shooting and editing. Inevitably, the book slows down with the description of the end of Allen's relationship with Mia Farrow and the investigation and media circus that followed. Woody Allen manages to keep the narrative going even as he provides more than enough evidence of his innocence. Any reader of good faith will be interested and, I believe, convinced by Woody's thorough and honest account.
October 13, 2019
شبه بيوغرافيا، ممتعة، غزيرة وخفيفة في آن واحد.. كأفلام وودي تمامًا.
March 18, 2020
شيء عظيم قراءه آراء وافكار شخص زي وودي آلن
February 3, 2021
Great insights into his works and ideas, a must read for every Woody Allen fan.
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April 21, 2024befria honom !
December 12, 2018
'It has been said, that if I have any one big theme in my movies, it's got to do with the difference between reality and fantasy. It comes up very frequently in my films. I think what it boils down to, really, is that I hate reality. [...] You would leave your poor house behind and all your problems [...] and you would go into the cinema, and [...] they always turned out well [...] and it was just great. So I think that had such a crushing influence, made such an impression on me. And I know many people my age who've never been able to shake it, who've had trouble in their lives because of it, because they still - in advanced stages of their lives, still, in their fifties or sixties - can't understand why it doesn't work that way, why everything they grew up believing and feeling and wishing for and thinking was reality was not true and that reality is much harsher and much uglier than that.. [...] It's just such a crushing thing and I've never surmounted it. And I know many people who have never surmounted it. And it appears in my work all the time. [...] Because what the [...] film-maker or the writer [does], you create a world that you would like to live in. You like the people you create. You like what they wear, where they live, how they talk, and it gives you a chance for some months to live in that world. And those people move to beautiful music, and you're in that world. So in my films I just feel there's always a pervasive feeling of the greatness of idealized life or fantasy versus the unpleasantness of reality.' (Faber And Faber, 2004, pp.50-51)
Yo!
Brilliant, scintillating, rich, massively entertaining, hugely informative, anecdotal, erudite, vastly knowledgeable, funny in parts, always intelligent, an interview-autobiography that you don’t want to put down.
The words phenomenal and phenomenon tend to crop up whenever you consider Woody Allen, whether in terms of output, variety, quality, intelligence or strings to his bow, Woody Allen is our generation's most prolific polymath. Funny fantastic fabulist. Allen alliterature.
From the very title and credits sequence at the beginning of all of his films since Annie Hall [1977] - clearly the key turning point in Allen's career as film-maker - we know we have promise, relationship problems, intellectual angst, existential exploration, and from a technical perspective, often, continuity. We know we are in a Woody Allen film - but what to expect?
Largely, after the first fast 'funny' ones, his films live within his own milieu, that of his upper West Side upper-middle class neurotic intelligentsia, but he writes and makes films about what he knows with his own sense of authenticity, often jazz and Jewish influenced. But though his many films vary in theme and content, and we love the ones with the happy endings most, perhaps, some are more challenging than others, because some - like Interiors [1978] - sitting as it does between the serious romcoms of Annie Hall [1977] and Manhattan [1979], which made him his mark forever, do show a Scandinavian existential depression beyond his trademark neurotic angst - or alarmism - which does befall us all at times, and rings so plaintively true and real.
If Allen had ever made only those three films, he would still go down as one of the greatest writer-directors of all time, I am utterly convinced. What a cultural sandwich! What statements of yearning and repression, doubt and trust, treachery and loyalty, etiolated pain and hope - sitting between two otherwise relatively optimistic films that stay in your memory for life.
But he seemed to change in many respects from Annie Hall onwards, after that meeting with Gordon Willis. Having carte blanche from Rollins and Joffe from the off, he was free to write any genre of film he wished, within certain budgetary limits. Out would come a romcom, then a deep Freudian angst kammerspiel, then another romcom, then a film about radio days, a film about a film director, one about a funny Nebbish conman, and so on. But the salient features of change were that, firstly, he began writing very strong roles for women - based on his friendship and liaison and collaboration with Diane Keaton, and later Mia Farrow - and this was a mark of a deepened quality in so many of his 'mid-period' films, through Interiors and Manhattan, The Purple Rose... [1985], Hannah And Her Sisters [1986], September [1987], Another Woman [1988], Alice [1990] and Husbands And Wives [1992].
Annie Hall also marks a turn with his innovative addressing of the audience direct in filling in the story, a device which draws you into the piece, committing you to full involvement. From then on, whether or not he appears or narrates, you've associated yourself with his film through 'him', Allen, whatever his character's name, or even gender. But unlike Alvy directly being Woody, his voice also comes through many female characters thereafter, such as the dreadfully haunted mother (Geraldine Page) in Interiors. Partly this is because a lot of the great American actors played heroic or at least very masculine figures, like Hackman, who softened his role in Another Woman, opposite another strong female role played by Gena Rowlands, going through that crisis of self-questioning. Often, too, Allen would write around Keaton (Annie Hall) and Mia Farrow (Purple Rose), necessarily making them strong roles in the film, if not always strong women.
