It helps that one of those six actors is Mia Farrow, who would inspire Allen to make his best run of films. A llen had wanted to make something deliberately simple and light. But it started off as serious, as a counterpoint to the comedy of Zelig , which was the next film to follow. Says Allen [2] :.
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The plot is loosely based on the Swedish comedy film Smiles of a Summer Night , written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Her role was originally written for Diane Keaton , another Allen lead actress, but she was busy promoting her film Reds and preparing to begin production on Shoot the Moon. It also marks the first appearance of Allen as an ensemble performer in his own film, as previously he had either been the lead character or did not appear in his films. It is in upstate New York. Also on the guest list is womanizing doctor, Maxwell, and his latest girlfriend, a free-thinking nurse, Dulcy. Over the course of the weekend, old romances reignite, new romances develop, and everyone ends up sneaking off behind everyone else's backs. I thought I wanted to do a film about poignant relationships, a film about a guy who missed an opportunity and was haunted by the thought and a girl who was about to throw in her lot with a much older man, not really the right one for her. The genesis was not a comedy but a kind of serious Chekhovian story, in the style of Interiors almost. That serious of a thing.
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Joffe to rush this period confection into production. Buoyed by the experience of Zelig which was now in its extensive post-production and the freshness of his relationship with Mia Farrow, Woody Allen wrote the screenplay in just three weeks. Allen insisted Smiles was his least favourite Bergman film and, unfortunately, this is one of his own least persuasive pictures. Even in the mouths of turn-of-the-century intellectuals, the very modern conversation rings hollow too often and, despite Mendelssohn on the soundtrack, the atmosphere stubbornly refuses to become whimsical. Part of the problem lies in Allen's own inability to tailor his standard delivery style to a flightier than usual character. But, more damaging is the suspicion that he doesn't really believe in his material. It may have been written in the throes of passion, but, for all its midsummer madness, the script regularly casts doubt on the wisdom of falling in love and succumbing to the foolish fancies that it invariably compels normally rational people to pursue. Moreover, Allen betrays a nagging doubt that his own personal and professional idyll will last and this fatalism introduces a faintly cynical note that curdles the action's exuberance and romantic idealism.
This title is currently unavailable. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Close Menu. Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, A 97 6. The story revolves around a party at the home of a Wall Street broker and his wife. They are joined by a third couple, a lady-killer doctor and his date, a ditzy nurse. By the end of the weekend, sexual partners are changed. In HD. Add to Watchlist.