WOODY ALLEN
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBBB. USA, 1989. Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions. Screenplay by Woody Allen. Cinematography by Sven Nykvist. Produced by Robert Greenhut. Production Design by Santo Loquasto. Costume Design by Jeffrey Kurland. Film Editing by Susan E. Morse. Academy Awards 1989. Boston Film Critics Awards 1989. Golden Globe Awards 1989. National Board Of Review Awards 1989. New York Film Critics Awards 1989.
One of Woody Allen‘s highest artistic successes is this delicately layered tale of morality among the upper classes. Martin Landau is having difficulty keeping mistress Anjelica Huston from ratting on the two of them to his wife (Claire Bloom), so he gets mob-connected brother Jerry Orbach to take care of her. Meanwhile, Woody is living in a lifeless, platonic marriage to Joanna Gleason while daydreaming about the associate producer on his latest documentary project (Mia Farrow). Alan Alda is a gas as Gleason’s pompous, repugnant and totally successful television producer brother. The writing is top-notch, Sven Nykvist’s photography couldn’t be more beautiful, and the performances are all first rate (especially Landau and Huston).