Speaking of drama - specifically around Crimes And Misdemeanours [1989], he states:
''[...] the so-called - it's become such a tedious phrase - existential subjects to me are still the only subjects worth dealing with. Any time one deals with other subjects one is not aiming for the highest goal. One can be aiming at some very interesting things, but it's not the deepest thing for me. I don't think that one can aim more deeply that at the so-called existentialist themes, the spiritual themes.' (p.211)
He discusses Bergman's most profound metaphor for death and one's position in the universe in The Seventh Seal [1957]:
'And I've always wished I could come up with the correct metaphor that would be able to express my observations and feelings on it. But I can never come up with a metaphor as good as his. I don't think you can. I just think he got the definitive, dramatic one for it. The closest I've come so far is Shadows And Fog, but it's not as good a metaphor as his. Bergman's is right on the nose. It's great.' (p.210)
Crimes And Misdemeanours is his darkest film - despite the deep darkness of Interiors - because it's his most realistic film about spiritual doubt and morality. There are murders in plenty of others of his films, but this one is serious, no comedy, just the sheer bloody exposure to the rawest part of the soul: a renowned ophthalmologist curing people of their sight, takes the life of his hysterical mistress. And in the most poignant scene, where he's conversing with the rabbi about the taking of life - which the rabbi says is the most precious of things - the rabbi is clearly not there, he's Judah's conscience. This is one of Allen's most powerful scenes in any of his films. What is it the rabbi, his brother Ben, says:
'It's a fundamental difference in the way we see the world. You see it as harsh and empty of values and pitiless, and I couldn't go on living if I didn't feel it with all my heart a moral structure with real meaning, and forgiveness, and some kind of higher power. Otherwise, there's no basis to know how to live. And I know you well enough to know that the spark of that notion isn't inside you somewhere too.'
Eyes - the windows of the soul - were a metaphor in this dark, dark film:
'Crimes And Misdemeanours is about people who don't see. Judah was an eye doctor who heals people on the one hand, but is willing to kill on the other. And he doesn't see well himself. I mean, his vision is fine, but his emotional vision, his moral vision is not good. […] And he gets away with it!' (p.213).
Moving chronologically through his film canon, this series of interviews, which germinated when Bjorkman met him while he was making his best film, in my view, Hannah And Her Sisters [1986], and commenced in 1992 for 10 years, dips back into his childhood and formative years as writer and cabaret act and clarinettist, as well as actor and director.
Woody Allen - and I've seen all of his films up to 2018, except Don't Drink The Water [1994], a TV film you can rarely find around on DVD, which he actually wrote while waiting the 6 months (on full pay) in London to shoot his small part in Casino Royale [1967], and one short (3 minutes), Sounds From A Town I Love [2001] - is phenomenally prolific, and I think that this in itself is astonishing: 50 films in 50 years, one a year from Take The Money And Run [1969] until today, as writer-director, often also as actor or narrator. What a portfolio!
Not all of his films are to my taste - such as the kammerspiel September [1987] (which on second viewing, I enjoyed more) - yet Interiors [1978], of similar mould, is one of his best, an outrageously stunning piece of Nordic existentialism, beautifully composed and shot; but even the lesser ones - To Rome With Love [2012], Everything You Ever Wanted to Know... [1972], Shadows And Fog [1991], for example - are worth a watch for the promise alone. And because, whether doing the serious stuff or the serious-comedy, he's uniquely brilliant and perspicacious.
Allen has many influences, but the famous one of Bergman (his first experience was Sommaren Med Monika [1953]) clearly influenced the phenomenally beautiful Interiors, and yet, apart from the sublime Sarabande [2003], Bergman's last film, I don't think he's a better film-maker than Allen. It's always debatable, because it's down to personal taste, but Bergman's so-called greats - like Det Sjunde Inseglet [1957] (which I hated) and Persona [1966] (which I liked, but was as confused about as everyone else) - don't hold a candle to Interiors or Another Woman [1988], for example. It may be a generational thing... Some work, some don't, but they all promise so much - and once you've seen Annie Hall, Interiors and Manhattan, you can't not watch the rest hoping for similar surprises, like Crimes And Misdemeanours [1989], Mighty Aphrodite [1995], Hollywood Ending [2002], Melinda And Melinda [2004], or Cassandra's Dream [2007] - and, my favourite, the perfect Hannah And Her Sisters [1986].
I would love to have seen a sequel to Hannah And Her Sisters, part two, where we find out how their lives went. He wished it too - but knew, as we do, that that would be to defeat the uniqueness and specialness of that truly great film, and if it failed, it would necessarily reflect on, maybe detract from, this wonderful original.
This volume discusses all his scripts and films up to and including Hollywood Ending [2002], and there's a follow-up work, because there's been 16 films since then, to date, plus the documentary Wild Man Blues [1997] by Barbara Kopple on his European jazz tour (mentioned here) - which is a serene joy. My only mild disappointment was that each chapter on each film didn't include the technical data which comes with those parts reproduced in the accompanying hardback books with the Arrow box-set collections (Six Films 1971-1978; Six Films 1979-1985, Seven Films 1986-1991, from Bananas to Shadows And Fog) - instead this was all under Filmography in the appendixes. In one way this makes the reading more fluid, but if you want the technical data, you have to look it up separately. Swings and roundabouts.
