Score : 7/10
Year : 1995
Country: USA
Language: English
Duration: 1h35 (IMDB) ; 1h31
(French DVD)
From the few Woody Allen movies
I'v seen, I can tell there's always some kind of surreal aspect as well as his
neurotic and some kind of writer character, which are his trademarks, as much
as the tendency to use 1930's music and a monaural sound.
So, here we go again, Woody plays
a writer - this time a sports columnist : his name is Lenny Weinrib. When he
and his wife Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter) adopt a an apparently genius child,
Lenny becomes obsessed with finding the child's parents and this leads to
an ironic chain of events and various people met on the way.
Note : this movies is rated R for language and sex-related material. Nothing
graphic, but a grown up subject.
There are some deliberate choices in this artistically made film, where the surreal
aspect is depicted by a Greek Chorus, inspired by ancient Greek theater.
Their role is to narrate, illustrate and explain either elements we don't see,
or marking the passage of time and psycho-social commentaries revolving around
the story's plot.
Breaking
the wall between the characters and the viewers, some of the chorus members,
especially their leader (F. Murray Abraham) interact, talk, and gives objects
and so forth, thus mixing the narrative surrealism with the more distant
fiction of the characters. This usually has a very humorous effect, greatly
appreciated and gives this film it's main flavor.
Dialogues
are witty and the music, overall, is less annoying than most Woody Allen's
movies. It even starts with a very nice Greek tune which I really liked, but
the silly ending song lasts far too long and brings back down the appreciation
of the rest of the film's rather better score (at least in the sense of my
musical tastes).
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