Love and Death (1975)

Woody Allen: The Golden Years

"Love and Death" truly belongs in the Pantheon of comedy classics. A send-up of every Russian novel that you should have read, but probably didn't, the film, as the name implies, in particular spoofs Tolstoy's "War and Peace." Boris Gruschenko (Allen in Kulak blouse plus his customary horn-rimmed glasses) is hopelessly in love with his cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton) when the Napoleonic Wars intrude on their lives. Between gags, the characters burst into ecstasies of philosophical discourse on the nature of ontology and wheat. The film was shot in Hungary, and the costumes and sets provide a magnificent background for this high-flown nonsense, as does the musical score by Sergei Prokofiev [who might well be spinning in his grave with laughter]. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments even though one has seen the film half-a-dozen times.

Among my favorites is an episode in which Boris' aged parent--a "major loon"--confides that he owns a little plot of land [He keeps it in his pocket.] upon which he is going to build one day, and that he will leave it to his son. Allen also pays homage to Ingmar Bergman's "Seventh Seal" in his dance with a scythe-wielding Death, a frenetic pas de deux with which he ends the movie.

Although I always get a kick out of Allen--even in his later, far lighter, fare--in "Love and Death" he has approached, if not reached, the zenith of his creative powers--his golden age, as it were, in which his movies cast a shadow so long that it adumbrates his later works. July 13, 2008

Love and Death

Woody Allen's spoof of War and Peace. He plays Boris, a farmer's son. in love with his cousin. When France invades Russia, he reluctantly joins the the army and becomes part of a plan to assassinate Napoleon. Funny scenes are Boris flirting with the Countess at the Opera and dancing with the Grim Reaper. Woody is always searching for the meaning of life. He wanted to call the movie, "Sex and Death," but United Artists disapproved. Diane Keaton is the perfect foil for his one-liners. For pure laughs, this is Woody's best.

February 25, 2008

A comedic look at life and death

Woody Allen blends modern comedy with 1800 Russia life. If you like Woody Allen you've got to have this film. Diane Keaton and Allen make a wonderful comedy team. Also Hal Gould from The Sting has a wonderful cameo roll. February 11, 2008

Hilariously funny

Woody Allen at his funniest in one of his early movies with Diane Keaton. This movie is based on Tolstoy's "War & Peace." Woody has also made a masterpiece that is witty, well written, great photography, and an overall great movie.

The humor is sometimes slapstick, but extremely funny. It helps to love Woody Allen's films. Woody seems to be perpetually worried about death and life after death.

Well worth the price. I have it in my collection.
January 7, 2008

Relentlessly funny

This is perhaps the last of Woody Allens's early funny ones, and certainly this film packs in more one-liners than most. Woody and Diane Keaton are in sparkling form as a Russian couple involved in saving their country from Napoleons invasion. The jokes are non-stop and frequently very silly such as in the example below (Allen is Boris, Keaton is Sonja and James Tolkan is Napoleon):

Napoleon: This is an honor for me.
Boris: No, it's a greater honor for me.
Napoleon: No, a greater honor for me.
Boris: No, it's a greater honor for me.
Napoleon: No, a greater honor for ME.
Boris: Well, perhaps you're right. Perhaps it IS a greater honor for you.
Napoleon: And you must be Don Francisco's sister.
Sonja: No, you must be Don Francisco's sister.
Napoleon: No, you must be Don Francisco's sister.
Sonja: No, you must be Don Francisco's sister.
Boris: No, it's a greater honor for me.
Napoleon: I see our Spanish guests have a sense of humor.
Boris: She's a great kidder.
Sonja: No, you're a great kidder.
Boris: No, you're Don Francisco's sister.

This sort of dialogue is worthy of Grouho Marx. There are great visual gags as well, and as with all of Woody Allens best work, underneath the marvellous sense of humour and brilliant writing there are serious moral issues being looked at. If you've never seen a Woody Allen film this is probably a good one to start with. For those that are familiar with his work you will either be a fan, in which case you will buy this, or you won't like him in which case you won't (which makes my review pointless!). I for one think he is one of the greatest American director/writers in the history of Cinema.
September 30, 2007

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