SnoopyStyle
Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) is facing execution as he recounts his story. In Czarist Russia, Boris is in love with his intellectual cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton). She is jilted by Boris' handsome brother Ivan and marries a rich herring merchant instead. Despite being a coward, Boris is drafted to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. Sonja becomes a widow. Ivan is killed in the war but Boris becomes an accidental hero. The two reunite to marry and try to save the world by assassinating Napoleon.This is a parody of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy novels in a spoof. As such, this may not be to everyone's taste. One has to have a wide-ranging literary and art film knowledge to appreciate a lot of the jokes. Diane Keaton does get to do more in this one. She has some darker sides and is almost equal to Woody. The literary crowd may have some laughs although they may be too stuffy to relax about the skewering.
rawkmonster
You can almost imagine the room as Woody Allen sits down with the outline that his follow-up to 'Sleeper' is going to be a satire of 19th-century Russian literature with nods to Bergman and Eisenstein, featuring direct quotes from little-known Russian philosophers and the music of Prokofiev."But... you're still going to wear the funny glasses and be making jokes about New York restaurants, right?" "Well, yes, naturally..." Love and Death is certainly not as obviously funny as Sleeper was. There are still many slapstick moments but they are less drawn out and the film as a whole seems to rattle by at great pace. The chances are you're going to watch it and, like me, think 'well, that was... unusual', then spend some time researching it to discover exactly what it was that you just watched. And then you'll watch it again. And then again. The more of the background references you start to fill in, the more Love and Death rewards you. Some is parody, some more like tribute. Scenes are recreated from Battleship Potemkin and Persona, music is lifted from Alexander Nevsky and the grim reaper makes an appearance after The Seventh Seal (but before Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey put the finishing touch on that joke). Pieces of classic Russian novels come into play directly (The Brothers Karamazov, War & Peace). The jokes run deeper still. Sergei Prokofiev is credited with music under S. Prokofiev to match Russian credit sequences. Woody and his father exchange dialogue which has been constructed entirely from Dostoyevsky titles. The level of immersion is incredible and complete... you could almost describe the film as a serious comedy. Allen even reprises himself; just as Diane Keaton sings the rebel song from 'Bananas' during 'Sleeper', we have throwbacks to the 'Bananas' dream sequence both in Woody being hoisted on a cross for a quick one-liner and in the dream of the coffins.Much of the comic interplay between Allen and Keaton carries through from 'Sleeper'; the scene of the pair posing at the door as Don Francisco and his sister recalls the operating theatre, but here they are taking on more weighty characters which allow the very genuine acting talents of both to emerge. Many of the set-pieces require precise timing, delivery and expression, and it is always delivered. Allen is a ball of nervous energy, but more focused than before. Keaton is freed from the idiot chains and plays the whole comic spectrum - her earnest deadpan delivery of parodies of the dense Russian prose are especially memorable. Supporting actors produce comedy gold too, whether it's James Tolkan's concerns about the British development of beef Wellington, Father Nikolai's sketches of Russian Jews, the soldier with the 'lock' of his wife's hair ("Careful, don't drop it"). In its rich tapestry of characters it almost becomes that which it parodies.Much of Love and Death was filmed in Budapest, other parts in Paris. Woody Allen is synonymous with New York, and this filming trip would be his last away from the Big Apple for more than 20 years. While in Budapest (which was occupied by the Red Army), he refused to drink the water and brought all of his own food and water, which enabled him to keep his feet when everyone else was stricken with dysentery. The weather continually worked against the shooting schedule, one of the actors had both legs broken in an accident, some negatives were destroyed and scenes had to be re-filmed. Many of the actors didn't speak English, which was necessary for much of the early humour; we have a whole family who are very eastern European in appearance and manner, and we have Woody as his anachronistic self.The danger in talking about this film for any length of time is that you will end up just listing off great scenes and jokes. Sleeper, as great as it is, was a slapstick comedy that occasionally had to be filled out to fill a feature-length slot. Here, we feel like everything has been condensed in order to squeeze down to a feature length, and that every joke, every sight gag, every parody is like the best selection from a larger selection; a greatest hits parade. Go, enjoy, and enjoy again - you won't be sorry you did.
LeonLouisRicci
Love and Death. The two title words announces the often muses of Sir Woody and this Movie is of two minds. The Intellectual, Philosophical head banging that are always amusing coming from the befuddled bean and prolific pondering of the Writer/Director/Star and the slapstick shtick that the bumbling Auteur so loved. This is as much Marx Brothers and Bob Hope as Tolstoy, Dovetsky, and Bergman. Woody has read War and Peace and is still angry for putting himself through it. But this spoof layers it on so thick that it is a juicy joy to behold. It is deliriously deep as well as silly and ridiculous. It is more fun than it ought to be considering that most of the literary references will go unnoticed. It is a hilariously profound and prickly Picture. The Genius here is that there literally is no time to contemplate the contemplations.An overlooked aspect of the Film is just how good it looks. Woody Allen is never mentioned as a great Director of Cinematography because, frankly, it matters little in most of his work. But here it is quite impressive. It has a visual style worthy of the best stylist. Just another feather in the cap that rests on the head of the most heady Comedic Filmmaker of his Generation.
mother-war
An underrated masterpiece. An apotheosis to Ingmar Bergman. Funny and intellectual at the same time ( which is something completely normal to every Woody Allen movie, but this one is maybe one of my favorite, followed by Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris and Bullets over Broadway ).I myself am Bulgarian and have always found the Russian culture extraordinary and extremely sophisticated. The parody with all the greatest Russian authors came to me as a best surprise.Some eternal questions ( mostly about love and death. But there were some about love, too ) contribute to become this film an amazing piece of art.10/10.
