I was thinking of Altman’s peers (at least those guys who
had their own vision) and I thought of Woody.
I’m probably more of a Woody Allen person than a Robert Altman person,
so I thought it was important to also see what was going on around Bob at the
time. And Woody is the only other person
who has such a varied body of work.
Woody has directed more films and he has his own demons and quirks. But I thought I’d watch this
documentary. Of course, it’s about three
and a half hours in total. So I’m in it
for the long haul. I’m rewatching it, so
I might skip around. So following will
be my play by play.
Annie Hall
Probably one of my favorite movies ever. And it happens to be streaming on HBO Go
right now, so I might go back and watch it again just because it is so
enjoyable and is such a touchstone for me on so many levels. One of them being that my best friend’s
mother gave me a book on Woody Allen with famous lines from his films probably
when I was either in high school or in college.
It shaped me tremendously. But
watching the section on Annie Hall in
this documentary reminded me what a departure this was for him. Larry David describes this great buzz
happening in New York at the time that the movie came out. Woody was such an icon in the city even at
that point that for him to make a film that is such a love letter to his city
and to his relationship with Diane Keaton was impactful. It really is that moment that Woody Allen
became “Woody Allen.” Sure, he was amazing
before and gifted and talented and everyone knew it. But now the legend begins. A maturity creeps into his work where he
finally accepts all of the great things he had suggested at before. It was clear he was a well-read guy and a
smart guy, but he cushioned that in with laughs so that you didn’t notice
it. But with an emotionally affecting
story and such a personal one, there was no hiding. It reminds me of other turning points in
music. I’m thinking of Michael Jackson’s
Off the Wall. He had this whole career with his brothers
and now he was stepping out on his own.
We think of Thriller being the
breakthrough. But Off the Wall was the first step and acknowledgement of what he
had. The same can be said of one of my
favorite pop albums ever, which is Like a
Prayer. You had Madonna, Like a Virgin and True
Blue before it. All successful. All incredibly capable and danceable. But when you added depth to everything she
knew how to do, you had a masterpiece.
With Woody, you had Take the Money
and Run, Bananas, Sleeper, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex…, and Love and Death. But until Annie
Hall he was just funny and clever.
Now he added the personal and it took on something far greater. He had to build the strength in order to
start throwing boulders around.
The other thing about
Annie Hall was that he didn’t
know what he had. He had to trust
himself and once he trusted himself, this wonderful masterpiece came out of
him. And everything followed. It came forth with such precision and
velocity because it had been waiting to come out. It was long over due. The same can be said of Off the Wall and Like a
Prayer. When I think of songs like
“Rock with You” and “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” are so confident and rooted
in something so deep and personal. And
total barn burners when it comes to dancing and attitude. I can’t think of my life without songs like
“Express Yourself”, “Keep It Together”, “Promise to Try” and “Like a
Prayer.” They sacrifice none of the
enjoyment to bring depth and emotion.
And the same is said for Annie
Hall. It was loaded with jokes and fun moments, but it was mature. It was an adult making a film about adult
things. He had put the teenager to bed.
Manhattan
An instinct he had was to make Manhattan look different than Annie
Hall. How to do this? Shoot it in black and white. There’s something about consciously saying,
“Here is what I do. How do I make it
different? How do I keep it still
interesting to me?” In researching Bob,
so much of what I’m hearing is about his visual style. Even in the dictates for this commission, it
is about duplicating or mimicking or translating the visual style of Bob’s work
to the stage. How does one do that?
Along with shooting the film in widescreen to give a
grandness to the beauty of the black and white images—those incredibly romantic
images—Woody also used music to great effect.
A lot has been said in Bob’s films about the choice of music. Either “Suicide is Painless” from M*A*S*H or the use of Leonard Cohen’s
music in McCabe and Mrs. Miller or
using John William’s “It’s a Long Goodbye” in different ways as background
music. Even just the songs in Nashville, become such a part of the
fabric of that film. Another character,
even. So in Manhattan, to have those Gershwin songs that give a sense of
nostalgia and a longing for a certain era, in a way created a mythology of the
city that has never left. It’s
phenomenal.
So it has me thinking about how I want to use music in my
play.
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