Until death (or an aerobics instructor) do us part
Thursday, November 15, 2012
CineVerse enjoyed a thought-provoking discussion last evening on Woody Allen's funny-but-unsettling "Husbands and Wives." Here are some of the highlights of that group chat:
HOW IS THIS FILM A
DEPARTURE FROM PREVIOUS WOODY ALLEN MOVIES? WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT “HUSBANDS
AND WIVES” COMPARED TO HIS EARLIER WORKS?
· It employs a shaky, cinema verite style of handheld
camerawork
o This style makes it feel like an impromptu
fly-on-the-wall home movie or documentary
o This shaky, verite-style camerawork would become more
prominently used in films, TV shows, music videos and commercials of the time
o Allen also uses several long, unbroken takes
· It also is intentionally choppy in its editing style,
using jump cuts
· There’s a contemporaneous “immediacy,” rawness and
urgency to the film as a reflection of its real-life artist; It’s an “art
imitating life” kind of picture, in which the story and characters mimic the
real-life disintegration of Woody and Mia Farrow’s longstanding relationship
and Woody’s infatuation with a younger woman
o in real life, it was Mia’s adopted Asian daughter;
o this film was shot right before and even somewhat
after Mia discovered the famous nude photos of her adopted daughter that Woody
had
o thus, the audience is made to feel like voyeurs seeing
a private life dirty laundry airing and also sleuths hunting for confessional
clues in the movie that reveal real-life feelings and motivations of Woody and
Mia
· A roughly equal ratio of laughs to winces: This film
has, arguably, big laughs that match some of his earlier comedies, but it’s
also more painful, raw and uncomfortable than any of his previous works in its
depiction of the failing relationships; the comedy springs less from neuroses
than from loss, resentment, betrayal, damage and wince-inducing embarrasement
· This feature utilizes an offscreen
interviewer/narrator (presumably a therapist?) as a storytelling device
· “Husbands and Wives” also marks the end of a
remarkable era of consistently high quality movies created by Allen, stretching
arguably from 1977’s “Annie Hall” to this film, released in 1992; his works
were more mediocre, erratic and somewhat disappointing following this film,
although he’s enjoyed a bit of a resurgence since 2004
· This flick also is the last time Allen plays a leading
man and a romantic love interest in one of his movies
WHAT THEMES AND MESSAGES
ARE EXPLORED IN HUSBANDS AND WIVES?
· It asks the question: Is any relationship truly stable
and safe? Can you really trust your partner to remain interested and faithful?
· The confusing, unstable, changing, dizzying nature of
love and relationships, as exemplified by the jerky handheld camera
o The camera seems to be just as perplexed about the
characters as the characters are about themselves
o Just as the story and tone is raw and bumpy, so is the
camera work
· How love and intimacy changes over time
· Fantasy vs. reality: Is a relationship with a younger,
sexier partner just a mirage that can’t last or work?
· Impotence and sexual frigidity
· The conflict between the mind and the heart, between
irrational feelings and the rational intellect
· How maturity and acceptance of life’s harsh realities
comes with age: a younger Allen in earlier films is more romantic, yearning and
hopeful; here, he seems to be accepting of the sense of loneliness and loss
that occurs when a love ends
WHAT OTHER MOVIES DOES
“HUSBANDS AND WIVES” BRING TO MIND?
· Ingmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night,” on which
the story and tone is loosely based
· Manhattan, in that both films feature an older Allen
character smitten by a very young female romantic interest
· “Breathless,” Jean Luc Godard’s masterpiece of the
French New Wave, in the shaky handheld camera and jump cut editing style it
apes
· Crimes and Misdemeanors: the professor whom Allen’s
character makes a documentary about in
“Crimes” returns in this film: this Allen character watches that documentary on
TV
· Allen’s earlier “Stardust Memories”, also featuring
ellipses and jump cuts when depicting emotional breakdowns by Charlotte
Rampling’s character