was just wondering if this movie is a true story of woody allens childhood or just loosely based on or made up
shareI think it's loosely based, but it's still a pretty good movie, at least I think so.
Take care and have a better one :-).
Well, if you watch any of Woody's film you will figure out that ALL of them are mostly directly or indirectly realted to his real life experiences and follies. So basically they are true stories because even true stories are never exactly unbiased or factual.
Well, I suppose some of Allen's characters have some basis in real people. Many writers use that device.
It's a bit of stretch, however, to say that movies like Bananas, Sleeper or, Zielig based on true stories.
It has got things of his real life, for example his father, who is a taxi driver.
And I imagine that the story of the girl who dies might be also true. It is the only part that doesn´t fit to me in the movie. I mean it shows the radio as a drama story-teller as well but...it was somehow weird in a comedy.
I thought it was important to establish the tender side of his father, and the guilt that he feels for beating his son over something silly, like damaging a coat, when somewhere, another father will never hold his child again. Everything that went unsaid in that scene, in the parents' eyes, touched me so deeply.
shareIn the book "Woody allen on Woody Allen" he mentions that the story of the girl who died in a well was a true story. Several of the stories are fiction, though.
shareThis film is an autobiographical account of Woody's younger years, growing up in a large family, all under one roof. From the late 30s until the mid 40's, this was his life. This is a true story..and the little girl dying in the well...that was true as well. The other stories are true, but have been embellished.
Diane Keaton appears briefly in the end on New Year's Eve at the nightclub, singing "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To".
Funny movie!!
"Madness takes it's toll. Please have exact change."
Also, the tragic story of the girl trapped in the well showed how the medium of radio brought people together in a shared listening experience as it entered the nation's living rooms. Many houses became one large home.
"Howdy, Bub"
[deleted]
That, and the fact World War Two was ongoing - as seen earlier in the film, the family listens to the radio but is constantly channel surfing to get away from more horrifying news about the war. In the midst of all that, a story about a little girl trapped in a well reminds people about what it's like to feel genuine remorse for human beings again - they can't relate to the undescribable horrors of the war, but they embrace something so simple to feel some grief they can all relate to.
share