"Love and Death"

 
Please note the purpose of this blog is to discuss established classics that I've never seen. As such, the following is laden with spoilers.

Why So Long?
The man has made 55 films, forgive me for taking some time in getting to them all. I'm also somewhat alone amongst my contemporaries in that I'm happy to keep watching the man's films. I'll step around the debate and doubt surrounding the his past (there's enough of that online, besides, that I've included this film in the blog should give you a hint as to where I stand on the subject) but that reputation has put a number of folk I know off watching any of his films - which really just reduces my viewing opportunities. Recently I found myself on paternity leave, I saw this on Netflix and late one night stuck it on once both my wife and daughter had drifted off.


And?
This isn't meant as a slight on his output from Annie Hall onwards, and indeed, I am very aware that I am playing into the trope identified by Allen himself in Stardust Memories, but aren't the earlier, funny ones, the best Allen films? I love Manhattan and have watched it at least a dozen times; but as for something like Bananas, at least a baker's dozen. Love and Death it would appear, acts as a sort of greatest hits of Allen's early years - an impression only emphasized when one considers that Annie Hall would be his next film. 

"Funny Woody" operates in a sweet spot of American comedy; the huge influence of American style music hall still resonates but one can see the beginnings of the cynicism and pop culture influences that would soon come to dominate the medium. "Love and Death", even more so than Take the Money and Run shows that peak-Woody was capable of crossing genre boundaries within comedy and playing as a master in them all. There's the slapstick of the Marx Brothers (Allen always lacked the dedication to emulate the theatrics of Keaton), the visual gags of Chaplin and the word play of Bob Hope.

Perhaps it's because he's permitted himself the indulgence of focusing his story around subject matter that fascinates him, but I can see why fans of "Funny Woody", do tend to vote this as his finest. Here we get to see him poking fun at his obsession with all things from Bergman to Dostoyevsky, an ability he would lose in latter-day Woody, as the dramas starting arriving on his filmography.

What is clear though, is how this film acts as a signal for Allen the filmmaker as opposed to Allen the comedian-who-happens-to-make-films. There's a confidence behind the camera, and an assuredness in the set-up of jokes that simply isn't there in Bananas. This is Woody as he disciplines himself, hones his craft. Although it is definitely one of the earlier, funnier ones; we undoubtedly would not have had Manhattan nor Hannah and her Sisters, without Allen learning whatever lessons he learnt here.

To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.

As Roger Ebert once lamented, reviewing comedies is incredibly difficult. It's hard to talk about what works in the film without simply attempting to retell jokes. Jokes that most-definitely only work on account of being set within the film. What I will note though, is just how amazing a comedic actress Diane Keaton is. She will, for good reason, be remembered more as the titular Annie Hall or possibly even as Kay in The Godfather. But one should consider taking eighty-five minutes out of their day just to see her performance alone. As Sonja, the object of Boris's unreturned affections, Keaton is a sheer delight, clearly relishing getting her teeth into a truly-great female, comedic character - still, all too rare a creation.


Will You be Watching it Again?
It definitely falls into the category of films that I may never actively stick on again, but will happily sit and watch if I notice they're on. That said, as my daughter approaches her early teens and I inevitably begin to attempt to indoctrinate her into liking the things I like, I can see me recommending this as we go through the Young Frankenstein, Life of Brian, Dr Strangelove phase - that and all the other Funny Woody films.


Has Any Light Been Shone on Some Heretofore Unknown Bit of Pop Culture?
Wheat. Wheat? Wheat! Wheat.