A Beginner’s Guide to Woody Allen

Scott Kirkpatrick is the frontman of Crossroads of America Records band Chemic. One of Louisvilles best up-and-comers. Hes also a movie enthusiast. Since we like good music and (mostly bad) movies, weve asked Scott to school us cinematic neophytes (Blake excluded). Heres his first attempt, a series about everyones favorite whipping boy, Woody Allen.
Theres been much dialogue about the validity of Woody Allens contributions to the world of film. Theres also been quite a bit of rhetoric about Woody Allens troubles off-screen — and his possible lack of moral judgment. This isnt about questioning moral judgment, so well concentrate on the former.
I believe, with all of my opinionated vigor, that Woody Allen belongs on the extremely short list of Great American Auteurs. Im not talking about a list that includes names like Romero, Spielberg and George Lucas — more about the likes of Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese and maybe Robert Altman on a good day. I also fully expect Wes Anderson to be added to this list if he keeps his creative juices flowing for a few more films at least.
That being said, Allen has, more or less, made a movie every single year since 1967, when he bought the rights to a Japanese spy drama and over-dubbed it with a wonderfully ridiculous storyline about a stolen egg salad recipe. This movie, Whats Up, Tiger Lilly?, was the start of a long and celebrated career for Allen. He would hone his aesthetic, break it, then return to it, then perfect it again and again.
Woody Allen is best known for his movies featuring a revolving and ever-changing cast of characters who all interact with a nebbish and neurotic self-aware Jewish man in New York — played by none other than Allen himself. Another character that was prominent in almost all of his movies until recently is the city of New York and often, more specifically, Central Park. The city seems to have a life all of its own, and theres no doubt Allen is in love with NYC. This culminated in his love letter to the city in the form of the film Manhattan. It could easily be argued that almost every one of his films is a love letter to the city, because he infuses it with so much beauty and captures it with his romanticizing eye.
Its well known that almost any actor and actress in Hollywood would beat down the walls of heaven and hell to be cast in one of his movies. It seems that playing in a Woody Allen movie gets you the right amount of publicity with a heaping dose of artistic street cred. There is no doubt that there are some not-enjoyable Woody Allen movies, but more often than not, his movies rarely disappoint — especially if youre one who follows the aesthetic hes so well-known for.
In the artistic world, you a school of thought that believes an artist should stick to a key aesthetic and mine it for its full potential. Allens certainly done that, and even recently has broadened his aesthetic to mirror, yet expand what he was previously known for. Instead of characterizing the city of New York, he moved his personification across the Atlantic to London. Another aspect, which I havent touched on yet, is that he often focused on a single female actress and featured her in several films, elevating her to an off-beat heroine who, in his eyes, seemed to be Beauty personified. Classic Woody Allen starlets include Diane Keaton, Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiess, but these leading ladies have been updated in Woodys frequent use and featuring of the lovely Scarlett Johannson (my personal favorites are Mia Farrow and Diane Keaton).
The world of Woody Allen can be a tough one to wade through. Thats where I come in! Ive literally watched almost every single one of his movies (with a few exceptions which Im working on ridding) and I thought I would give you a list of a few films to start out with. This list contains gems from various stages of Allens career and should give you a fairly good idea of whether or not youll enjoy his catalog. If it isnt ridiculously obvious by now, I am a fan.