Woody Allen and Me

I've been thinking about Woody Allen a lot since I read his memoir, Apropos of Nothing.

I remembered the first Woody Allen movies I saw--Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and Play It Again, Sam. I had seen him on television and his standup comedy was hip and amusing, and the way he presented himself as a lovable, neurotic loser, while audiences were clearly loving his jokes as well as his intellect was the essence of Woody's paradox. This self-effacing creative force would lead him into success in movies. I had forgotten how many of his movies I had seen until I looked at the list.

Sleeper introduced us to Diane Keaton, who became his foil in many movies to come. She had just the right amount of everyday beauty and Gentile charm to counterbalance the schmendrick  persona he had created for himself. She could match neuroses with him yet still look a little mainstream. She got his jokes and sometimes topped him in benighted klutziness while still looking feminine and sophisticated. They shared an ability to look as if they didn't know what they were doing while they did their mutual shtik extremely smoothly. This was perfected in Annie Hall, which, until I read Apropos of Nothing I thought was just the two of them reliving their own relationship.

Woody had spent his life watching movies, and took to making them with relish. He loved Ingmar Bergman, the Swedish director-producer who influenced so many young filmmakers of the 1960s. Bergman's artistically bare landscapes, his themes of isolation, loneliness and loss of connection resonated with Allen and influenced some of his quietly elegant dramas such as Interiors. But however much he loved them, audiences (and I include myself) were more enchanted with the magic, whimsy, and laughs he evoked in A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, Bullets Over Broadway, and Everyone Says I Love You.  Midnight in Paris was a personal favorite.

Okay, this is becoming more a list of lists than an opinion column. I confess that was my purpose all along. I didn't list every movie he was ever involved in, but wanted to jog your memory and get you thinking about all the Woody Allen movies you've seen, and stimulate a discussion of which ones you liked best and why. If you'd care to comment on my omissions, or critique my choices, feel free.  I'd like to know if you agree with me that Woody Allen deserves some good words at this point.