![]() ![]() Like many Allen tales, 'Stardust Memories' features a protagonist (dare I say alter-ego?) who desperately searches for meaning in a chaotic society. Though as a child he wowed relatives and friends with his magic tricks, Sandy, hard as he tries, can't magically transform his life or films. (It is rumored Dorrie is based on Allen's ex-wife, Louise Lasser, who enjoys a hilarious turn as Sandy's private secretary in the film.) All these women act as muses through whom Sandy hopes to find solace, contentment, and artistic salvation.if he doesn't succumb to a nervous breakdown first. And yet he still can't shake the memory of his passionate affair with the bewitching Dorrie (Charlotte Rampling), a beautiful, neurotic actress who suffers from bipolar disorder. He also juggles the attentions of two distinctly different women - Daisy (Jessica Harper), a young intellectual with high-minded ideals, and Isobel (Marie-Christine Barrault), a free-spirited, earthy Frenchwoman with two young children who might offer Sandy the stability he craves. While on this journey, he reluctantly attends a retrospective of his work, where he tries to evade swarms of parasitic vultures who seek his time, money, and endorsements, and must interact with dozens of gushing fans who ask vacuous questions and, much to his chagrin, ceaselessly extol the virtues of his "early, funny" films. But he can't argue with their deadpan, bottom-line response: "Human suffering doesn't sell tickets in Kansas City." So Sandy sets out to find an ending that will satisfy his mainstream critics and fans without betraying his personal vision. "I look around the world and all I see is human suffering," Sandy tells them. Dissatisfied with the gravity of his latest production, movie executives order a disgusted and exasperated Bates to devise a new ending for his newest film. As Allen boldly bombards us with a barrage of dazzling, incongruent images, it seems as if style will trump substance, yet upon closer examination, the disjointed pieces fall into place and the film's purpose and construction become brilliantly clear. ![]() Like a Fellini film, 'Stardust Memories' often seems disorganized and disjointed eccentrics and caricatures often dominate the frame (the collection of striking, unique faces Allen assembles and showcases is staggering) and we never know quite where the movie is going. Whereas 'Interiors' blatantly salutes (okay, copies) the tone and style of Allen's idol, Ingmar Bergman, 'Stardust Memories' takes a 180-degree turn to honor Italian director Federico Fellini and his self-reflexive masterpiece '8-1/2.' Allen adopts an avant-garde attitude as he lampoons the crazy culture of celebrity, pseudo-intellectual interpretation of art, frantic search for meaning in an out-of-control world, and insufferable narcissism that energizes and ruins so many artists. And with the insight, humor, and artistry that have made him one of America's finest cinematic craftsmen, he explores this personal nugget and transforms it into something very special indeed. The story of a beloved comedic director at an artistic crossroads who feels compelled to make movies with deeper messages and lasting resonance - despite critical, popular, and corporate resistance - screams Woody Allen in 1980. Though Allen denies the autobiographical connections between himself and Sandy Bates, it's tough not to believe 'Stardust Memories' is a reflection of Allen's conflicted state of mind at the time. Who did Allen think he was, writing and directing such a pretentious, enigmatic, and depressing film? For a sizable group of disgruntled fans, Allen couldn't return fast enough to the zany milieu where he first struck comic gold.Īllen's films - even his farces - always examine multiple facets of the human condition, so the polarized reactions to 'Interiors' puzzled and frustrated him. Though many praised the departure, as well as the depth and maturity that defined 'Interiors,' an equal number of Allen devotees felt betrayed. After a string of highly successful and goofy comedies that culminated with the Oscar-winning 'Annie Hall,' Allen took an unexpected detour into drama, and the controversial decision divided audiences and critics alike. So says acclaimed director Sandy Bates (Woody Allen), who just might be echoing a pronouncement the man who created him might have made at the time he produced the intensely serious 'Interiors' in 1978. "I don't want to make funny movies anymore." ![]()
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