At the Movies

With David Begelman

Citizen News Film Critic

“To Rome with Love:” Woody Worsening

Woody Allen’s new film “To Rome with Love” is among several recent ones that fall short of an intended cinematic aim. In this case, it’s obscure what that aim actually is. The film seems to get lost in diverging rivulets of narrative intent.

The movie is another chapter in the director’s effort to underscore his fascination with European cities—in this case, Rome. In “Vicki Christina Barcelona” it was Barcelona, Spain, while in “Midnight in Paris” it was the capital of France reworked through a time-warp.

Difference is not confined solely to geography in the Allen oeuvre. Woody’s also influenced by the work of other authors and movie-makers. The impact of Ingmar Bergman is obvious in his 1952 “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy,” Tolstoy in his 1976 “Love and Death,” Dostoyevsky in the 1989 “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” Pedro Almodóvar in the 2008 “Vicki Christina Barcelona,” and German expressionist directors, like Lang, Pabst and Murnau in his 1991 “Shadows and Fog.”

“To Rome With Love” is instructive in showing how the director’s creative vision can be compromised. Every Woody Allen movie depends upon three separate elements. First, there is the quip, gag line, or hilarious comment of which Woody is an acknowledged master.

Second, there is the knack for creating the comic situation. “To Rome With Love” is bulging with them, as are most of Woody’s films. An example in this film is Leopoldo (Roberto Benigni) who suddenly becomes a celebrity for no apparent reason. He is hounded relentlessly by paparazzi and T.V. hosts who magnify the importance of the most trivial features of his behavior, including shaving. (The humor in this is a riff on the silliness of celebrity status.)

Another example is Giancarlo (Fabio Armiliato), a mortician who is discovered to have a thrilling lyric tenor voice that becomes even more professional in the shower. His reputation is assured when the mountain is brought to Mohammed and he sings Pagliacci at an opera stage outfitted with a shower.

The third element is the inclusion of the first two elements in a narrative that is consistent. Here is where “To Rome With Love” breaks down—irretrievably. It’s in stark contrast to “Match Point” or “Vicki Christina Barcelona” in which the director had no acting role. Curiously enough, he cast himself in ”To Rome with Love,” as he did in the flop “Scoop.” Could it be that the price Allen pays for being a fall guy for the first two elements—an inevitable consequence of casting himself in a film—is crippling a narrative by succumbing to the enticements of being a stand-up comedian? Could it be that the “Annie Hall” days are over, and that Woody’s narrative proficiency is enhanced when he’s behind the camera, rather than appropriating major roles for himself?

There is another feature of Woody Allen films that comes through loud and clear. It’s his preoccupation with the mystery of love. He’s constantly seeking to understand a character in the throes of a sudden passion, change of heart or reversal of erotic feeling. If the cinematic scenario parallels a personal one, Woody should join the crowd. Most of us find ourselves in similar predicaments at points in our lives. Except for most of us, the mystery isn’t elevated to the status of a metaphysical imponderable. We get on with it—in whatever way that makes it possible to survive. It’s not important that the bee explain why he chooses one fragrant flower over another. Only that he stay on the task of whatever he has to do to shore up the hive. Reality is forward motion, not contemplating navels.