He discusses the different use of dialogue (literary for Interiors, or textural in Scorsese films, i.e. not particularly memorable, but creating real-life characters); he discusses the editing process, and how scenes are occasionally reshuffled, he discusses use of the fourth wall of the camera to allow characters to drift in and out, creating 'blank' spaces where the dialogue continues, like the argument between Alvy and Annie in the scene when they're separating (their things as well as their relationship); he discusses his use of music and why he chose to not use music as a soundtrack in Annie Hall and Interiors, aiming for the dialogic development in Annie Hall and ambience in Interiors, through the complimentary sounds of the sea in the house on the beach with the cool tones inside, just how little life went on in that sad house, that sad family - until Margaret O'Sullivan's character burst in with a garish red dress and dance music.
He discusses so many comparative references you have to be a film critic to nod with him. But film is his medium. You don't need to get all the comparative references when watching Interiors, because it's all there in the film. Why choose black-and-white for Manhattan? Or Gershwin instead of New Orleans jazz - and yet without these two, the wide-screen framing of the bridge and that sweet clarinet, Manhattan would be an entirely different memory, if not experience. And if Woody Allen is mentioned, Manhattan unrolls in the mind with that poster image and that opening ascending register. 'He idolized New York out of all proportion...'
His range of knowledge is enormous, from stand-ups to jazz to film including all the old '30s, '40s and '50s films, many of which many of us will have missed. But despite the varied portfolio, he has enormous consistency, in Rollins and Joffe since the beginning, as his managers as scriptwriter originally, then his producers, then executive producers, and Helen Robin as associate producer in the decades since he started directing, and Letty, his sister, became involved in a lot of his later productions; and Juliet Taylor in casting early on, and we know he's principally had two editors in the long run, after Ralph Rosenblum for a couple up to Interiors, Susan E. Morse and Alisa Lepselter, and only four or five cinematographers, mainly Gordon Willis, then Carlo di Palma, and more recently Sven Nykvist - and also that name that recurs, his production designer Santo Loquasto. And so on.
Whether the next film was to your taste, it is incontrovertible that he could produce them at such a rate because of his 'family' of production professionals, who knew each other so well, who made the filming process streamlined and efficient. Add to that, that Allen stopped 'coverage' (doing several takes from different camera positions for a scene) after his second film, because he found he didn't need all that coverage in the editing room, and his switch from scored music to his favourite collection as soundtrack - these are some of the reasons why we've been gifted with a film a year since 1969. How many film-makers can you say that of? I can't think of one, can you? Authors, yes (Frank L. Baum, Christie, Blyton...), film writer-directors, no. That's simply incredible. (Even Bergman 'only' made 30 films over 40 years, from '46 to '84). And when you consider that 20 out of those 50 are a good 7/10 or better, that's also phenomenal too.
He describes his method of putting out film after film - of thinking about the next while filming this, of starting writing the next in post-production...) - like cutting cookies (and instantly we remember his wife's cookie shop in Small Time Crooks [2000]):
'[...] I make so many films, that I don't care about individual successes and failures. I made Interiors and I made Stardust Memories, and before they came out I was working on something else. The film could be a big hit like Manhattan or Hannah, to me it doesn't matter. I've tried very hard to make my films into a non-event. I just want to work, that's all. Just put the film out for people to see, just keep grinding them out. I hope I'll have a long and healthy life, that I can keep working all the time, and that I can look back in old age and say, "I made fifty movies and some of them were excellent and some of them were not so good and some were funny . . ."' (p.127)
Yet, despite this, he has viewed many of his films as personally disappointing, that he would, with hindsight, have made many of them quite different, even structurally, like Interiors, which I find perfect in its structure and form - but I see that it has an imbalance he could have corrected by bringing 'life' earlier into the film (in the character of Pearl, for example) - the film is about a huge emotional imbalance in the characters' lives, and structurally it must necessarily be lop-sided in favour of that dread, to the later redeeming colour. But this is natural: he makes them, he's entitled. I watch them, I'm not, not as audience, not as critic; I either enjoy them, they mean something to me, or I don't, they don't - and all the degrees between. Except for Purple Rose (which I found so-so), Allen felt it came out perfectly as he'd conceived it. But there's more to it for him:
'I just don't want to get into that situation that so many of my contemporaries are in, where they make one film every few years and it's a Big Event. That's why I've always admired Bergman. He'd be working quietly on the island and would make a tiny little film and put it out, and then he'd be working on the next one. You know, the work was important. Not the eventual success or failure, the money or the critical reception. What's important is that your work is part of your daily life and you can live decently. You can, as in my case, do the other things I want to do at the same time. I like to play music, I like to see my children, I like to go to restaurants, I like to take walks and watch sports and things. When you're working at the same time, you have a nice, integrated life.' (p.127)
If you love Allen, his films or his comedy or his New Orleans jazz, or his soundtracks (mostly of borrowed music he loves), or his vast knowledge of film-making, or his upper-middle class intellectualism, then you'll love this book too. Parts of it are reproduced in the accompanying books with the Arrow box-set collections, which I recommend you buy now and spend Xmas watching, but to have first-hand coverage of all of them up till 2002 here is like ten Christmas presents in one. Wonderful.
'Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television' - Juliette Lewis in Husbands And Wives [1992]. Oh, how true. Except that now we can supersede that with: 'Life imitates a Woody Allen film, somewhere or other, in his astonishingly impressive portfolio'.
My top ten favourite Woody Allen films:
Hannah And Her Sisters [1986] - 8.63 - seen 5 times
Manhattan [1979] - 8.6 - seen 9 times
Interiors [1978] - 8.6 - seen once
Melinda And Melinda [2004] - 8.27 - seen once
Crimes And Misdemeanours [1989] - 8.17 - seen once
Cassandra's Dream [2007] - 8.13 - seen once
Annie Hall [1977] - 8.07 - seen 5 times
Mighty Aphrodite [1995] - 7.83 - seen once
Hollywood Ending [2002] - 7.8 - seen once
Another Woman [1988] - 7.7 - seen once.
November 5, 2021
وودي آلن الجميل صاحب الأفلام الجميلة وواحد من المخرجين المفضلين بالنسبة لي.. بالتأكيد قراءة كتاب يحكي فيه عنه وعن أفلامه هو شيء جميل
August 19, 2014
He writes the film equivalent of chamber music. Sometimes they work: Hannah and Her Sisters, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors and the hugely enjoyable Annie Hall. I also have soft spots for Radio Days and Interiors, mainly because it is hilarious to watch Maureen Stapleton trample through the film making the other actors look either mannered or comatose. But by the time I saw Midnight in Paris, I was over the usual Woody "bring the upper classes together for serious problems accompanied by dialogue that no real human being would ever, ever say. On the other hand, his depiction of Paris in the 1920s was so vivid that it was the first time I "got" why the expatriates wound up there, to say nothing of Zelda Fitzgerald's putative charm. The interviews are a little too unfocused, and Stig Bjorkman (the interviewer) doesn't push Allen at all. Plus, they end with Manhattan Murder Mystery, the first movie Allen made after the appearance that he mosested Mia Farrow's daughter Soon-Yi. That was a long time ago, and it would be interesting to hear him these days on the more recent films. Still, there have been few directors who have given me the kind of long-term pleasure that Allen has, and the book does give you a look into how he approaches his work.
January 31, 2015
The Faber & Faber series is always an educational and personal guide to the classic film directors. I've read six titles so far (covering Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Dennis Potter, and Werner Herzog). This one is my favourite, partly due to my admiration for Allen's films, the hefty detail (even if it does skimp out on some of the later films) and also the interesting back-and-forth between Allen and interviewer Stig Bjorkman. While by no means the last word on Allen's films, it is an excellent resource and I turn to it time and again when I'm watching a Woody Allen film.
March 10, 2007
I love this book. It's a great collection of interviews.
September 21, 2015
Woody Allen has been very productive after 1993, but regarding his background and all his work up to then, this is the ultimate book I think. A nice, flowing and interesting conversation.
November 21, 2018
Admittedly, I have not seen most of the films this book talks about, and it would probably be ideal for a reader to have seen more of these films before reading about them, at least if a reader wants to get the inside references of what the subject and interviewer are talking about. There is a whole genre of books like this one where famous directors and other creative people have conversations with others because their thoughts are viewed as being important enough to convey as part of ponderous books. In reading this book, I'm not sure the subject is really worth the treatment of nearly 300 pages that this book entails. I could see this book as being more entertaining for someone who really loved the movies of Woody Allen, and who shared his fondness for works which were ambitious and a bit less accessible than his more popular ones, but for a reader like myself, this book was more notable for the tact of the interviewer in avoiding obvious and sensitive issues of a tabloid nature and the general insularity and snobbiness of the subject's insights, although there were some worthwhile gems in here that are worth reading, at least.
This particular book is organized in terms of the movies that the interviewer and subject talk about, in order from Allen's beginnings in the Jewish caberet scene (1) through Take The Money And Run (2), Bananas (3), Play It Again, Sam (4), Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (5), Sleeper (6), Love And Death (7), Annie Hall (8), Interiors (9), Manhattan (10), Stardust Memories (11), A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy/Zelig (12), Broadway Danny Rose (13), The Purple Rose Of Cairo (14), Hannah And Her Sisters (15), Radio Days (16), September (17), Another Woman (18), New York Stories (19), Crimes And Misdemeanors (20), Alice (21), Shadows And Fog (22), Husbands And Wives (23), and Manhattan Murder Mystery (24). To say this book is organized, though, is to give it a bit too much credit, as the conversations wander and twist their way and are sometimes a bit repetitive and do not always demonstrate either the interviewer or subject in the most positive light, especially when Allen insults the populist taste of American film critics and filmgoers or traditional morality. Even with these caveats, though, there is still enough to enjoy to make it worthwhile to read this book if Woody Allen films are your sort of thing.
