Love and Death (1975)
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Review #1,263 |
THE SCOOP
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Georges Adet
Plot: In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.
Genre: Comedy / War / Romance
Awards: Won UNICRIT Award (Berlin).
Runtime: 85min
Rating: PG for some mature themes.
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: MILD)
“If they kill more
Russians, they win. If we kill more
Frenchmen, we win.”
Before he reached his career's first
zenith with the Best Picture and Best Director Oscar winner Annie Hall (1977), Woody Allen made what
was till that point in time his most mature work – Love and Death, its title a play on such great Russian literature
as War and Peace, and Crime and Punishment, many of which
served as inspiration for the film.
In a change of artistic direction
from a more banal, slapstick comedy that characterized such early films as Bananas (1971) and Sleeper (1973), Love and
Death remains to be the writer-director's first stab at creating a
substantial piece of work that is both dramatic and comedic at the same time, a
precursor to the likes of Annie Hall
and Manhattan (1979).
The setting is the Soviet Union
(though shot in Hungary and France) during the time of Napoleon. Allen plays a meek if neurotic man who has a
long-standing crush on a distant cousin (played by Diane Keaton), who doesn't show the
slightest interest in him. He is then
forced to join the army to fight the French at the frontlines.
From one comical situation to
another, Love and Death then becomes
a plot to assassinate Napoleon. Allen
continues his love affair with intellectual verbose, matched by moments of
sheer hilarity (or absurdity) that comes out of talking about such sober issues
as marriage, war, murder and death with a straight face amid life-and-death
circumstances.
The climax where Allen’s character
tries to assassinate Napoleon is one of the most farcical final acts that the
filmmaker has conceived in his filmography – full of mishaps, lack of
self-confidence, and mistimed reasoning over the ethics of murder.
Love and Death is
not just a homage to the historic works of Russian literature, but also that of
Ingmar Bergman, a filmmaker whose films have greatly inspired Allen. Here, he recreates moments from Persona (1966) and The Seventh Seal (1957) to interesting effect. As we look back at the career of one of
America's greatest living directors, Love
and Death doesn't quite stick out prominently, but it is an utterly
enjoyable romp.
Verdict: Woody Allen’s most mature film at that point
is also a very funny look at sober issues through a distinctively comical
lens.
GRADE: A-
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