HUSBANDS AND WIVES A film review by Frank Maloney Copyright 1992 Frank Maloney
HUSBANDS AND WIVES is a film written and directed by Woody Allen. It stars Allen, Mia Farrow, Judy Davis, Sydney Pollack, Juliette Lewis, Liam Neeson, and Lysette Anderson. Cinematography by Carlo Di Palma. Rated R for subject matter, language, and scenes of simulated sex.
HUSBANDS AND WIVES is going to be the most widely seen and discussed film made to date by Woody Allen. Despite the aroma of scandal and lurid headlines that clings to the film, it is not only possible, but important, to view HUSBANDS AND WIVES as a film, not some weird and vaguely shocking extension of tabloid scandal-mongering. You and I have no real knowledge of the situation in the Allen's and Farrow's lives, the only thing we can know, the only thing we can judge, is the impressive achievement this film represents.
The writing and acting in this film are distinguished, inspired, and very moving. The camerawork is problematical. The writing is entirely accessible, unlike some of Allen's recent work (SHADOWS AND FOG springs to mind here) which seemed calculated to appeal to some specialized readers of "New Yorker" magazine and the smarmier film students among us. The writing is about the chilling and disorienting experience of growing old with someone else, about our dependence on others, about the importance of compromise in real life. It is also creative and inventive, moving us between a "conventional" dramatic movie and a talking-head documentary (a technique used in elsewhere). The documentary portions represent some of the best moments in the film, with the characters speaking into the camera words that always have two meanings to the audience. Of course, Allen has always been a leading purveyor of irony, but here in this film he rises to a new level of both irony and insight.
As for the acting, every one of the principals has gotten into the heart of the meaning of his or her character. Especially impressive is Judy Davis, who largely dominates the cast, although Mia Farrow rises to the occasion with the best work I've ever seen from her. Sydney Pollack, the director of OUT OF AFRICA, TOOTSIE, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY, and others, is comfortable and natural as Davis's estranged husband; Pollack is an occasional actor, and it will be a pleasure to see him again. Juliette Lewis, who was the best thing about POINT FEAR, is amazing and hilarious as the brilliant writing student in Allen's class. They share a scene in the back of a taxi (in which we never see, only hear, Allen) that is one of the high points of the film. Allen himself is quieter, more serious than is often the case. His own characterization as Gabe is complex and uncompromising in his willingness to stand up to the x-ray vision of his own filmmaking. Finally, I should mention Liam Neeson (THE MISSION), if only because he's got a sweet accent and an attractive face and figure; fortunately, he's also a capable actor whose character has a nice hint of the manipulative doofus you and I suspect all good looking, earnest, sensitive people to be and who gets instructively out-maneuvered and out-manipulated by someone even "nicer" than himself, all without ever catching on.
(By the way, Allen is still casting cameos, a la SHADOWS AND FOG. Look especially for Nora Ephron in a very funny party scene.)
Carlo Di Palma's hand-held camerawork will either drive to you to distraction or to delight. Fortunately, the jiggliest, most disorienting technique is confined to the opening scene, after which the camera largely settles down. Slightly upsetting, too, are the jump-cuts Allen throws in at random; jump-cuts look like a snippet of film is missing. The effect is interesting once or twice, but mostly I was not entirely sure that we were not looking at a damaged print. If it hadn't been opening night, I would have entertained the idea even more seriously. Some of you will see in these camera and editing techniques an homage, perhaps, to Cassavetes and Godard; others may bemoan the abandonment of Allen's former standard of visual elegance. As I say, sometimes it works, sometimes it's distracting. In either case, it is not the reason why this is one of Woody Allen's greatest movies ever.
And it is a great movie, brilliant, sparkling, insightful, moving and touching, thoughtful, challenging, and a whole lot more. You simply must go to HUSBANDS AND WIVES. Pay what you must. You will be amply rewarded. Fortunately, because of events entirely outside this film, it has opened much more widely than is usual for a Woody Allen. It will be very interesting to see if TriStar's calculated and possibly cynical marketing gamble pays off.
[Note on r.a.m.r. #1526: Due to my error, the movie I referred to as THE PANAMA CONNECTION should have been referred to as THE PANAMA DECEPTION. My apologies for the inconvenience. -Frank Maloney]
-- Frank Richard Aloysius Jude Maloney
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