One of the most notable insights to gain from this particular book is that Woody Allen is both a very insular director in terms of the way that he tends to focus on what he knows best, including show biz and New York City, and ambitious in seeking to direct films that range from comic to melodramatic to tragic, which has led to a disconnect when his audience has expected something more narrow than he wanted to do, and has taken his serious statements about loving rain and dreary days as something to laugh about. Allen's ups and downs as a director have involved his own attempts to master the craft of directing and to tell the stories he wants to tell, but at the very least he has been able to ensure a good relationship with a studio that knows that not every film of his will make money in the United States (they tend to do better in Europe, which makes sense given Allen's European approach to morality and aesthetics) but that if he can keep the costs reasonable he can create a film a year about whatever he wants to do, and that is a good arrangement for a director like this, resulting in someone who likes to finish his work and then move on to something else in a prolific and creative career that has spanned several decades now.
This particular book is organized in terms of the movies that the interviewer and subject talk about, in order from Allen's beginnings in the Jewish caberet scene (1) through Take The Money And Run (2), Bananas (3), Play It Again, Sam (4), Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex But Were Afraid To Ask (5), Sleeper (6), Love And Death (7), Annie Hall (8), Interiors (9), Manhattan (10), Stardust Memories (11), A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy/Zelig (12), Broadway Danny Rose (13), The Purple Rose Of Cairo (14), Hannah And Her Sisters (15), Radio Days (16), September (17), Another Woman (18), New York Stories (19), Crimes And Misdemeanors (20), Alice (21), Shadows And Fog (22), Husbands And Wives (23), and Manhattan Murder Mystery (24). To say this book is organized, though, is to give it a bit too much credit, as the conversations wander and twist their way and are sometimes a bit repetitive and do not always demonstrate either the interviewer or subject in the most positive light, especially when Allen insults the populist taste of American film critics and filmgoers or traditional morality. Even with these caveats, though, there is still enough to enjoy to make it worthwhile to read this book if Woody Allen films are your sort of thing.
One of the most notable insights to gain from this particular book is that Woody Allen is both a very insular director in terms of the way that he tends to focus on what he knows best, including show biz and New York City, and ambitious in seeking to direct films that range from comic to melodramatic to tragic, which has led to a disconnect when his audience has expected something more narrow than he wanted to do, and has taken his serious statements about loving rain and dreary days as something to laugh about. Allen's ups and downs as a director have involved his own attempts to master the craft of directing and to tell the stories he wants to tell, but at the very least he has been able to ensure a good relationship with a studio that knows that not every film of his will make money in the United States (they tend to do better in Europe, which makes sense given Allen's European approach to morality and aesthetics) but that if he can keep the costs reasonable he can create a film a year about whatever he wants to do, and that is a good arrangement for a director like this, resulting in someone who likes to finish his work and then move on to something else in a prolific and creative career that has spanned several decades now.
January 18, 2022
Stig Björkmanin teos "Woody Allen. Omin sanoin. Keskusteluja Stig Björkmanin kanssa", 2005 (Woody om Allen. Samtal med Stig Björkman, 2002) on 300-sivuinen haastattelututkielma Woody Allenista ja etenkin tämän elokuvatuotannosta. Björkman kävi liki kymmenen vuoden ajan New Yorkissa haastattelemassa Allenia teosta varten sekä studiolla että tämän kotona Central Parkin kupeessa.
Johdantoa lukuunottamatta, jossa käsitellään pintapuolisesti myös Allenin nuoruutta, kirjallisia ja elokuvamaailman esikuvia (Ingmar Bergman!), uran alkua stand up -koomikkona ja päätymistä elokuva-alalle, teos keskittyy ennen kaikkea analysoimaan Allenin elokuvia. Kirjan luvut etenevät kronologisesti elokuva elokuvalta, ja tarkastelun fokuksena ovat lähinnä kulloisenkin elokuvan idean syntyprosessi, käsikirjoituksen laatiminen, näyttelijävalinnat, musiikki, lavastukseen ja kuvaukseen liittyvät yksityiskohdat sekä tietenkin elokuvan ohjaamiseen liittyvät aspektit. Jonkin verran tarkastellaan myös Allenin trendejä eli siirtymistä komiikasta vakavaan elokuvaan ja hienoista palaamista jälleen komiikan pariin. Myös elokuviin kätkettyjä merkityksiä ja symboliikkaa pohditaan siinä sivussa. Mielenkiintoista on, miten Allen käsikirjoittajana ja ohjaajana hallitsee chaplinmaisesti elokuvatuotannon koko palettia aina musiikki- ja näyttelijävalinnoista lavastuksen ja kuvauksen yksityiskohtiin, mutta jättää hämmästyttävän vapaat kädet näyttelijöille tulkita käsikirjoituksensa nuotteja.
Itse pitkäaikaisena elokuvien ystävänä ja lähes yhtä pitkäaikaisena Woody Allenin fanina nautin kirjan tarjoamasta elokuvien taustoituksesta ja elokuvatuotannollisista yksityiskohdista, mutta ilman vastaavanlaista harrastuneisuutta teos saattaa tuntua puuduttavalta. Allenin henkilöhistoria ja yksityiselämä jää varsin vähälle huomiolle elokuvien ollessa tarkastelun pääkohteena eli nimestään huolimatta (Woody om Allen) mistään elämänkerrasta tai syvällisestä henkilökuvasta tuskin voi puhua. Kirjan kuvagalleria on mukavan kattava, ja lopun bio- ja filmografia on hyvänä tukena elokuviin tutustuessa. On syytä kuitenkin muistaa, että teoksen ilmestymisen jälkeen (2002) Allen on ohjannut jo 14 elokuvaa lisää.
