Shot in beautiful widescreen black and white, the visuals are simply excellent. I don't have the technical terms or knowhow to describe it. I'll just say that I found the cinematography consistently excellent, with some truly outstanding scenes (Isaac and Mary at the planetarium springs immediately to mind). Combined with the (to my ears) somewhat old-fashioned score, a very dreamy Manhattan is evoked as a backdrop and medium for these people struggling with their relationships.
Woody Allen plays Isaac, the nervous, vaguely immature, relentlessly articulate, twice-divorced lead, and is paired this time with stunning, 17-year-old Tracy (played by a subtle, fragile Mariel Hemingway) who is too precocious for her own good. Three more characters complete the main cast, Yale, Isaac's friend who professes to being happily married to and in love with Emily, but is having an affair with Mary, another beautiful woman too intelligent (cerebral, in fact) for her own good. Meryl Streep plays Isaac's now-homosexual ex-wife who writes a book about their separation.
Character development and interaction in this movie is wonderful and very convincing. These are flawed characters (though Tracy's only flaw might be her youth) who don't quite know how to, or don't have the emotional courage to deal with their relationships. The relationship between Tracy and Isaac, in particular, was pulled off without any big hitches, despite how awkward it might sound in concept (I mean, a 42-year-old and a 17-year-old? Come on!). It helped, of course, that the actors gave good performances.
The dialogue, of course, was pitch-perfect, as was the pacing (of the shifts between romance and comedy, for example). I feel envious and almost inadequate, seeing these bright, clever people interacting with one another! For all their intelligence, though, they still make mistakes in love, like the rest of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment