Love and Death | | Cast : | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton | | Director : | Woody Allen | | Studio : | Mgm/Ua Studios | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | June 10, 1975 | | DVD Released Date : | September 07, 2004 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 25, 2005 | | Summary | Woody Tolstoy | Content
 | Woody Allen's 1975 comedy with Diane Keaton comically presented as a great 19th century novel to the likes of Tolstoy's 'War and Peace.' Another great comedy by Allen with all of his usual neurotic spoofs and humourous quips.
Woody Allen is a Russian during the time of the Napoleanic Wars c.1810. He is in every way a coward who is afraid to fight the French but is also hopelessly in lust with his cousin played by Diane Keaton. To his demise, his cousin is a radical militant and she has no interest in being in the company of a coward. Allen tries to muster his courage but simply isn't proper material for soldiering. After accidentally destroying a tent filled with French officers, Woody Allen is at last a hero and his cousin agrees to marry him. But his cousin still wants proof of his courage and so asks him to devise a plot to assassinate Napoleon in which he also fails and is imprisoned: but it was a French prison and so the food wasn't so bad.
This is one of Woody's best movies with his usual self-contemplative and neurotic humor. Diane Keaton also performed quite well in this film. The movie's humor is suitable for everyone and not so focused on dirty jokes as his earlier works. A great film to own. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 23, 2005 | | Summary | Very Funny Early Woody. Shows later movies are better. | Content
| `Love and Death', written and directed by Woody Allen both fits and refutes several stereotypes about the Woodman's films. For starters, it is certainly one of his earlier `funny' films, which parodies Russian novels, specifically the novels of Tolstoy and Dostyevski and their existential point of view. As a parody, it is about as close as Allen comes in general silliness to the style of Mel Brooks of `Spaceballs' and `History of the World, Part I', rather than the much more thoughtful later parodies such as `A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy', `Shadows and Fog', and `Curse of the Jade Scorpion'. It is certainly sillier than Allen's best such as'Annie Hall', `Manhattan', `Hannah and Her Sisters', `Crimes and Misdemeanors', and `Husbands and Wives'.
As such, I think this movie and those later ones I mentioned disprove, in my mind, that his `earlier, funny' movies are better than his latter movies. For starters, one simply never develops any sympathy for the characters played by Allen and Keaton (her second Allen collaboration). In contrast, I would watch the often-criticized `Stardust Memories' five times over before watching `Love and Death' again. That does not mean I do not rank `Love and Death' fairly high, as I can't think of any Allen movie I would rank lower than four stars, with the possible exception of `Interiors' and `Alice', but then I haven't seen them in a long time, so I will wait on those judgments. I always find something of value in Allen movies and in this one, it is jokes, jokes, and jokes.
One thing is certain, Allen is almost always funny. I recall his saying that comedy writing is a lot easier than drama. While that may not be true of every writer of screenplays, it is certainly true that practically all of Allen's jokes work to some extent. One aspect of the jokes in this movie is that they disprove Allen's own claim that he is not an `intellectual'. There are simply all too many jokes in this movie which you will simply not get unless you know a little something of Russian literature, as in the speech where he reels off the titles of Dostyevski's major novels. The references are so woven into the context that you have no idea these are coming until he gets to the second or third and you hear `The Brothers Karamazov', something which does not easily fit into conversation, even in a movie about Russians.
This issue raises the question of why Allen never did a film about basketball or clarinet players. Why all this dabbling in Russian novelists, Shakespeare, German Impressionism, and Greek drama?
Speaking of jokes, `Love and Death reinforces the observation I made in the review of Allen's `Play It Again, Sam', his earlier and much better movie, where I saw him as a master of visual humor as well as verbal jokes. While this skill reaches a peak in `Zellig', it is prominent in `Love and Death' as he is dealing with a very large cast, lots of outdoor scenes, and lots more `business' than in `Play It Again, Sam'.
Another thing which makes this film valuable in its own way is the fact that like Allen's `Play It Again, Sam', there are scenes which are quoted in autobiographical `Stardust Memories'. From Allen's `Play It Again, Sam', it was opening with the final scene from `Casablanca' and closing with the movie's characters reenacting that same scene. In `Love and Death', it was Allen's character having a speech after having died.
This movie may be the beginning of one of the small pleasures I get from Allen's films. That is his use of music. All the music is taken from recordings of performances of pieces written by Prokofiev. Unfortunately, the credits don't state which pieces these are, although they are very familiar to my ear.
If you have a serious Jones for Woody Allen movies like I do, please see this, as it really completes one's picture of an important dimension of Allen's work, but it is certainly not one of his best movies, and, it shows up the fact that his `earlier, funny movies' are simply not always his best.
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| Rating | | | Date | March 12, 2005 | | Summary | Hail Freedonia 2 | Content
| Set in Russia during the Napoleonic Wars, Woody Allen has his say about war, love, philosophy, and the usual Allen anxiety concerns. Lots of wisecracks and witicisms, and his fondness for Groucho Marx is evident in many places. This is old period Allen, but near the end of it, and though the film is generally good, one senses a tiredness and playedout-ness of this sort of material: time for a change, new directions. Which, of course, was just around the corner. Diane Keaton co-stars. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 25, 2005 | | Summary | A swiss cheese and rented children | Content
| It seems that review titles for this masterpiece feature quotes that scored with the reviewer. I saw Love & Death in the theater when it was first released (and I was a pre-teen) and the scene that had me rolling in the aisle was Diane Keaton's assesment of life with cousin Boris (he had proposed marriage on the eve of a duel he was certain to loose): (paraphrase) "Or would I feel trapped, my youth gone, living with a swiss chese and rented children?" I was amazed at how a line like that could actually make a lot of sense... in context... and awed at the intellect that could create such a context. From that point on L&D became a favorite film (I've seen it more than any other, although not as much recently since hubby hates Woody). If you can see humor and idiocy in war, if you have any interest in v. early 19th century France or Russia, or if you just love a good laugh I highly recommend this film. (And this is the only Woody flick that Allen-hating hubby will watch :-) |
| Rating | | | Date | January 20, 2005 | | Summary | A Small Piece of Land | Content
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This is one of my favorite movies, and I just ordered it express shipping because I cannot wait to get it! Me and all my friends in high school used to watch this movie every day after school. It has so many great parts, and actually has its own brand of philosophy. This is one of the lesser-known Woody Allen movies, but it is one of my favorites!
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