Arvioni 3,0 tähteä viidestä.
Johdantoa lukuunottamatta, jossa käsitellään pintapuolisesti myös Allenin nuoruutta, kirjallisia ja elokuvamaailman esikuvia (Ingmar Bergman!), uran alkua stand up -koomikkona ja päätymistä elokuva-alalle, teos keskittyy ennen kaikkea analysoimaan Allenin elokuvia. Kirjan luvut etenevät kronologisesti elokuva elokuvalta, ja tarkastelun fokuksena ovat lähinnä kulloisenkin elokuvan idean syntyprosessi, käsikirjoituksen laatiminen, näyttelijävalinnat, musiikki, lavastukseen ja kuvaukseen liittyvät yksityiskohdat sekä tietenkin elokuvan ohjaamiseen liittyvät aspektit. Jonkin verran tarkastellaan myös Allenin trendejä eli siirtymistä komiikasta vakavaan elokuvaan ja hienoista palaamista jälleen komiikan pariin. Myös elokuviin kätkettyjä merkityksiä ja symboliikkaa pohditaan siinä sivussa. Mielenkiintoista on, miten Allen käsikirjoittajana ja ohjaajana hallitsee chaplinmaisesti elokuvatuotannon koko palettia aina musiikki- ja näyttelijävalinnoista lavastuksen ja kuvauksen yksityiskohtiin, mutta jättää hämmästyttävän vapaat kädet näyttelijöille tulkita käsikirjoituksensa nuotteja.
Itse pitkäaikaisena elokuvien ystävänä ja lähes yhtä pitkäaikaisena Woody Allenin fanina nautin kirjan tarjoamasta elokuvien taustoituksesta ja elokuvatuotannollisista yksityiskohdista, mutta ilman vastaavanlaista harrastuneisuutta teos saattaa tuntua puuduttavalta. Allenin henkilöhistoria ja yksityiselämä jää varsin vähälle huomiolle elokuvien ollessa tarkastelun pääkohteena eli nimestään huolimatta (Woody om Allen) mistään elämänkerrasta tai syvällisestä henkilökuvasta tuskin voi puhua. Kirjan kuvagalleria on mukavan kattava, ja lopun bio- ja filmografia on hyvänä tukena elokuviin tutustuessa. On syytä kuitenkin muistaa, että teoksen ilmestymisen jälkeen (2002) Allen on ohjannut jo 14 elokuvaa lisää.
Arvioni 3,0 tähteä viidestä.
June 9, 2013
At the beginning of this year’s Woodython, I promised to provide a review of some of the Woody literature available in the Dirk archive. Woody Allen on Woody Allen is part of the Faber series featuring directors talking in detail about their work. They have rescued many essays for me in the past as they are a valuable source of quotes and insight straight from the auteurs’ mouth, so to speak. This book is a key text in Woody studies and a great companion piece to the documentary to dip and delve. It can by your bedside. It can get a little repetitive when read in a single sitting: there is only so many times that you need to hear about Diane Keaton’s flair for comedy. The first edition finished with THE MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, during a tumultuous and productive period of his life, and the second edition finishes with A HOLLYWOOD ENDING, when the distribution of his films became more difficult.
Woody Allen has a reputation for being a reluctant interviewee, however I think that this is totally unfounded as he is generous with his thoughts and opinions relating to his films and attitudes to the industry that he works in. He is a private person, but he can be seen frequently in public (playing clarinet in the Carlyle every Monday) and is accessible (he will engage in conversation with well-wishers when he is walking in Manhattan, or eating at his favourite restaurants.) Woody feels comfortable with the interviewer, Stig Bjorkman – a Swedish film critic who has a connection with his sometime cinematographer Sven Nykist – so the result is a candid exposition based around each of his films in chronological order. The questions are fairly gentle, but does digress into interesting diversions that go beyond his thoughts on film and into other areas like politics (people in all classes are nice and some aren’t) and music (his love of Jazz) .
There is much detail in these interviews, but it is possible to glean his methodology quiet easily. It is clear he doesn’t have any involvement as film-making as a life-style. Early in his career, after the making of WHAT’S NEW PUSSY CAT (1965), it is clear that he was uncomfortable with Warren Beatty’s approach with actors and producers, where everyone is in everyone’s pockets and lunches are more important than art.
He maintains a healthy detachment from the Hollywood scene, watching contemporary films in the same way a premiership manager may scout the lower leagues on the hunt for talent. In collaboration with Juliet Taylor, his casting director, and her magnificent address book he selects actors for his project. They seem drawn to the kudos of working with him and the potential recognition from the Academy. He says that he has not really written a part on demand, although around the time of SHADOWS AND FOG (1991) Jodie Foster expressed a wish to be in one of his films, so he fitted her in. If he is to believed, then the rest of the process is just a case of putting trust in the actors and his team that he has put together over the years. It is clear that he doesn’t socialise with the actors, preferring to keep a professional distance from them. He is effusive in his praise of Judy Davies in this book, but in recent interviews she has remarked on how she feels slighted by Allen’s stand-offish behavior.
