Gerald Sim Interview: Part I
Gerald Sim is a graduate student in film studies at the University of Iowa and an instructor who has taught a course on the films of Woody Allen. Below is the transcript of Part I of our interview with him, which we had intended to play during last week's podcast.
AK: When you were putting together your syllabus for "The Films of Woody Allen," which films were the no-brainers? Which did you feel were absolutely essential?
GS: One of the earlier comedies, and "Annie Hall" had to be on there... one of the Bergman-esque films [such as "Interiors"], "Crimes and Misdemeanors," the musical ("Everyone Says I Love You")...
AK: Why the musical?
GS: Because it’s different -- and the critical question in class was, well, how different? Eventually, as I was putting together my own thoughts on what his films are about, I came up with a narrative and that narrative necessitated the inclusion of things like "Manhattan" and "Alice" and eventually "Sweet and Lowdown" (1999), which I think brings to a conclusion a lot of the questions he raised in his earlier films in the 70s.
SH: In earlier Woody Allen films, the character played by Allen is pre-occupied by death. Do his recent films, the comedies, reflect a retreat from that subject as Allen himself gets closer to death?
GS: No, I don't think so. The death you refer to is not just physical death, but really the winding down of life, the death of art, the death of physical existence -- which for him constitutes life. My argument is that he eventually resolves it (the question of death, in all its forms) with "Sweet and Lowdown," and after "Sweet and Lowdown" he starts on new avenues of inquiry. The question of death comes from a lot of places. It comes from psychoanalysis, from being Jewish, from being a comedian; to be a good comedian, you have to be dark.
So when Sean Penn smashes his guitar at the end of "Sweet and Lowdown," that's the death of everything, really. [There's] the ambiguity at the ending of "Manhattan," for example, when he is rejected by this pure figure (Mariel Hemingway), who is represented in different films by different women. In "Sweet and Lowdown," when he is turned down by Samantha Morton, he decides, well, that's the end of everything. When Penn's character smashes the guitar, it's really a form of suicide, in my mind.
---
Email Cinecast at: cinecast@cinecastshow.com
Subscribe to Cinecast: http://feeds.feedburner.com/cinecast
This week on Cinecast, a review of Woody Allen's latest "Melinda & Melinda." The film, Allen's 34th as writer and director, is a narrative experiment that tries to resolve an age-old debate: is life comic or tragic? Allen doesn't really come up with any answers, but there is a refreshing intellectual energy to the movie that should please fans of his older -- better -- films. All that, plus this week's Top 5 -- our lists of the best Woody Allen movies of all-time. 
Something we do like. Naomi Watts in...
"You know, '80s movies could go one of four ways: enjoyably bad at the time, wildly entertaining now; enjoyable at the time, enjoyably bad now; bad at the time, worse now; fantastic at the time, just as good now. And here's my point: I think 'Weird Science' is in the last category. In fact, I'm almost positive." - 
In our third podcast, we review "The Ring Two," Hideo Nakata's punishing allegory about motherly love and child abandonment. The original "Ring" at least had an intriguing storyline; the sequel just has Naomi Watts and David Dorfman delivering another effectively creepy performance as her son. Plus, we consider the critical response to Danny Boyle's "Millions" and reveal our definitive lists of the Top 5 Sequels and Top 5 Most Disappointing Sequels ever made.
Sam and I will review "The Ring Two," discuss the critical response to "Millions," share some listener feedback AND -- hopefully -- have a phone conversation with Ft. Worth Star-Telegram film critic Christopher Kelly. 
In our second podcast, Sam and I review Danny Boyle's sentimental new film "Millions" (opens in Chicago 3/18), about two precocious British lads who learn that money can't buy happiness after a bag full of cash falls from the sky and lands at their feet. The film features a standout performance from its young star Alex Etel, but crumbles in the last 20 minutes under the weight of its trite message. Plus, Sam lies to an Oscar winning screenwriter and we count down our lists of the top 5 movies we're embarrassed to admit we've never seen.
In our debut podcast, Sam and I count Cedric the Entertainer and The Rock among the few bright spots in "Be Cool," the disappointing follow-up to 1995's great "Get Shorty." John Travolta reprises his role as Chili Palmer, a loan shark turned movie producer turned music producer, and once again owns the role. But the film's crude humor and inane plot, combined with F. Gary Gray's inept direction, overshadow any of the talent on display. Plus, we discuss last weekend's Oscar winners and -- in honor of "Get Shorty" -- run down our Top 5 Movies About Movies. 
