Full disclosure: I am a Woody Allen devotee. I fell in love with the flippant cultural references and translucent emotional make-up of his classic drama-comedies, Annie Hall and Manhattan, while still a teenager trying to find my own place in the world. I learnt to love the silly screwball early comedies (Bananas, Sleeper), and earnestly absorbed his European art-house pretensions (the cripplingly self-aware Stardust Memories remains a favourite). I developed patience for magic tricks and the supernatural silliness of films like The Purple Rose Cairo.
And, along the way, I’ve also kept up with his erratic, but rarely unfulfilling, contemporary output. Because that’s the beautiful thing about being a Woody Allen fan; thanks to his militant work-rate – which typically sees Allen shoot a film every autumn, edit in winter, and premiere at Cannes in May ahead of a July release – the cup is always brimming over the edge with new work.
This year Allen celebrated 50 years in the director’s chair – a milestone sadly overshadowed by another round of personal controversy – with his 47th picture, Café Society. I’ve been itching to see it since reading early festival reviews some five months ago – and on October 13, a couple of months after its US release, the picture opened in the UAE. The last time I recall seeing an Allen picture released in the emirates was 2011’s Oscar-winner Midnight in Paris.
Maybe I missed one, but why Café Society? Perhaps it’s the film’s all-star cast, which includes Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell and Blake Lively, and is led winningly by Jesse Eisenberg. Lesser actors have built entire careers on impersonating Allen onscreen – see Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander – but in Eisenberg’s shuffling, skinny awkwardness, Allen may have found his most natural younger alter-ego yet.
Perhaps the release reflects a broadening of the UAE audience’s appreciation for cinema, with witty, dialogue-heavy, offbeat comedies finally earning a place alongside blockbuster thrillers and low-budget horrors. Or maybe it’s just a case of luck, the scheduling stars being aligned.
Either way, Café Society won’t run for long, and its release should be thoroughly celebrated. Having finally seen the picture, I’d be lying if I said it was quite worth the wait – let’s slot this one somewhere between a hit and a miss – but once bitten by the Woody bug, there’s no turning back. There is a strange comfort found in watching that trademark Windsor typeface burst onscreen, announcing the opening credits, accompanied by the liberal use of a smiling retro swing soundtrack.
So, at the age of 80, and celebrating 50 years in the director’s chair, here’s to many more whimsical Woody pictures – and, hopefully, many more UAE releases.
rgarratt@thenational.ae