It seems that Gordon Willis was instrumental in the development of Allen as a film-maker, challenging him to push action off the frame and having the courage in the audience to keep up with the action. Later, as his confidence grew he felt more able to direct his cinematographers Carlo Di Palma, Sven Nykist and others. Some of his films are technical experiments, taking more time blocking out the technicians rather than the actors, in films such as HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992).
He talks about his track-record of re-shooting. He is close to the editing process and if scenes are not working he is keen to get the actors back to reshoot scenes to make them work. He has not used redubbing the dialogue, he prefers to get the actors back together to redo the scene completely. The book features much discussion about the complete reshoot of SEPTEMBER (1987). He was unhappy with the actors. They just did not fit his vision for the drama, so he recast the key roles and started again. The ‘original’ version does not exist, he destroyed it, a method that he has employed for his off-cuts, so they’ll never make an appearance on DVD extras.
Bjorkman is keen to get under the skin of his influences and reveals a fairly narrow pool of writers (Flaubert, Chekov, Salinger) and film-makers (Bergman, Fellini and Truffaut). In interviews (and here) he tends to down-play his influences, saying that they have only had a superficial baring on his choices.
I am always struck by the version of Woody Allen that he wants to present. We know that he is very self aware, years of psychoanalysis have made sure of that, but he also has a highly developed skill of representing himself. Several times in this book, he emphatically denies that his character is not the same as the one that he depicts in his films:
So every film I make, they feel is an autobiography of mine. Many people just can’t comprehend that – and I don’t say this critically, its just that they don’t understand. They always think that my stories and ideas are based on reality. Therefore I have to explain to them, that ANNIE HALL wasn’t, that MANHATTAN wasn’t and that HUSBANDS AND WIVES wasn’t. When I finished the script for HUSBANDS AND WIVES it was strictly an act of imagination. I finished the script long before anything happened what you read in the newspapers. It had nothing to do with that.
It is his ability to have a professional detachment from his actors that allowed him to seriously consider Mia Farrow for MIGHTY APHRODITE (1995). Its unlikely that she would have agreed given the personal and legal situation. In one sense, it shows his emotional coldness, but in another it demonstrates his social naivety. He has a very closed and privileged lifestyle where he follows the same routine every day: seven hours of sleep, breakfast and exercise, writing, resting by watching movies, forty five minutes clarinet practice, a walk to a restaurant, watch some sport then off to bed. His schedule does not allow for much human interaction.
The version of Woody presented in this series of interviews is one that is professional, hard-working and one that is a narrow, yet clearly defined, range of influences. Get one for your bedside.
Woody Allen has a reputation for being a reluctant interviewee, however I think that this is totally unfounded as he is generous with his thoughts and opinions relating to his films and attitudes to the industry that he works in. He is a private person, but he can be seen frequently in public (playing clarinet in the Carlyle every Monday) and is accessible (he will engage in conversation with well-wishers when he is walking in Manhattan, or eating at his favourite restaurants.) Woody feels comfortable with the interviewer, Stig Bjorkman – a Swedish film critic who has a connection with his sometime cinematographer Sven Nykist – so the result is a candid exposition based around each of his films in chronological order. The questions are fairly gentle, but does digress into interesting diversions that go beyond his thoughts on film and into other areas like politics (people in all classes are nice and some aren’t) and music (his love of Jazz) .
There is much detail in these interviews, but it is possible to glean his methodology quiet easily. It is clear he doesn’t have any involvement as film-making as a life-style. Early in his career, after the making of WHAT’S NEW PUSSY CAT (1965), it is clear that he was uncomfortable with Warren Beatty’s approach with actors and producers, where everyone is in everyone’s pockets and lunches are more important than art.
He maintains a healthy detachment from the Hollywood scene, watching contemporary films in the same way a premiership manager may scout the lower leagues on the hunt for talent. In collaboration with Juliet Taylor, his casting director, and her magnificent address book he selects actors for his project. They seem drawn to the kudos of working with him and the potential recognition from the Academy. He says that he has not really written a part on demand, although around the time of SHADOWS AND FOG (1991) Jodie Foster expressed a wish to be in one of his films, so he fitted her in. If he is to believed, then the rest of the process is just a case of putting trust in the actors and his team that he has put together over the years. It is clear that he doesn’t socialise with the actors, preferring to keep a professional distance from them. He is effusive in his praise of Judy Davies in this book, but in recent interviews she has remarked on how she feels slighted by Allen’s stand-offish behavior.
It seems that Gordon Willis was instrumental in the development of Allen as a film-maker, challenging him to push action off the frame and having the courage in the audience to keep up with the action. Later, as his confidence grew he felt more able to direct his cinematographers Carlo Di Palma, Sven Nykist and others. Some of his films are technical experiments, taking more time blocking out the technicians rather than the actors, in films such as HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992).
He talks about his track-record of re-shooting. He is close to the editing process and if scenes are not working he is keen to get the actors back to reshoot scenes to make them work. He has not used redubbing the dialogue, he prefers to get the actors back together to redo the scene completely. The book features much discussion about the complete reshoot of SEPTEMBER (1987). He was unhappy with the actors. They just did not fit his vision for the drama, so he recast the key roles and started again. The ‘original’ version does not exist, he destroyed it, a method that he has employed for his off-cuts, so they’ll never make an appearance on DVD extras.
