Woody Allen and his black comedies
by The Flamingo
I reached the last article in my Woody Allen series, this one focusing on his comedies. In my opinion, the best thing that Allen does is mixing comedy and drama, happiness and sorrow, laughter and crying. The next best thing he accomplishes is making the viewers look inside themselves, helping them discover new facts and also dealing with internal issues. His black comedies are many, way too many for me to write about, although I have watched most of them. So I picked 11 of my favorites, the ones that really left something behind or that brought some sunshine in a dark moment.
Deconstructing Harry (1997) – This black comedy is about a writer with many mental health issues, obsessed with sex and who suffers from writer’s block. Sequences of his past are presented through short scenes and stories. Each scene has different actors portraying him and different backgrounds. It’s an amazing comedy, based on the sorrows of life. It has Dickens’s “Christmas Carol” feel to it. The writer, Harry, is looking at his past through his characters’ eyes and sees his problems, decisions and actions, relationships with his ex wives, mistresses, hook ups and close family members. Although he finds an excuse for everything he’s done wrong, he understands he is really damaged and neurotic, a guy who can’t function in real life, only in his art. It has a nice message at the end, one we should all listen to: “know yourself, stop kidding yourself, accept your limitations and get on with your life.” Allen stories are really sad on the surface, but when you start deconstructing them, they are in fact happy. My favorite quote from this movie, Woody Allen style is: “The most beautiful words in the English language are not I love you but it’s benign.”
Actors: Billy Crystal, Kirstie Alley, Demi Moore, Robin Williams, Tobey Maguire, Judy Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stanley Tucci, Woody Allen.
Awards won: 4.
Irrational man (2015) – Another one of his philosophical movies, in which the line between good and evil is really blurry. A depressed middle aged professor commits the perfect murder in order to get rid of one evil man and then he rediscovers the beauty of enjoying life. Although he considers himself to be a moral man, he fails to do the right thing at the right moment, his survival instincts taking over his judgement. From my description, this movie doesn’t seem like a comedy at all, but trust me, it is.
Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone.
Bullets over Broadway (1994) – This is a mob movie, Woody Allen style, with some of my favorite actors renowned for playing mobsters (Chazz Palminteri, Joe Viterelli). It has the old style Broadway nostalgia to it, with mob families and clubs with showgirls. The story shows the backstage of making and directing a play with difficult and vain actors (actors who reached their peak and are at the end of their career or new wannabe actors who are looking to become stars). The play writer is a bohemian, head in the clouds, snob, an egomaniac who loves to be cuddled by everybody. The actors are playing him like a fiddle till he changes the whole script after everyone’s wishes. The most hilarious part is when one of the mobsters, with great ideas and common sense and more understanding of human nature, also a bit of an artist on the side, is directing the play from the shadows. I loved how New York is so romantically portrayed: “a million blinking lights, a million broken hearts”.
Actors: John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Tilly, Chazz Palminteri, Joe Viterelli, Tracey Ullman.
Awards won: 22.
Cafe society (2016) – This comedy takes place in the 30’s USA, the plot being split between old Hollywood and old New York. You can admire how well the cities are represented with a nostalgic air, Hollywood always in a golden warm light and New York grey and cold. “Cafe Society” is a term used for the rich and famous, which included a number of prominent figures from the New York high society, including the not so known underground figures. This movie is all about jazz, glamorous places, cosy restaurants, romantic walks, some old fashion mob scenes, beautiful retro fashion, when the men looked like men and the women were so feminine. The conclusion to this story is “live your day like it would be the last, someday you’ll be right”.
Actors: Steve Carell, Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively.
Manhattan murder mystery (1993) – This is a really delicious comedy, set in New York. A wife and her male friend (who, though not her husband, is in love with her) are following a suspicious guy, who might be a murderer, throughout the whole Manhattan. Her somewhat neurotic husband ends up being the pillar of his wife in this adventure. This movie makes any grey day look brighter. It’s perfect for a Saturday night.
Actors: Diane Keaton, Alan Alda, Angelica Huston, Woody Allen.
