Shadows and Fog
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Movie Reviews of Shadows and Fog
Movie Review: Massively Underrated
Summary: 5 Stars
Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" has been called a "misfire" and is, in a sense, a forgotten film by Allen. It's hardly mentioned in conversations about his work. I consider myself a pretty big fan of Woody Allen, but the only reason I rented the movie was because John Malkovich was in it. Turns out, this is one of my favorite Woody Allen movies (I've seen 13). It's funny, well acted, has a huge array of stars, has perfect black & white cinematography, and is a pretty damn good movie. Allen plays Max Kleinman, a man who has fallen into a deep sleep only to be rudely awakened by his neighbors. They want his help in finding a serial strangler and Max, apparently, has a part in helping find him. Problem is, Max doesn't know what his part in it is. As Max walks around the gloomy, foggy area fearing the strangler will strike he encounters a bunch of quirky characters. One is Irmy (Mia Farrow), a circus sword-swallower who has ran away after catching her lover, Clown (Malkovich) cheating on her (with Madonna, no less). Before Max and Irmy actually run into each other, Irmy runs into a brothel that is occupied by such familiar faces as Jodie Foster, Lily Tomlin, and Kathy Bates. After she makes $700 for a one-night stand with John Cusack, she finally runs into Max. The movie's got a huge cast, with some actors' only turning up for a few moments. Some of the players include William H. Macy, Donald Pleasence, John C. Reilly, and many others. The movie has a gloomy, shadowy, and foggy (fitting, I guess) atmosphere which might be paying homage to early film-noir movies. The movie, like many Allen films, is fueled almost entire by dialogue and all of it's good and almost all of it's interesting. There are a few quotable lines in here. Since I've noticed most fans of Allen's don't like this film, I'll give you a general idea of what my taste in Allen is like. My favorite Allen movie is Annie Hall, my second favorite is Crimes & Misdemeanors, and my least favorite is Melinda & Melinda. All the performances (even though most of them are very brief) are good. Malkovich, as usual, steals most of his scenes and seems very comfortable reciting Allen's dialogue. Shadows and Fog is a great movie, for Woody Allen and just as a movie.
GRADE: A
Movie Review: One of the Best
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a Woody Allen fan since a Lecturer introduced me to his movies while I was at College, and I would have to say this was one of the best I've seen (and I've seen most of them).This film is not the laugh riot that some of his other films are, the wit in this movie is more the sort of humor that would raise a big smile that a loud belly laugh, I feel this is because it has more story than your average Woody Allen comedy.
Woody spends most of his time wandering around this wonderfully photographed city with Mia Farrow looking for the much famed strangler, who gerots his victems with piano wire. Theres no big [cruddy] 'Scream' style twist at the end where the killer turns the main actors brother whos out seaking revenge for an unhappy childhood - in fact they dont even catch the killer, I know i've just blowen the ending but there is much more to it than catching a killer.
Over all its an amusingly witty film with some great actors in it and some brilliant photography which by some gross misjustice didn't get an oscar.
Movie Review: Usually misunderstood, this film is one of Allen's best!
Summary: 5 Stars
This film IS enjoyable: great actors, funny lines, and perfect atmosphere. Many of those who don't enjoy it say it is confusing, but the film can be easily understood as an allegory for the search for meaning (existentialism). A strangler-at-random serves as the representative of death, while the hapless characters try to figure out their lives and stay out of the strangler's way at the same time. You get to see all the "solutions" to the problem of life and death played out: sex, artistry, religion, science, childbearing, mob thinking, they're all there. As a perfect foil to all of these perspectives Allen plays a snivelling "everyman" with comic brilliance. If you really want to enjoy this movie, read the pulitzer prize- winning book, The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker (the same book Diane Keaton threw at Woody in Annie Hall!). If The Denial of Death is cake, Shadows and Fog is the frosting.
Movie Review: A real surprise.
Summary: 5 Stars
SHADOWS AND FOG is one of my favourite Woody Allen films. Although the reviews here are very positive that's not what I've read elsewhere, so it wasn't really a film that I was obsessed with tracking down, but I saw it at my local video store and gave it a go. The first thing I found is that it's much funnier than I expected, one of Allen's funniest in my opinion. The humour in the film is something that isn't even mentioned in a lot of the reviews I've read elsewhere. Also, the atmosphere is perfect and the sets are amazing. Talk about a movie living up to it's title. The music is also very effective, not just the standard old jazz/pop tunes he seems to use in every single film he makes. It also has one of the best cast's he's ever assembled and everyone performs well, except for maybe Malkovich who seems a bit awkard.It may have been passed over by some critics, but SHADOWS AND FOG is a must see.
Movie Review: Shadows and Fog
Summary: 5 Stars
Just for the record -- Shadows and Fog is NOT Kafkaesque, sorry Mr. Maltin. It's Brechtian. And only as such does it make sense, both as parody and tribute. Unlike Brecht, Kafka was not a playwright -- so it's no surprise that viewers trying to appreciate Shadows and Fog using the wrong frame of reference were left in the fog. Shadows and Fog isn't meant for the masses; Allen doesn't include billboard-size cue cards for folks who can't understand the references -- the film is for a (theatrically) literate audience that already knows the works of Brecht and Wedekind and Kafka (and knows the difference).