Woody Allen, Mia Farrow and Soon-Yi in 1992
Allen Family, 2014
I've been a fan of Woody Allen for a while. I think I've watched all his movies, and I've written about his recent films (here, here and here). But, these films are his post-scandal movies, and don't have that biting, self-depracating humor that was quintessential Allen.
He got caught in an incestuous scandal with the adopted daughter of his mistress (Mia Farrow's Korean adopted daughter Soon-Yi). He continued his affair with Soon-Yi (who was 19 by then) after his split with Farrow, and later married Soon-Yi in 1997.
History repeats itself, and Allen and Soon-Yi adopted two children together, who are now in their early teens. One is "Asian" the other blonde and white. One for each of them, I guess.
Below is Allen with Soon-Yi in 2014. Granted Allen is now seventy eight, but he looks like an centenarian. Morals have a way of catching up with you.
Mr. and Mrs. Allen in 2014, at 78 and 44
Allen has a new movie out called Magic in the Moonlight. I guess it is reflex action, by now for Allen, to make movies. He can probably make them in his sleep. But, a film critic at National Review Online has this to say about the film:
In short, Magic in the Moonlight is thin on plot, dialogue, and characterization, and it cannot persuade us that the central romance is real — but it’s gorgeous to look at. You can’t hope to see anything more beautiful onscreen this year than the lives of the genteel wealthy, in the south of France, 1928.Which is pretty much my point in my review of his latest films: Allen can make films, and even still has the aesthetic eye, but what is the point of his films? Beauty alone is not enough, as I begin to discover in my literary project, by book: Reclaiming Beauty. Allen has never returned to Manhattan, where his true voice was loud and clear. Yes, those contemporary New York stories, and characters, can be a little annoying, but there was an authenticity about them, and some kind of moral judgment for the judgments they make.
Now, instead, he hops around European cities, and travels as far back as he can in time, as though he's running away from truth.
I suppose that's what we should expect from him from now on. What a pity.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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