Bjorkman is keen to get under the skin of his influences and reveals a fairly narrow pool of writers (Flaubert, Chekov, Salinger) and film-makers (Bergman, Fellini and Truffaut). In interviews (and here) he tends to down-play his influences, saying that they have only had a superficial baring on his choices.
I am always struck by the version of Woody Allen that he wants to present. We know that he is very self aware, years of psychoanalysis have made sure of that, but he also has a highly developed skill of representing himself. Several times in this book, he emphatically denies that his character is not the same as the one that he depicts in his films:
So every film I make, they feel is an autobiography of mine. Many people just can’t comprehend that – and I don’t say this critically, its just that they don’t understand. They always think that my stories and ideas are based on reality. Therefore I have to explain to them, that ANNIE HALL wasn’t, that MANHATTAN wasn’t and that HUSBANDS AND WIVES wasn’t. When I finished the script for HUSBANDS AND WIVES it was strictly an act of imagination. I finished the script long before anything happened what you read in the newspapers. It had nothing to do with that.
It is his ability to have a professional detachment from his actors that allowed him to seriously consider Mia Farrow for MIGHTY APHRODITE (1995). Its unlikely that she would have agreed given the personal and legal situation. In one sense, it shows his emotional coldness, but in another it demonstrates his social naivety. He has a very closed and privileged lifestyle where he follows the same routine every day: seven hours of sleep, breakfast and exercise, writing, resting by watching movies, forty five minutes clarinet practice, a walk to a restaurant, watch some sport then off to bed. His schedule does not allow for much human interaction.
The version of Woody presented in this series of interviews is one that is professional, hard-working and one that is a narrow, yet clearly defined, range of influences. Get one for your bedside.
September 6, 2021
This is probably more of a 4.5 star book In that you get a good career overview (up to 1993) and a strong sense of his working style and what he was going for in each case. It can be very interesting and enlightening with a nice conversational tone. The one caveat is that he’s so non-plussed about his own work that it’s occasionally off putting. Like hell just say yeah that’s what I was after or I just wanted to make that story without any deeper thought. It’s both demystifying and helpful in that he’s just all about working but you wonder how truthful he is when he refuses to acknowledge any similarities to his life in his movies. Either way this was a good read.
May 7, 2020
(( يصعب تخيل وجود مسابقة بين الكتب او الأفلام أو الأعمال الفنية. من يحق له تقرير الأفضل؟ يبدو وكأن القائمين على صناعة الأفلام يلتقون بطريقة فخمة، ليقولوا: «هذه هي الأفلام التي فضّلناها خلال هذا العام! وسوف نصوّت جميعاً لهذه الأفلام الخمسة». إن الأفلام المرشحة ليست أفضل الأفلام، لأنها متنوعة، وكل في مجال مختلف. إن جوائز الأكاديمية قذرة، لأن الناس يضغطون عليك لتصوِّت لهم ولأصدقائهم. والمرشحون يقومون بحملة والإعلانات تحجز. لا يوجد أفضل فيلم لهذا العام، ولا يوجد نزاهة أو مصداقية. ))
November 18, 2018
Пересмотреть более-менее всю фильмографию Вуди Аллена было непросто, но очень интересно. Очень любопытно наблюдать изменение методов его работы - и комедийных, и драматических. Ну, и чего уж там, очень хорошо, что в какой-то момент из фильмов пропала Миа Фэрроу - она актриса неплохая, но разнообразия героиням стало не хватать.
September 21, 2020
Woody Allen zice că intenția lui nu este neapărat să facă filme, ci mai degrabă să regizeze romane pe peliculă. M-am bucurat mult să aud părerea lui despre cum i-au venit ideile pentru “Love and Death”, “Annie Hall” și “Manhattan”.
În principal, este vorba despre ironia făcută din compasiune. Mulțumim, domnule Allen, că sunteți bun la suflet!
În principal, este vorba despre ironia făcută din compasiune. Mulțumim, domnule Allen, că sunteți bun la suflet!
December 7, 2018
Doesn't provide enough insight into the films. It's nice for Allen superfans to learn odd tidbits of trivia like what Allen views are his best (he surprisingly thinks Match Point is one of his top-tier movies).
June 30, 2019
قرأت سيرة المخرج والممثل الكوميدي الأميركي، "وودي آلن"، الكتاب لقاء صحفي، سؤال وجواب، لكنه ممتع، لذيذ حتى آخر صفحة، استمتعت معه جدًا، ربما لأنه بعيد عن التكلف، وودي آلن يظهر في هذا الكتاب كما هو، البساطة والعمق في الوقت ذاته..
January 1, 2020
الكتاب مقدمليش اى جديد عن وودى الان ..المزيد من التعليقات الطريفة و الايضاحات لمشاهد من هنا و هناك.لكن فى المجمل اغلب المعلومات كانت فى الفيلم الوثائقى دا ..https://letterboxd.com/film/woody-all....
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