Found in Translation
I guess it makes sense that a director whose work has been so deeply influenced by one place should be profoundly different when transplanted to another location. That is why Woody Allen’s recent films shot in England feel so distinct from his other work. The change is refreshing, but it is still recognizable, in the best way, as one of his films.
“Cassandra’s Dream” is very like Allen’s highly praised 2005 “Match Point,” which, in turn, was a return to the themes of his earlier masterwork “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” (1989.) Woody Allen, or as he is known in Jolly Old England, Ye Olde Woodye Allene, seems to have been reinvigorated in his rapidly advancing years by a change of scenery, and has given up the funny but familiar tics that are both his trademark and his occasional downfall.
Sex is Allen’s main theme throughout the body of his work. The other is crime and punishment. In both this and “Match Point,” desire leads men to improve their station in life. Ewan McGregor plays a young man working in his father’s restaurant, unsatisfied with his lot. He routinely borrows the fancy cars his mechanic brother (Colin Farrell) fixes, passing them off as his own. When he meets a gorgeous but conniving young actress, his need to advance himself becomes more urgent.
The film begins with both men overreaching, buying a boat they can’t afford called “Cassandra’s Dream.” Their motivation is a memory they both hold dear, of happier times in a boat belonging to their adored Uncle Howard, a rich plastic surgeon whose lifestyle they worship and covet.
It isn’t long before McGregor’s ambition and Farrell’s gambling leave them in even greater need of money. When they turn to the usual source, they find their uncle’s terms astonishingly difficult. They process their disappointment and despair differently, and their characters are revealed.
In his murder films, Allen uses the same set-up, but wreaks a different fate upon his perpetrators in each film. Taken as a group, it is interesting to see Allen work through the question, not of committing a heinous crime, but of what, if any, the consequences will be. He returns to these questions time and again, but, particularly with a change in location, it is still interesting.
“Cassandra’s Dream” is currently available to rent.
Thursday, July 31 at 7 p.m. in the Saenger Theatre, Mobile will finally get a chance to see Margaret Brown’s highly anticipated and presumably controversial “The Order of Myths,” and we will even get a Q & A with Brown and subjects from the film, which could prove at least as exciting as the film.
If you have somehow missed the feverish local buzz on this film, here’s the description:
“The Order of Myths” is an intimate consideration of race in America through the story of our oldest Mardi Gras celebration. The first Mardi Gras in America was celebrated in Mobile in 1703. In 2007, it is still observed exclusively by different communities. Filmmaker Margaret Brown (“Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt”) herself a daughter of Mobile, escorts us into the parallel hearts of the city’s two carnivals to explore the complex contours of this hallowed tradition and the elusive forces that keep it organized along enduring color lines.
With unprecedented access, Brown traces the exotic world of centuries-old traditions and pageantry; diamond-encrusted crowns, voluminous, hand-sewn gowns and trains, surreal masks and enormous paper-mache floats. Against this opulent backdrop, she uncovers a tangled web of historical violence, power dynamics and intertwined and interdependent race relations.
Tickets will be $12 (plus service charge) and available through the Saenger Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets. I would pay anything to be there for the hometown premier of this documentary and I am eagerly anticipating having all the rumors swirling around about the content put to rest, replaced by juicy facts about the real thing. We don’t have a lot of film events competing to be the film event of the year, but even if we did, this night would win that title, hands down.
Contact Asia Frey at afrey@lagniappemobile.com.
Archives
The Reel World
