Tuesday 23 June 2020

Anything Else (2003 Woody Allen & scr)

Widescreen (only his second since Manhattan), and featuring the main character addressing the audience, and long takes without cutting. 

The Woody Allen character is nuts, but also talks more sense than anyone in it. Because of him, Biggs changes his life.

Woody writes women well. In this, the character he writes for Christina Ricci is both shallow and duplicitous - she says she loves him, but there's absolutely no evidence of that. It's also one of those life stories that if you start dating someone who's already in another relationship (as are you) it isn't going to end up well. Love is blind... Or is it lust? Anyway, she's a nightmare.

Let's say 'attraction'.

Woody often pays attention to the first time we see a female character. This is Christina's first shot.

And in the flashback, this is the first time he sees her...

Darius Khondji shot it. Weird. We watched two films in a row shot by someone called 'Darius(z)'.

With Stockard Channing, Anthony Arkin (yes another son of), Danny de Vito, Adrian Grenier (with his back to the camera), Jimmy Fallon, Erica Leerhsen.



Watching Woody smash up the car is funny because it's so atypical.

Hebetudinous? Tergiversate? Are these real words? Yes, it turns out they are. 'Dull' and 'make evasive statements'.

That Doisneau 'The Kiss' is up on the wall, as is a Freaks poster (referenced in 'One of us' line).

A Gordon Willis moment... But actually, what's also going on here is 'natural' editing. Ricci has walked out of shot, Biggs is about to come back into it..

"Do you love me?"
"What a question! Just because I pull away when you touch me?"

"There's something compelling about your apathy."

Woody was pleased with it himself, but said it was hurt by negative reviews.

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