Réalisation:
Woody AllenScénario:
Woody AllenPhotographie:
Ghislain CloquetActeurs·trices:
Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Féodor Atkine, Yves Barsacq, Yves Brainville, Harold Gould, Jessica Harper, James Tolkan, Howard Vernon, Frank Adu (plus)VOD (2)
Résumés(1)
Erudit par lâcheté, Boris Grushenko en pince pour la belle Sonja, mais moins pour les guerres napoléoniennes. Effondré à l'annonce que Sonja s'apprête à épouser un marchand de harengs, Boris s'engage dans l'armée. Après un acte de bravoure accidentel, Boris rentre chez lui en héros. Consentant finalement à l'épouser, Sonja s'installe avec le pauvre Boris et s'adapte aux habitudes de son mari : philosophie, célibat et repas... de neige. Mais lorsque les troupes françaises envahissent la Russie, Sonja monte un complot loufoque et hilarant pour assassiner Napoléon... (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Critiques (6)
It was a lot of fun. After not getting anything out of a couple of his films, I crossed Woody Allen from the list of directors I would follow, but after this I think I will give him another chance.
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Woody Allen once again used his main weapons in Love and Death – a ridiculously ugly face, sarcasm, and perfect knowledge of the plot of classical literature, which he turned into a wood shed without piety. Parodies of the broad Russian soul, overly philosophized novels and historical feature films sometimes break into complete farce (again, one cannot fail to notice Allen's fondness for grotesque, but at the same time it is necessary to draw a parallel with the paradoxical exaggeration of the Monty Python school). Allen, on the one hand, takes advantage of the exaggerated "canceling" of the environment, while on the other hand, we have the performance of a purely "Allenian" main character, full of uncertainty, ridiculousness, self-parody, and an inferiority complex. Love and Death, in its short passage, will perhaps step on many stereotypes of historical and war films (Kubrick's Barry Lyndon was filmed in the same year, by the way – see the scene with the pistol duel :o))), yet I cannot say that I was just having fun the entire time. There were many dead spots, but in the end it is impossible not to appreciate the aptness with which the cannonball of Allen's humor hits the genre dusters and causes them to explode.
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Woody Allen in the army, in the artillery, in an ushanka, and with a fan. One of Woody's best films, the satirical tone combined with his typical dialogue and monologues was a stroke of genius. "Choose your weapon." "All right, I'll take these."
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While film critics may prioritize other pieces of Woody Allen's work, for me, Love and Death holds the top spot. It's a matter of the heart because Allen parodies literature and films that I intimately know and grew up with. This film will be appreciated by those who have read "War and Peace" because poor old Leo Tolstoy gets the most flak, but in general, anyone who has read classic and thick romantic novels by 19th-century authors and seen historical epics from the 1960s will enjoy it. Allen is at the peak of his game here, literally brimming with humor in the style of college pranks and biting intellectual sarcasm. The film also has a pleasantly short duration. Overall impression: 95%.
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Another irresistible mix of comedy, satire and romance from Woody Allen. This time with music by Prokofiev. I was thrilled by the scene in which the commander lectures the soldiers that if the Russians kill more French, they win, and conversely if the French kill more Russians, then they will win. When Allen's character responded to this speech with the perfectly natural question "They're gonna win what?", I knew I was going to love this movie. And there was still about an hour to go!
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My uncritical self would probably write that this is an excellent satirical comedy, where 5 out of 10 jokes cause dangerous fits of laughter, that the dialogues have wonderful flow and juice, and that the dishevelled Woody Allen is unbeatable for his role. But my critical self would counter that it's a far-fetched piece of crap where 5 out of 10 jokes come across as stilted and contrived, that the juicy dialogues are in many cases the epitome of stupidity, and that Allen is a complete moron whose character is hidden behind a bunch of big talk and moralising. And taking one side would mean partially defining the style of appraisal for Woody's other films, which would be a bit unfair, and also further elaborating on the "why, what and how". I will remain neutral this time and keep this confrontation with Woody's famous being and non-being indefinitely in the "Second Chance" folder. Then we'll see. :-)
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Annonces