George Benlian on movies, books and few other things

Woody Allen - the nomad director

After several movies shot in England, the quintessential Manhattan director has selected Spain as the location for his new movie called "Vicky Christina Barcelona"; a strange title lacking of a meaning.

I am a Woody Allen fan. I have seen all his movies and i do have some favourites and some less favourites. This one is rather part of the later category. It is good fun to watch it but has lack of substance and fails to make a point. The voiceover is unnecessary as majority of the text said by the unknown narrator (at least Allen could have done the voiceover himself)could have given better result visually.

Woody Allen has taken an easy path with this film. Some unexpected scenes are welcomed however in general we are not taken by surprise; a quality present in his previous movies shot in England. The casting of Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall as the two best friends works. Javier Bardem seems at the beginning playing in a soap but as the story progresses his charater ameliorates and as for Penelope Cruse, she is funny and even bit touching as the ex of Bardem.

Over all, this sexy exotic Woody Allen's thirty ninth movie in thirty nine years of an impressive career as a film maker is worth a look.

Is Woody Allen following Alfred Hitchcock's steps?

"Match point" released in 2005 provoked a surprise effect on Woody Allen fans because of the its style that was extremely different from his previous movies. At seventy years of age, Woody Allen experimented something new; the making of a suspense thriller setting in England. A year later, "Scoop" in which Allen also played was again filmed in England. The trend continued with another movie "Cassandra's Dream" keeping the genre of suspense thriller intact and filming it once again in England. This is an important factor to note as Woody Allen is known as the quintessential New York filmmaker making Manhattan the centre of all his action.

"Cassandra's Dream" didn't get theatrical release in Australia. It is a shame because Woody Allen is one of the best working directors in the World. So i watched it on DVD. The good news is his next movie will be released in the cinema end of next month. Definitely a movie not to be missed!

Two brothers need money badly. The rich American uncle could be their saviour at one condition; in order to gain financial comfort, the brothers have to cross the line by killing a man who knows too much about the uncle's affairs. 

Two brothers despite being very close to each other will have different priorities from one another. If one is looking forward to the "brighter" future, the other is going backward feeling remorse and being disgusted by their act. The end cannot be revealed for obvious reasons

So to answer the question on the title, Woody Allen is enjoying lately making thrillers that are far away from his other movies. He has made other crime movies in his impressive career but they were treated as black comedy. "Match point" and "Cassandra dream" confirm in an affirmative way that Woody Allen is following the steps of the great master of suspense, Sir Alfred Hitchcock.