Woody Allen makes two kinds of films – relationship comedies and screwball spoofs. I’m a fan of the relationship comedies more than the screwball stuff. Don’t get me wrong I love EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK) and ZELIG, but I tend to remember ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN and CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS more when I think of Allen’s best work.
This film is a spoof of period pieces like BARRY LYNDON, Ingmar Bergman and Sergei Eisenstein. Allen plays Boris Grushenko, an introspective Russian man, who wants nothing to do with the war against Napoleon. It’s the typical Allen character transported back a few centuries. He’s in love with Sonja (Diane Keaton, SOMETHING GOTTA GIVE), but she doesn’t notice him at all. The film chronicles Boris’ life in the military, his affairs with Countess Alexandrovna (Olga Georges-Picot, GOOD-BYE, EMMANUELLE), his duel with the Countess’ lover Anton Inbedkov (Harold Gould, THE STING), his quick marriage and his involvement in a plot to assassinate Napoleon (James Tolkan, BACK TO THE FUTURE).
Allen mixes the story with gags and intellectual debates that end with witty punchlines. He combines period influenced jokes with contemporary comments. This works when the jokes are really funny, but seems awkward at other times. I really like the informational play that the military puts on for the soldiers before a furlough. Movie buffs will love the references to Bergman’s PERSONA and Eisenstein’s BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN.
Allen has called this his most personal film. As a character desperately pining for his one true love and constantly racked with guilt over moral dilemmas, only to find the answers when its too late, I can see how that’s true. The film is more concise than say BANANAS, but it’s not as clear and tight as ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN or CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS. A Woody Allen film is always smart, often very funny and for the most part contains some brilliance, even if every film isn’t a 100% goldmine.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
