10 Reasons Why Woody Allen’s Movies are Awesome
Woody Allen is a 79-year old storyteller, who has been making movies for more than 50 years now. He has made some of the most memorable movies in his lifetime. No matter how good or bad those movies are, they are definitely a onetime watch. In fact, some of his movies are spectacular and show an auteur’s brilliance. He has managed to make around 40 feature films in his career, all of which he has written himself. Here is a list of reasons why Woody Allen’s movies are great.
1. He can make anyone act
He has managed to make some of the most average actors act brilliantly in his films. All his actors swear by him. They all know that Allen is capable of bringing out the best in them. Woody Allen is known for his superb casting. He always surprises the audience with his cast, and then makes something fantastic with the people he works with. He works very hard with the actors, and his way of instructing them is quite bizarre! He lets them be and then also controls them in his own special ways. The actors trust him blindly, and that shows in their performances. He doesn’t make acting such a big deal. He does his job of directing them with ease, and creates great films rather effortlessly.
2. They are extremely well written films
As mentioned earlier, Woody Allen writes all of his films. And he writes them continuously. He follows a very strict regime, in which he starts writing his next film as soon as he finishes making one. He can easily detach and attach himself to his art, which is quite a commendable quality. This very quality has helped him write so many films. His films have a certain style. Their plots have something ‘Woody Allen-ish’ about them! It is as if he puts a part of his soul in all his films.
3. There is a little bit of Woody Allen in all every movie
Woody Allen has acted in a lot of films that he has directed. But the films in which he does not star, too have traces of him in every character. His characters talk like him. They always have idiosyncrasies of Allen. They are eccentric films, and they all deal with the idea of existential crisis. They all question the meaning of life and existence. These are questions that have bothered Allen for a very long time, and he has inculcated them brilliantly in his films.
4. He understands women like no other director does
Women are his forte. He understands them like no other director does. He does not treat gender in a simplistic fashion. He gets into the complexities of womanhood. He makes them look real. He does not make angels out of them. Be it ‘Annie Hall’, ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’ or his latest ‘Blue Jasmine’, he has always brought something different in his woman characters. They all have shades of grey, and none of them stick to gender stereotypes. Most of his actresses end up winning the Academy Awards for their performances, and they genuinely have Woody Allen to thank. He also has a fixation with certain actresses and they almost become his muse. Mia Farrow was his favorite, with whom he fell in love with as well. He has also worked with Diane Keaton in a lot of films. Scarlett Johansson too is someone he has worked a lot with in his recent films.
5. He has a sense of humor parallel to no other director
His films are thoroughly funny. They are a different kind of funny. They may not give you a laughter riot (okay, some of his films can do that as well!), but most of his movies have funny connotations running at an internal layer throughout the film. They are funny because he treats life with a certain sense of sarcasm, and he can make fun of all kinds of people. He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to not taking people or situations seriously.