Small time crooks (2000) – This is another hilarious comedy set in Manhattan. Some struggling small crooks, a couple and their friends, plan to rob a bank digging a tunnel under a cookie shop. Normally Woody Allen plays intellectual characters, but here he ushered his education out the back door and kept just his witty humor. It shows a glimpse of the ridiculous lives of new money overnight entrepreneurs, with no education and lack of good taste. The hilarious absurdly decorated Upper Manhattan apartment with animal prints, golden harps, Louis furniture and animal statues reminded me of the Trump residence. The couple fights all the time, calling each other “ignoramus” over common knowledge stuff a primary schooler would know.
Actors: Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant, Woody Allen.
Awards won: 1.
Play it again, Sam (1972) – Although this is not a movie directed by Woody Allen, it is still written by him and you get the exact same feeling as in his other movies. This is one of his best comedies, one of his oldest pictures. The Casablanca analogies I liked the most, also the fact that Allen’s character, chaotic and funny, is always counseled by his conscience represented here by Humphrey Bogart. I always had a soft spot for Bogart and his ways and in this movie he is so well portrayed that you really think he’s the real deal. Allen gets love advice from “his conscience” and he goes on a journey of self growth and self appreciation. I loved this comedy.
Actors: Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Jerry Lacy, Woody Allen.
Awards won: 2.
The curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) – Woody Allen has an affinity towards old movies and Golden Age actors, especially Humphrey Bogart. This comedy is set in the 40’s New York. In this story Woody is trying to replicate the fancy defectives played by the likes of Bogart. The funny use of vocabulary from that age I loved the most (“broads”, “fresh mouth” and “I will slap you around a bit”). Woody utilizes magic as a form of comedy in many of his films, including this one. Although he acts rough and tough, flirts with all women like Bogart did, the comedy in this is that he is still Woody Allen, not Bogart, and he doesn’t take himself seriously. I also liked the vintage vibe in this whole movie: decorum, the music, the talk, the fashion.
Actors: Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd, Charlize Theron, Woody Allen.
Awards won: 1.
Sweet and Lowdown (1999) – The comedy is set in the New York jazz and swing era. The story has a jazz musician in its center, who’s also a pimp, also klepto, very self absorbed and narcissistic in a kind of funny but also annoying and “asshollish” kind of way. Sean Penn is amazing in his role. I loved the esthetic of the movie, the scenes in nightclubs, back alleys, train yards and boardwalks (which are my absolute favorite). It offers a glimpse into the jazz players lives in the era of Django Rheinhart. This is mostly a movie dedicated to jazz lovers.
Actors: Sean Penn, Uma Thurman, Woody Allen.
Awards won: 1.
Shadows and fog (1991) – This falls into the murder/suspense/comedy category. What is unique about this Woody Allen movie is that it has the feel of a theater play. Shot in black and white, the action of the story is set in a single night, on different sets, the main actors meeting different people along their unusual path. It’s hilarious just because Allen’s character is as usual very amusing: a man who is forced by others to become a vigilante and to look by himself for a serial killer. I liked the mysterious atmosphere, also the Hitchcock vibe, but I really loved the cosy feel of it, just because it was shot in a studio, like old times.
Actors: Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, John Cusack, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Madonna, Woody Allen
Awards won: 1
Alice (1990) – A comedy/drama/psychological story which takes place in New York in the early 90’s. It has at its center a rich catholic housewife, who believes in marriage for life and whose idol is Mother Teresa. She surprises herself by having dirty thoughts towards another man. With the help of a Chinese medicine practitioner, she overcomes some of her stiffness, prejudices and she begins loosening up and an affair doesn’t seem too outrageous anymore. The plot shows the journey of a woman to better understand herself and know her wants and needs.
Actors: William Hurt, Mia Farrow, Joe Mantegna, Judy Davis, Alec Baldwin, Cybill Shepherd.
Awards won: 1.
I would like to recommend some more comedies to this list like: Mighty Aphrodite (with Mira Sorvino, Helena Bonham Carter, Woody Allen), Anything Else (with Jason Biggs, Danny DeVito, Christina Ricci, Woody Allen), Broadway Danny Rose (with Mia Farrow, Nick Apollo Forte, Woody Allen), Melinda and Melinda (with Will Ferrell, Radha Mitchell) and A midsummer night’s sex comedy (with Mia Farrow, Woody Allen).
While my series ends here, I really hope I succeeded in persuading some of you to watch at least one of Woody Allen’s movies. He is a brilliant director and writer.
Photo used is the official poster for the theater play Play it again, Sam.
