Woody Allen's film-making has always had a strong sense of personalized agenda about it, seeing as for most of his career he wrote, directed and starred in his own films, but none are as strikingly about discovering self-meaning as "Stardust Memories." It's not a pretentious work, but it's not nearly as accessible as his more popular films for this reason. All in all, it ends up being good for the same reasons: the characters and relationship drama and Allen's unique perspective on life and love, but its profundity seems mainly reserved for Allen or other middle-aged artists.
Allen plays Sandy Bates, a director famous for his early comedies who goes to a festival of his old work at a time in his career where his producers are saying he's getting too out there. A combination of bombardment from fans, the arrival of an old, French love affair, and meeting a woman that eerily reminds him of one of his ex-lovers, causes Sandy to reflect on his work and life and radically reconsider his future.
Allen gives a strong effort to align the audience with Sandy's perspective, whether keeping Sandy out of frame in scenes that he's in at times or more commonly bringing the camera into first person perspective. He succeeds the most at creating empathy for what it must be like to deal with the attention of fans or people seeking your help for one reason or another. He also uses those techniques well at capturing what it is about the women he's with in any given scene that truly rivets him. Charlotte Rampling, who plays his ex-lover Dorrie who he can't seem to get over, has the perfect look for the part. She has a distinct beauty in scenes where she makes him happy and when she's depressed, she can appear cold and detached.
The film has some issues with structure and continuity. It's not hard to follow, but it's hard to catch all the time shifts because the transitions are always so quick. Toward the end, as Allen and this film search for a deeper meaning, the film only seems to get more surreal and downright existential. You get the sense that Allen knows exactly what he's attempting to make you consider, but it's not cathartic in any way.
It's interesting, because at one point in the film Sandy is taking questions from attendees of the film festival and one woman asks for his reaction to claims about him being narcissistic. Though his answer comical, Allen, presumably with a cinematic chance to defend his actual self, never denies the allegations. The question then remains for viewers of his films, especially "Stardust Memories," whether Allen's stories can be identified with, can be accessible to a large audience. His success suggests yes and his lower points in his career suggest no, but Allen knows this is how he makes films, this is how he searches for meaning and he will continue to do so.
Allen plays Sandy Bates, a director famous for his early comedies who goes to a festival of his old work at a time in his career where his producers are saying he's getting too out there. A combination of bombardment from fans, the arrival of an old, French love affair, and meeting a woman that eerily reminds him of one of his ex-lovers, causes Sandy to reflect on his work and life and radically reconsider his future.
Allen gives a strong effort to align the audience with Sandy's perspective, whether keeping Sandy out of frame in scenes that he's in at times or more commonly bringing the camera into first person perspective. He succeeds the most at creating empathy for what it must be like to deal with the attention of fans or people seeking your help for one reason or another. He also uses those techniques well at capturing what it is about the women he's with in any given scene that truly rivets him. Charlotte Rampling, who plays his ex-lover Dorrie who he can't seem to get over, has the perfect look for the part. She has a distinct beauty in scenes where she makes him happy and when she's depressed, she can appear cold and detached.
The film has some issues with structure and continuity. It's not hard to follow, but it's hard to catch all the time shifts because the transitions are always so quick. Toward the end, as Allen and this film search for a deeper meaning, the film only seems to get more surreal and downright existential. You get the sense that Allen knows exactly what he's attempting to make you consider, but it's not cathartic in any way.
It's interesting, because at one point in the film Sandy is taking questions from attendees of the film festival and one woman asks for his reaction to claims about him being narcissistic. Though his answer comical, Allen, presumably with a cinematic chance to defend his actual self, never denies the allegations. The question then remains for viewers of his films, especially "Stardust Memories," whether Allen's stories can be identified with, can be accessible to a large audience. His success suggests yes and his lower points in his career suggest no, but Allen knows this is how he makes films, this is how he searches for meaning and he will continue to do so.