Despite the best efforts of a glorified witch-hunt and the cancel culture of social media, Allen's autobiography, titled Apropos of Nothing, has been published by Arcade. Shortly before the recent release it had been dropped at the last minute by Grand Central/Hachette when they caved in to a manufactured outrage which advocated censorship and blacklisting.
There have been rumours of Allen writing an autobiography for years and it was a mouthwatering prospect. He's already proved himself to be a fine writer, with dozens of screenplays to his name as well as stage plays and published prose works. I'm really glad that the book exists and it is an entertaining and enlightening read. I read the whole thing within 3 days. For a slow reader like me this is the equivalent of setting a marathon record. For anyone interested in the man and his work or who just want to educate themselves about a much misunderstood and misreported subject I wholeheartedly recommended it.
The sad part for me is that the stories about Allen's personal life from the early 1990s should really have been relegated to a footnote of his career by now. The current wave of new age McCarthyism has perhaps forced Woody Allen to tell his side of the story in print. As someone who has never believed the accusation that was levelled against him I'm one of the readers that didn't need to read about the saga at such length as it's already been well documented elsewhere. Unfortunately, ignorance and falsehoods persist and it has got to a stage where Allen's filmmaking career has been jeopardised. Now 84 years old, as a married man with two adopted daughters who must be affected by all the vile mudslinging that has been going on in recent years I imagine he wanted to make a statement with this book, which gives a lengthy and well detailed rebuttal to the claims made against him.
The middle section of the book is unfortunately burdened with being a necessary corrective to innumerable inaccuracies and false narratives about Allen's life that have proliferated over the years. Earlier in the book however, the accounts of his childhood in Brooklyn, lifelong love of New Orleans jazz, years as a TV writer and success as a stand-up comedian are a pleasure to read. He also chronicles his relationships with the actresses Louise Lasser (who he was married to), Diane Keaton, Stacey Nelkin and M*a Farrow, all of whom had a major impact on his work and development as a writer and director. Farrow is unavoidably a major talking point in the book. Their partnership on and off screen lasted over a decade. During this time they lived apart but would share parental duties on two children they adopted and also have a son together (although Farrow has since claimed that R*nan's father may actually be Frank Sinatra). She starred in 13 of his films and despite the fallout he gives credit where it's due, praising her growth as an actress. Farrow showed an exceptional range in Allen's work and gave remarkable performances in films like Broadway Danny Rose and Radio Days.
Having made so many films, several are only fleetingly mentioned. Allen has an at best modest and at worst damning view of a lot of his work. I found it interesting that he calls 1993's Manhattan Murder Mystery "one of the best films I ever made". It's one I've always liked but I had considered it to be a lightweight and minor work. Having not seen it in more than 20 years his enthusiasm for it makes me want to give it a rewatch. He also speaks well of The Purple Rose of Cairo, Husbands and Wives and Bullets Over Broadway but feels the final act of Hannah and Her Sisters was a cop-out and he has a very harsh judgement of films such as Manhattan, September and Another Woman. Although he was as entertaining as ever in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion I do agree with him that he was the wrong actor for the lead role.
There is a slightly meandering quality to some of the later chapters, with quite a few random anecdotes that don't add much of interest and feel like extra padding. Allen freely admits to living a charmed life at this stage and seems grateful for what he has. It's great to learn that his marriage to Soon-Yi seems to have been very happy and fulfilling for him. He's been able to get on with his life and has maintained an impeccable work ethic, having done several tours with his jazz band and he is still making a new film each year as writer and director. I really hope the final word hasn't been written on Allen's life, career and legacy despite a sustained hate campaign that is hellbent on destroying his career and reputation.
Ever since Vicky Cristina Barcelona came out in early 2009 I have watched every new feature film directed by Woody Allen at the cinema. It was something I looked forward to each year. In 2018 I caught Wonder Wheel during its initial release in the UK, and I did have suspicions at the time that it may be my last chance to see his latest title on the big screen because of ever growing condemnation in the media from R*nan Farrow and his pathetic, hate-filled minions. Little did I know that a couple of years later the theatrical experience itself would be in such a perilous state.
The second bit of good news that has surfaced is that Allen's most recent film, A Rainy Day in New York, is finally being released in the UK on VOD services in June and on DVD in July. In late 2018 the finished film was shelved by Amazon studios, who also ended their production deal with Allen, due to a hostile press and pressure from the same witch-hunt that cancelled the publication by Hachette. Although still without a release in the USA it was eventually distributed in sensible and civilised parts of Europe and the rest of the world that didn't see an issue with releasing the film. I have been tempted to get a foreign DVD of the film since February but held out hope that sanity would prevail and a UK release is now finally going ahead. It's at least a year overdue to my mind but better late than never.
Recommended reading:
The Case for Woody Allen's Innocence by Jordan Ruimy (from WorldofReel.com)
