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INTERIORS (1978) (****)

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Woody Allen has never made another film so close to an Ingmar Bergman film as this one. From the somber subject matter to the visual style, this drama feels like Bergman.

The story chronicles how Eve (Geraldine Page, SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH), a perfectionist mother with emotional problems, effects the mental and emotional stability of her family. One day at dinner, her husband Arthur (E.G. Marshall, 12 ANGRY MEN) tells his family matter-of-factly that he is moving out of the family home to try out a trial separation from Eve.

The oldest daughter Renata (Diane Keaton, ANNIE HALL) is a famous poet, who during the turmoil is unable to write. Her husband Fredrick (Richard Jordan, DUNE) is a struggling writer who resents her success. The middle daughter Joey (Mary Beth Hurt, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE) is floundering in life trying to find the right creative outlet to spend her life pursuing. Her husband Mike (Sam Waterson, TV’s LAW & ORDER) and her are in different stages in their lives, which often causes tension between them. The youngest daughter Flyn (Kristin Griffith, KING OF THE HILL) is often absent, living in L.A. and working as a TV actress.

Eve obsesses over a reconciliation with her husband, gaining sympathy from Renata, but more hurtful, yet more realistic advice from Joey. Allen intricately crafts his characters and brings great depth to the way they interact with each other. The daughters’ relationships with their mother (and in certain instances their father) effect they’re personal relationships as well.

Renata feels she has been forced into the role of supportive older sister. She has loved her mother, but her recent emotional problems are hard for her to deal with. Joey is pretty much the opposite. Her father adored her above all his children and is now disappointed with where her life is going. She had so much potential, he says. After her mother’s mental breakdown, Joey has been consumed with guilt. Flyn is a mysterious character who puts on a positive face in all situations, but we get glimpses of her hidden torment too. At one dinner party, Arthur brings a date. She is a flamboyant woman named Pearl (Maureen Stapleton, COCOON). Renata accepts her quickly, but Joey has a hard time opening up to a new woman in her father’s life that isn’t nearly as sophisticated as her mother.

This tragic drama is emotionally trying, but brutally honest. One could say this film deals with darker subjects than even Allen’s CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. How does a family survive when a member’s emotional issues effect everyone negatively? Allen works at his most poetic in the end with perfect metaphorical moments that display the true nature of the situation in all of its irony. The closing profile shot of the three sisters is very Bergman-like and the closing line is one of the best ever. This film is Allen’s most heavy effort and displays his talents as a truly serious filmmaker.

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Rick DeMott
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