Deer Hunter

Deer Hunter

Sunday, January 25, 2015

SHADOWS AND FOG 

Everybody loves his illusions. They need them, like they need the air



1991 Woody Allen’s Shadows and fog has often been quoted as a minor film in Allen’s extensive career. It didn’t strike me as brilliant the first time I saw it, but watching it again, I have to say that this film really is a hidden “minor” masterpiece.

The story centers around the events that take place in one night on an unnamed jewish community somewhere in eastern Europe. A maniac killer is on the loose and a vigilante group forms in order to catch the killer. Kleinman (Played by Woody Allen) is a bookkeeper who is awakened in the middle of the night to reluctantly join the vigilante group. Irmy (Played by Mia Farrow) is a travelling circus artist who, after a fight with her partner (John Malkovich) starts dangerously wandering the streets. The two meet and events unfold amidst shadows and fog.




The plot (and the role of Magic)-
Magic, famously known as the art of deception, is actually more than just “deception”. In Shadows and Fog, as in life, magic is our ultimate savior, not logic, not faith nor physical strength, but magic. In the end it’s the circus Magician who captures the maniac killer. The reference to magic and magicians is present in several Woody Allen films, perhaps because fairy tales and magic are deeply rooted in childhood, and childhood in many ways, is a star we always look for in adulthood. In a world that is evidently grim to the real thinker, it is only through these early experiences that one really manages to sustain a sense of wonder, much needed to survive the fogginess of life. A key element in Woody Allen films that is also often found in Bergman (Think of Fanny & Alexander). 



Just like Visconti’s Notti Bianche, the setting has an eerie feeling to it. The camera work (Carlo di Palma) is elegant and intriguing, and the black & white shots are in perfect equilibrium between the fairy tale textures of Visconti and the dramatic and unsettling coldness of Fritz Lang’s “M” or even Orson Welles “Third Man”. However, it’s the burlesque of the circus (embellished by Kurt Weil’s fantastic music) and the escapism of the brothel that stands out. The brothel seems to be the only place where people are happy and oblivious. It’s in effect the ultimate deception, and ironically the only safe place to be.



I have to mention Juliet Taylor who is an absolute master at casting actors. She has done casting for every Woody Allen film since 1975 and the truth is that time and time again, actors who star in Woody Allen films seem to be at their very best (Think Scarlett Johansson in Match Point or Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris for example). 
Donald pleasance’s appearance as the town doctor’s is another fantastic cast. Know for films such as Halloween, Prince of darkness and Phenomena (where he plays a professor on the trail of the killer). His role on Shadows and fog is very similar. He’s the person who questions things and thinks deeply. He’s an outsider with the meticulous eye, he’s always on the brink of understanding something that escapes everyone else.

Fog, commonly associated with danger and the unknown, represents in this story the confusion of our existence, false beliefs and short horizons. Fog is in fact the veil that stands between us (shadows) and truth. Fog is the thin line between what we want to see and what really is (or not). It’s the centerpiece of this act.




The key scene in the film is the one when Kleinman and Irmy are sitting quietly looking at the stars and Irmy Tells Kleinman that the light of the stars may take millions of years to reach us, meaning that what we see might be the lights of stars that no longer exist. Whereas Kleinman perceives this as a very disquieting thought, (the notion that we cannot rely on what we see with our own eyes), Irmy marvels at the perfection that such small moments entail. A clearing in the fog and we can see right up there to the stars. Doesn’t this moment seem perfect? This is a fantastic allegory to what makes life worth it. For all the confusion and lack of sense in which we are all immersed, there’s always the possibility of small clearings in the fog if only we can “catch the moment”.. 
The scene ends with Irmy’s comment: We’re all happy if we only knew it.



In the final scene of the film, the magician delivers this very significant message:
Everybody loves his illusions. They need them, like they need the air.

Shadows & Fog is ultimately a reflection on life and death, on religious belief, faithfulness and honesty (also towards oneself). It shows how we, as individuals, have small windows of opportunities that appear out of the fog and how in a way we may stay afloat and even shine as a magician does, if only we keep loving our illusions.


Trailer:





RELEASED: 1991
Director: Woody Allen
Running Time: 85 mn
Cast: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich

Rating: 3,5 stars





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