source: September

Trailer—September

September

One of Woody Allen's most maligned films, this is nevertheless not as poor as what one might expect, and there are a number of good things about the production. Aside from the interesting philosophies that one expects from a serious Allen film, the film is also quite well shot, coupled with an interesting yellow art direction scheme. The weather sound effects work quite well, but the best aspect is however the performances by Mia Farrow and Dianne Wiest. It is not the best work in the career of either actress, but they both flesh out their characters quite well. It is a pretty mournful film in Ingmar Bergman style, lacking in any wit from Allen, and it is a talkative and abrupt watch at times. It is not one of Woody Allen's best films, but it has too many good things about it to be regarded as his worst.

Basically, if you liked "Interiors" you will probably also enjoy this moody piece which features some fine performances and a lot of angst-filled speeches. On the other hand, if you didn't like "Interiors" you probably won't like this film either. Although it isn't as good as Allen's more famous melodrama, it comes close to being of equal quality, in terms of the acting; the script, however, leaves something to be desired. I'd recommend it if someone asked me, but I wouldn't go out of my way to try to get people to see it.

Woody Allen in this movie brings to us the story of a group of people all staying at a summer home in the country. It's a very dark and claustrophobic place. And at this place we learn so much about the characters. This is a very deep character study and I think it's the best Allen "bergmanesque" film he's made. It has been highly underrated by people and critics. I feel it does not get any of the recognition it should. And Mia Farrow's and Sam Waterston's performances are magnificent.

First i must say that i'm an inconditional Woody Allen fan so i can take a lot from him without judgement. I watch September for the first time yesterday and i must say that it was good. I've read many bad comments on that one throughout the years so i was ready for the end of the world! Having read Woody's comment on the film in the DVD booklet i was surprised to find out that Woody had intended September to be a filmed play. So with this in mind i was more opened to the "extremely hermetic" ambiance of the film. Ok,it is emotionly heavy at times in this who-love-who plot but it is rewarded with great performance from Diane Wiest and Mia Farrow. I would recommend this to anyone who want to see another side of Woody with an opened mind. I really enjoyed that one...

Denholm Elliott has the hots for Mia Farrow, who has the hots for Sam Waterston, who has the hots for Dianne Wiest. Mia's ex-film-star mother and her physicist husband descend on them, insult everyone and then go away again. All this is set in a house in New England during a storm and power-cut. Some critics see this as Allen in Bergman mode again but to me its claustrophobic country-house atmosphere is more reminiscent of Chekhov – with one important exception: Chekhov has jokes. This is tedious stuff. No wonder Soon-Yi (in Wild Man Blues) says that she walked out of it. Fact and fiction got confused in my mind when Mia Farrow's character started talking about shooting her mother's gangster lover when she was a teenager. This may be an allusion to the real-life shooting of Johnny Stompanato by Lana Turner's daughter. Elaine Strich, playing the mother, is reminiscent of Farrow's real mother Maureen O'Sullivan in Hannah And Her Sisters.

Let's face it: It's hard to be entertained by a story where everybody's in love with someone who's in love with someone else. Chekhov can make it compelling (watch "Vanya on 42nd Street" for recent proof of this), but Allen obviously had other things in mind with this film. I guess it was his antidote to "Hannah and Her Sisters," where similar love triangles (and other polygons) played out, but the end result was much happier. Allen usually doesn't like to give us such neat endings, so a year later we get "September," in which little is resolved and most of the characters end up back where they started. It's a fascinating film in its own way, but it doesn't bear repeated viewings.

Wasn't in the mood to watch a film last night, but couldnt remember seeing Denholm Elliot in a Woody Allen movie before, so realised this was one I hadnt seen before. Can't say as I was 'entertained' - but I was gripped and rooted to the sofa for the duration, which could say something about my sofa of course, but was really down to this film. The dialogue and acting were both utterly convincing - and there were many moments of intense honesty. Just for once, relationships don't resolve, nor are we rescued from darkness by gratuitous humour. It's a stark, depressing beautifully acted piece of claustrophobic drama. More your Webern 'five pieces', rather than your Strauss, 'Der RosenKavalier'. If nothing else - it's nice to be reminded that not all scripts are written by a gang of 12 year olds....