Stardust Memories
What’s all the fuss with Woody Allen being self-absorbed and not funny anymore? There were 5 minutes of the film that was not funny and in which he seemed self-absorbed, but then… One joke followed another. There is something really funny with Woody Allen being this famous director who tries to have a conversation with a woman while one person after another tries to get an autograph of his. “Stardust Memories” probably has more funny lines than “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy”, which has comedy in its name even.
What can I say, last time I tried to watch the film, I have not seen “8 1/2” nor any Bergman film. How wonderful is this? The Fellini style suits this film beautifully; I felt like I saw “8 1/2” everywhere. Perhaps this film is even more confusing than Fellini’s masterpiece, and I can barely believe how well Woody Allen is doing at capturing the mood: The music, the clothing style, cinematography… The only thing that seems out of place is Woody Allen himself. He is perfectly funny but no Marcello Mastroianni. But who cares?
There is no reason to see this film without having seen “8 1/2” and “Wild Strawberries”, it becomes a million times better if you get all the references. Since I did, I might be biased and see something in the film that relies upon these references (which, in general, would be a bad thing). But the film has an engaging story, wonderfully stylish pictures and a Woody Allen who talks about himself very much. Is that such a problem though? The random Fellini-style surreal scenes absolutely make up for it, if it is a bother at all. Nobody else can dare to be this self-absorbed, because everybody else would be annoying instead of funny at the attempt.
“You wanna do mankind a real service? Tell funnier jokes.” I loved that. This is what makes this film stand out among the Woody Allen films.
“Stardust Memories” is perhaps not my absolute favorite Woody Allen, but I think it’s a grand film; it’s stylistically mature, the characters are unusual and the film is overflowing with creativity. Considering that the film makes me feel exactly the same way I did back then when I saw “8 1/2”, it’s a masterpiece.