Awesome Movie

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It isn't just Bergman and Fellini that Woody is hung up on. In 1991's "Shadows and Fog" he spoofs not only Fritz Lang and 1920's German Experessionism but also Franz Kafka. Shot superbly in black and white by Carlo Di Palma, (though you might feel Sven Nykvist would have been more appropriate), and with a phenomenal cast headed by Woody and Mia Farrow, this is a lot funnier than I remember it.Woody is the Joseph K character briefly mistaken for the Peter Lorre character in "M" since a serial killer is lurking in the fog and the vigilantes are out to get him. If it feels more like one of Allen's short stories and if there isn't a great deal to get your teeth into, it's still very likable and certainly didn't deserve the critical kicking it got on its release, including a fairly negative review from yours truly.

This so-called comedy is a rethinking of Woody Allen's own short play 'Death' (published in his 1976 collection 'Without Feathers'), transplanted to a weird, Kafka-like Middle European setting and mercilessly padded (at the expense of the humor) to allow room for several high profile guest stars, most of them in roles too small to be noticed. The effect is not unlike a student film parody of a Woody Allen comedy, following a hapless nebbish (who could only have been played by Allen himself) pressed into service by urban vigilantes hunting a shadowy killer. The familiar one-liners and stale meditations on God, sex, and death are all camouflaged behind some beautiful (if hokey) black and white photography, with transparent references to more than one film school idol: Bergman, Murnau, Fellini, and so forth. What's left is the novelty of seeing Kathy Bates playing a prostitute alongside Lilly Tomlin and Jodie Foster, and John Malkovich cast as a circus clown opposite Madonna. It wasn't meant this way, but the casting is the funniest thing about the movie.

'Shadows and Fog' has a very German/French cinema feel to it. Shot in black and white, set in one night, the story follows Kleinman (Woody Allen) and Irmy (Mia Farrow). Clueless Kleinmen is assigned to guard the streets and watch out for a serial killer. In a moment of rage, Irmy, after catching her boyfriend Clown (John Malkovich) red handed with seductress Marie (Madonna) decides to leave the circus. While she wanders the streets, she bumps into Prostitute (Lily Tomlin) who shelters her in her brothel. Soon after Irmy leaves the brothel, she meets Kleinman. Together they wander the streets experiencing odd encounters. Unfortunately 'Shadows and Fog' hasn't received as much recognition as Allen's other works. It has the usual Allen style with a series of conversations, quirky characters and a whimsical feel to it. The execution is very good especially the lighting, cinematography, editing and score. Allen has gathered an enviable ensemble that further includes Kathy Bates, William Macy, Jodie Foster, John Cusack and many more. Everyone performs superbly but if I had to pick the best it would be Mia Farrow. Her spontaneity makes her performance come across as very natural. For me, 'Shadows and Fog' is just as good as any other great Allen movie. It may be a little more awkward than his other movies but enjoyable nonetheless.

An interesting attempt at sending-up Kafka and German Expressionism (and 1930s filmmakers such as Fritz Lang) by writer-director-star Woody Allen, a patchwork paranoia comedy in black-and-white about a schnook in a small village who is nonsensically drawn into the search for a marauding strangler. Ultimately, however, the picture plays more like a rehashing of "After Hours" from Martin Scorsese--right down to the gimmick of having big-name stars in cameo roles. This hamlet milquetoast roams the gloomy streets, crossing paths with a number of eccentric characters, carnies and whores, few of whom have been really thought out by the writer. Madonna puts off some heat as a circus performer, but a prostitute ensemble featuring Kathy Bates, Lily Tomlin, Anne Lange and Jodie Foster falls flat. Mia Farrow is stuck once again with her "Hannah"-like impulses to nurture against all obstacles, but John Cusack brings some nervous angst and passion playing a customer at the bordello. As an actor, Allen is affable as usual (he's a mild neurotic, talkative yet flexible), but cast members John Malkovich, Kate Nelligan and Fred Gwynne--among others--are lost in the shuffle. Too many shadows and too much fog turns the movie into an experiment from the filmmaker, a holding-pattern release; a curious, misfired effort. ** from ****