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| September
Year: 1987
Classification: Drama
Directed:
- Woody Allen
Actors/Actresses:
- Elaine Stritch
- Denholm Elliott
- Dianne Wiest
- Mia Farrow
Vermont on a soundstage
Woody Allen's 1987 drama was made in the middle of his Mia period and in spite of it's wet anguish, it's interesting to see what Farrow brought to his films, what he did for her and why his post-Mia films suffer without her. The role of the suicidal mousy hostess of the Vermont house where the film is set is clearly wrong for Diane Keaton, and Farrow's real life situation feeds the character - her love of the country, her showbiz mom. Pauline Kael has described her as "luminously thin-skinned" and "weightlessly beautiful with a preternatural glowing sweetness". Her emotional openness and the way she uses her hands demonstrate a delicacy that makes her Lane very moving. When she cries she gives Allen her all. The film recalls Allen's earlier Interiors but is better written. Allen has scaled down the cast to six, though Jack Warden and Denholm Elliott only hover, and reduced the plot to a series of intimate conversations with one or two group scenes. Being Allen he can't help but throw in jokes. I like how Farrow calls her mother played by Elaine Stritch a "human dynamo" and Stritch in return tells Farrow she dresses like a "Polish refugee", and a blackout scene gets laughs when someone declares their "hand is in the gaucomole". He has the rooms of the house full of closed shutters to keep nature out and to conceal the fact that he has shot on a soundstage. He also continues his experiments with framing by having a character talk to someone out of shot, and gives the actors plenty of room to move. Stritch has a wonderful monologue to a mirror and Dianne Wiest acts one decision about the droopy Sam Waterston with her back. Allen had cast Sam Shepard in the Waterstone role but then fired him when he began improvising about the West. Wiest may overdo the hand to the forehead gesture but she works well with Farrow. Interiors was a radical change of pace after Annie Hall and Woody's comedy fans hated it, a situation he used for Stardust Memories. September is in the same Bergman-ish vein and, since I love Bergman and found Interiors very funny, I don't find this film such a chore.
One of Woody's Best
Probably not everyone would agree with me on this, but I think this is one of Woody Allen's top 5 movies, and pretty close to the top 1 or 2. It is just as good as "Another Woman" (which is often considered his "best" drama) and all of the performances are captivating throughout the film. The pacing of "September" is excellent-83 minutes is the perfect length for the story, and it is not overly drawn out nor does it move too quickly. If you don't know this film, be warned that it is not a comedy, but a drama-on par with Bergman-although Elaine Stritch does have some pretty funny lines...This is definitely one to check out (and since the DVD is so reasonably priced, you should just buy it). By the way, the DVD transfer is much cleaner than any VHS copy I have seen, so the cinematography can be appreciated even more.
Underrated and excellent play
Richard T. Jameson, who has the dubious distinction of writing the "official" editorial statement about this Allen masterpiece, does not know what he is talking about. As often happens here on Amazon, many of the customer reviews are far more knowledgeable and discerning that the conventional mainstream critic's assessments.
This is a finely written, highly dramatic play transfered flawlessly to film by a master cinematographer and is immensely superior to "Interiors" which is heavily influenced by, if not actually ripped off from, Ingmar Bergman. Here, the influence is subsumed into Allen's style and milieu, and he gets tremendous performances from the cast, especially Mia Farrow who despite the later troubles with Allen gave him a heartbreaking rendition of the fragile, wounded character of "Lane" who is brought to a state of desperation in the climax of the story, which is a spellbinding example of pure dramatic storytelling.
Buy September at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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