Too 'Bergman-esque'?

I think the traces of Bergman actually enhanced the film without taking anything away from it. There were too many moments that were pure Woody (the cocktail party anecdote about being caught "in the act," the scenes of Marian eavesdropping on a therapy session) for this to come across as a total rip-off to me.

By the way, I'm curious to know if you are a PT Anderson fan or if you think he's too overbearing with the techniques he borrows from Altman. And I'm REALLY curious to know what you thought of "Interiors."

For Connie n Raymond Marble, it was the beginning of the end!

Allen has said that Bergman is the greatest living filmmaker (i agree) and situates many of his films in Bergman's style. He even used Bergman's favorite DP for Manhattan (Sven Nyvist). He discusses Bergman in Annie Hall and Manhattan, and probably more, though I can't remember at the moment. Anyway, I don't think its possible to be TOO Bergmanesque. But reminiscent of Bergman? yes. Good luck with Interiors!

"Ah, ya's fancy pants, alla ya's"
"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

i agree. if woody allen had made any attempt to achieve bergman-esque stature, this is it. first, he uses a talented, yet independently famous. he finds roles for such celebrated indie actors as sandy dennis, david ogden stiers, ian holm, martha plimpton and john houseman. second, he uses bergman cinematographer sven nykvist and creates a bleak and saturated vision of new york. third, although this film is under the genre of comedy, the plot and the flashbacks are done in a dramatic bergman-esque style. most noticeably, this is relative to WILD STRAWBERRIES, by using memories to uncover the reasons for a person's nature. this was by far one of his better movies, a huge step up then from the ignored, but still great, SEPTEMBER, but the lines between homage and imitation become blurred.

I just watched this film, and though it was Bergman-esque, it was nothing on Interiors. In this film i felt it was subtle and was only 'too' Bergman-esque at times, and for the most part worked comfortably in the film. Interiors though, was painful to watch, i.e. the scene where Diane Keaton sits down with her husband and talks about the sensation of the world being predatory, just too close for comfort for me!



"Someone has to die Leonard, in order that the rest of us should value life more."

I just saw it & loved it.

I read in Wikipedia that Woody had been partially inspired for this by WILD STRAWBERRIES in terms of the character who doesn't know his loved ones loathed him. While watching ANOTHER WOMAN, I couldn't help but be reminded of Ingmar's AUTUMN SONATA where the mother (played by the excellent Ingrid Bergman) finds herself confronted by the wrath of daughter Liv Ullmann being neglected for her mother's music career.
There's that section of Woody's film about how the Rowland's character refused to have her older professor-lover's baby. I sympathized with her (why should she jeopardize her intellectual journey/career - which he achieved- to bore him a baby) and also thought she was sincere about the rest of the things she had been "resented" for. If you check the message boards for AUTUMN SONATA, there's a very interesting discussion with someone (female) who hated that film for being patriarchal, etc.
Do you think Woody was inferring that the Rowland's character should have followed that route (having a baby) to be truly "happy"? I'd like to know what your opinions are & also recommend AUTUMN SONATA. But no matter what, I loved Woody's film & its performances.