Year: 1975
Director: Woody Allen
Country: US
Language: English
Woody Allen once joked: "I took a speed reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia". He must have picked up something else however, as Love and Death is considered a great spoof on the works of even greater Russian authors like Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Filming the picture would prove much harder than speed reading War and Peace; when they needed good weather, it would rain. When they needed rainy weather, the sun would shine. Allen claimed that the production was chaos due to the cast and crew being of a varying degree of languages, it also didn't help that all except Allen suffered from dysentery during the making of the picture.
In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier (Woody Allen) and his distant cousin (Diane Keaton) formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon (James Tolkan)
"All men live under a sentence of death. They all go sooner or later. But I'm different. I have to go at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. It would have been 5, but I had a good lawyer"
The quotation that begins the film serves as a bridge between comedy and tragedy. Allen has perfected this curious blend over time; creating films that will bring you to tears while simultaneously bringing in fits of laughter. Love and Death is particularly hilarious because it places the typical Allen character (neurotic, incompetent, cowardly, horny) and puts him as a "pacifist" soldier in 19th Century Russia. His comedy comes from not only language, but slapstick reminiscent of the silent era. In one scene, Allen decides he needs a break from the battlefield, so he hides inside a cannon. The cannon goes off and sends our "hero" flying, inadvertently killing four generals upon landing and making himself a hero.
Allen's onscreen persona, while very neurotic, is very easy to relate to. He's sweet, he wants to do the right thing and he represents the possibility that simplicity still can prevail in the world. Diane Keaton's character is a shade of grey; not necessarily good nor bad. Her character is more developed and has more room to grow than in previous Allen films where she played merely the foil for his character. Though filled to the brim with comedy, Love and Death is a clear indication that Woody's films were heading into a more philosophical Bergman-esque direction. From this point on he becomes more forthcoming with his angst against a problematic world. His philosophic nuances dominate over his typical comedic tone.
Love and Death is a fantastic picture that gets the mix between jokes & existentialism just right. Characters break into syllogisms and formal arguments at the most unlikely moments. Is it morally wrong to kill Napoleon? Perhaps you shouldn't have that discussion when Napoleon is in the room. Intellectual comedy at its roots. Praise it! 5/5
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