Every Wednesday, FM writers Simon Columb and Brogan Morris write two short reviews on Woody Allen films … in the hope of watching all his films over the course of roughly 49 weeks. If you have been watching Woody’s films and want to join in, feel free to comment with short reviews yourself! Next up is Crimes and Misdemeanors & Love and Death…
Simon Columb on Crimes and Misdemeanors…
Two stories, two marriages, linked by a final, fleeting moment. Esteemed ophthalmologist Judah (Martin Landau) has trouble managing his mistress (Anjelica Huston) as she threatens to destroy his family by revealing their affair to his wife (Claire Bloom). Contrasting with this, with his marriage falling apart, filmmaker Clifford (Woody Allen) is documenting the life of smug brother-in-law Lester (Alda) leading to an affair of his own with producer Halley Reed (Mia Farrow). Not so much a comedy and more an attempt to analyse humanity as a whole, Crimes and Misdemeanors is successful in its high-brow thoughts and incisive comments on an unfair world that, according to Allen, implies that the only judgement made is how you judge yourself. Exploring morality and faith, Allen argues, if you choose to rise above faith and select your own morals than you are dictating your own happiness. Very much on form, this film lingers long after the closing credits.
Brogan Morris on Love and Death…
In 1975, after a string of hits, Woody Allen delivered a surreal collection of skits bound together by a mock-Russian love story set during the Napoleonic Wars – Love and Death was his tribute to all things Russian, literate and bleak. Today, the film would equate to box office poison; it’s comedy that dares to show off its intelligence, pandering to no-one but assuming those not in the know will find enjoyment regardless. Allen’s start in life as a joke writer-for-hire is still obvious in Love and Death – Allen’s love for his subjects would come later – but, despite thin characterisation and an over-stuffing of Russian cultural parody, Love and Death still manages to be uproariously funny, especially in its giddily inventive first half. With a narrative merely acting as a showcase for Allen’s gags, Love and Death is hit and miss, but infinitely smarter than the vast majority of comedies out there.
Brogan Morris – Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the young princes. Follow Brogan on Twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion.
Originally published October 9, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
