Woody Allen is 83 years old this year.Those who like him can smile just by watching his characters talking in front of the camera: those terms about literature, art and music keep flashing through the protagonist’s rapid speech, and the protagonist is always more or less talented, pretentious, a little eccentric, a little clever and a little lewd, watching him in the film mean-spirited satire of high society, satire of vanity, satire of pretentiousness, and also a satire of the literary (and also in the language that only the literary (but also in a language that only the literati can understand!) The film is a great example of how to get into the wonderful world of Woody Allen, while secretly laughing at it.
When you think Woody Allen is too old to have new stems, his films have become annual fun films without too much surprise, but unexpectedly he suddenly presented a “rainy day in New York”, or far beyond the expected romantic killers. The reason why I am looking forward to this movie is not only that it is a Woody Allen movie! The main character, Timothée Chalamet (nicknamed “Sweet Tea” by his fans in the Chinese language), was unforgettable in “Call Me by Your Name”. To be honest, it’s too sweet too cute for Sweet Tea to play Woody Allen’s leading man – it’s Woody Allen himself who is most vividly portrayed in “Manhattan” as a smug and somewhat inferior male, full of smarts, vulnerability and petty creepiness. In his old age, the male characters were all chosen to play in his likeness (Jesse Eisenberg in “Café Commune” is very much in line with this chattering temperament), “winning by talent and sense of humor”, which is good and funny. Sweet tea in the film has shrunken neck and shoulders frown as much as possible to play the image of poor, but their own conditions are too good so that 360 degrees without dead angle, even the audience can not bear to see him unlucky injury, but also a special kind of cute. The good thing is that his persona is slightly eccentric but full of charm: a rich son, a folk gambler, immersed in an excellent cultural environment growing up, full of poetry and songs but tired of the falsehoods of school and high society, trying to create and find the retro romance that does not belong to this era, a song to change the distorted words to complain about how unlucky they are “Everything happens to me” is also played and sung by him to be fresh and unpretentious. The song “Everything happens to me” was also played and sung by him in a fresh and elegant way. The rich boy is in love with the school newspaper’s silly white girl, who seems to be very ideal and naive, but cannot resist the temptation of the flashy circle, and does not understand the fun under the boyfriend’s weird ideas. On a rainy day in New York, the two who should have been dating together each have a different encounter. On one side, the school newspaper girl is nervous, rubbing her hands, shy and smiling, and the other side, the guy is hanging around, avoiding, understanding and reconciling. The intense dramatic tension generated in a short period of time also makes the film interesting to watch.
Because past films have always been filled with extramarital affairs, misadventures and selfish calculations, I have always thought of Woody Allen as someone who aspires to romance but mocks it – romance may happen for a moment, but human nature will always triumph over romance. In recent years, his most memorable “Café Commune”, the end of the two of them in the noisy environment in the “Manhattan” music in the space of missing the image, I thought it has been the pinnacle, I did not expect Woody Allen is also willing to present in the film like an idol ending Happy Ending: can understand your jokes, can understand your fantasy of the person, in what you think the magical moment miraculously appeared In front of the eyes, this is the superstition of timing and location, but also the kind of tacit love that can pierce the heart the most. Frankly, although I personally like this ending, but think back to 40 years ago “Manhattan” (just recently released the 40th anniversary re-release), Woody Allen in the middle of a completely different concept: no matter in the eyes of the audience, the hero and heroine again tacit understanding of the pair are good, there may be a variety of reasons to drive two people to become a couple, complementary personalities, unwillingness, selfishness … … these factors in many cases. …these factors are in many cases beyond love. There are only a few moments that can be remembered, and the poster of the two of them talking all night under the bridge in the rain is one of them. Regret? Yes. But to measure oneself clearly and then make a decision in the moment to avoid harm is the most unromantic of human speculation.
What made Woody Allen finally decide to give up conspiracy theories and the usual regrets in this new film we do not know, I only know that finally in the flow of jazz music and retro images to witness the birth of a miracle, is the most happy thing this year.