American humor irritates some, while others have a sincere smile. Humor in American cinema will seem “flat” to someone, but connoisseurs of foreign comedies will always be able to find reasons to laugh in an extensive list of films. There are a great many of these reasons in Woody Allen’s films. He, who has shot about fifty paintings over a half-century career, knows a lot about humor.
Although, Woody Allen’s “track record” includes not only comedies. We offer you a selection of the best films of the legendary director, who sometimes himself was not averse to playing in the cinema.
“Manhattan” (1979)
Usually, young girls and boys who have not yet had time to fully taste life are considered windy. But in this film, a 42-year-old man appears to the audience as a real youngster. Isaac (played by Woody Allen himself) is completely confused about his relationships with women. He falls in love with his friend’s fiancee, then with a girl who has barely crossed the threshold of adulthood… At the same time, he has been married for a long time. Manhattan is not only a place where the cultural and secular life of the United States is concentrated. The dominant place in Manhattan is occupied by all sorts of intrigues, passions and novels, into which the hero rushes headlong over and over again.
“Annie Hall” (1977)
This picture significantly contrasts with other works of Allen, because it is a drama. The director here is assigned the difficult role of a person with a nervous disorder. Elvi—that’s his name-often thinks about death. He considers himself superior to others, other people seem to him infinitely stupid. This continues until he meets the singer Annie. Young people are imbued with sympathy for each other, this sympathy develops into love. Annie seems to the main character to be an ideal, and he completely revises his views on life, becoming more sensitive and open to people.
“Match Point” (2006)
The dazzling Scarlett Johansson, who played the beloved of the main character, attracted the admiring glances of viewers from all over the world. Who knows, maybe it was her participation in this film that led to the fact that almost immediately after the release of “Match Point” was nominated for an Oscar.
Tennis player Chris casually “takes” the bride from a friend, although he is already in a relationship with his sister. It is his sister Chloe that he soon marries, but he continues to love the “selected” Nola. She blocks all paths to herself by changing her phone number and place of residence. However, later the couple accidentally meets at an exhibition and their relationship is resumed. And to Chloe Chris cools down for only one reason — she can’t give birth to his child. But Nola informs him about the pregnancy and blackmails him, prompting him to break up with his wife. A desperate Chris kills Nola.
“The Purple Rose of Cairo” (1985)
As Mikhail Bulgakov said through the mouth of one of his heroes: “Cinema is the only consolation for women.” Cinema was such a consolation for the waitress Cecilia. She is unhappy in her marriage. And every day he escapes from reality by coming to the cinema to watch his favorite movie “The Purple Rose of Cairo”. Cecilia falls in love with the hero of the film, and one day he leaves the screen reality and finds himself next to her, in real life. But it’s not easy for him to adapt to this life… In addition, other characters in the film also began to behave “not according to the script”, entering into a dialogue with the audience…
“Midnight in Paris” (2011)
Gill writes books. And since all writers are partly romantics, he periodically “falls” into dreams. He dreams of living in Paris in the twenties. He loves France very much, so he goes there with his beloved. But a romantic journey turns into a journey through time — Gill finds himself in the past, his dream comes true.
Read also: “The power is in the truth. The best films of Alexey Balabanov”
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