manhattan

One of the best film openings ever.  From Woody Allen's Manhattan.

revisiting 'another woman'

PopMatters was kind enough to include my article on the performance of Gena Rowlands in Another Woman. It's part of a series they are doing on women in the films of Woody Allen. There are some really great write-ups there of women, whether in major or minor roles, who have left indelible impressions in cinema.

It was really great to analyze Gena Rowlands and revisit the film. It's not really one of Woody Allen's most discussed films but I think it's one of his best. It's careful, moving, and wry and full of really interesting small appearances by great actors like Gene Hackman, Mia Farrow, Sandy Dennis, Ian Holm and John Houseman. Read my original review here.

little farrow

I recently watched John and Mary, a slight Peter Yates romance from 1969. It's really only notable for capturing the feel of its time period and the performances of the two leads (Dustin Hoffman & Mia Farrow).

Farrow is quiet and unassuming. At her best, she can deliver a strong, unfussy performance. She is Woody Allen's ultimate muse and is underrated in many of his works including an unrecognizable appearance in Broadway Danny Rose.

I love Farrow's style. Here's a little sampling of some of her coolest looks.

See also Farrow's website.

And a cool "Living in Rosemary's Baby" feature on Design Sponge and A Cup of Jo.

persona & another woman

Persona casts a spell. It has both a feeling of looseness and strict purposefulness. In fact, there is the constant motif of the double, the dual, the other.

Bergman begins with a highly symbolic and disconcerting opening: an unforgettable montage that literally shows both the power and the limitations of film, from being inside the camera itself, to emotional and visual manipulation to watching one touch an image. It sets the film with an eerie, disquieting tone. Once the story kicks in, the narrative is more or less straightforward. A young nurse, Sister Alma (Bibi Andersson), is asked to help an actress, Elisabet Vogler (a haunting Liv Ullman), who has suddenly stopped speaking. In hopes to provide therapeutic aid, they move to a cottage by the sea. At first, Alma tries to fill the silent hours spent with Elisabet with incessant talking and stories. Their isolation proves to do more harm than good and the two women fall into a contemptuous relationship. Like the sound of foghorns on the ocean, the two women begin to echo each other. They eventually switch roles: the emotionally weak Alma slowly becomes the patient whereas Elisabet becomes the nurse. This leads to a scene that is a monologue played twice from each of their points of view and a haunting resolution.

Persona does so many things in such a poetic way that it's difficult to pin it down. The richness and complexity of the film has led to various interpretations. On this viewing I saw it as a war film: a constant phsychological battle that always happens when a relationship gets close.

Bergman's film has been influential to many films including Mulholland Dr. and 3 Women and Woody Allen's under appreciated chamber drama Another Woman. In this film, Gena Rowlands plays Marion, a renowned philosopher who rents a studio apartment to work on her book. It's here that she overhears the sessions between a psychiatrist and his patient (Mia Farrow) next door. Marion treats the patient with a certain amount of pity in the beginning as Alma did with Elisabet in Persona. As the story unravels, Marion confronts the past and begins to realize her own problems with her life and marriage.

Though at times a little pat, this is one of Allen's best dramas. Allen pays tribute to Persona and Wild Strawberries without paling too much in comparison to the mastery of Bergman's works. Allen makes Another Woman unique and his own. As in all his chamber works, there is still dry humor to be found in unexpected places. He again skewers upper crust Manhattanites lightly. The use of Erik Satie as score is effective. And while Rowlands dominates the film with icy control, there are many wonderful supporting performances particularly by Farrow, Ian Holm, Blythe Danner, John Houseman, and a nervy, unsettled Sandy Dennis.

-Jeffery Berg

alice