Movie Notes: Interiors

June 21st, 2009

= 4 stars

Starring Diane Keaton, Mary Beth Hurt, Kristin Griffith
Directed by Woody Allen

Synopsis

Arthur and Eve’s marriage is falling apart, and daughters Renata (Diane Keaton), Joey (Mary Beth Hurt), and Flyn (Kristin Griffith) find themselves ill-prepared to cope.

The Good

• Allen attempts a straight-up drama, and for the first time doesn’t appear on screen.
• Top-notch acting, most notably from Keaton (quite removed from the vibrant Annie Hall) and Mary Beth Hurt, who lends Joey a steely tenacity and silent, admirable resolve. Hurt survives some intense closeups that would wither other actresses.
• Occasionally amazing cinematography: washed-out, grey overtones lit by overcast skies, and some inspired visual moments: An angry Keaton lit from below, two sisters walking on the beach — confined by a fallen fence. Some sequences have a deft buildup of tension: the mother duct-taping window frames, and a confrontation in a church.
  

The Bad

• As if to prove himself a serious director, Allen self-conciously avoids comedy completely, and overcompensates too far in the other direction. Dreary surroundings, overcast skies, suicide, depression, unhappy marriages, and hopelessness. The result is a real downer; there is no life.
• In the larger scheme of things, the film’s events are rather inconsequential — a dropped vase, a divorce; these things happen and life moves on. These characters are so self-involved and wrapped up in their own world of problems, they lack a healthy frame of reference. Ultimately I found it difficult to care about the tribulations of these people that are so concerned with their own disposition and quest to do something “important” that they have completely lost touch with humanity at large. And characters I don’t care about really kill a movie for me.

Conclusion

Interiors was a difficult movie to review because I really loved some qualities while disliked others. Overall, I’d say I really liked the direction, style, and acting, but not the plot and depressing characters.

But I must acknowledge Interiors as a clear statement of Allen’s intent to move away from laughs and tackle more serious, adult subjects. Eventually, he would find a better balance between drama and comedy — but without this first step, others would not have been taken or possibly, have been well-received. It’s also bold in terms of Allen deciding to excise himself from the picture, and an emerging visual sense in service of the story.

Lastly, a comparison between this film and the superior, Hannah And Her Sisters — also featuring three sisters and their emotional struggles — is surely in order.

Next Woody Allen Movie: Manhattan
Previous Woody Allen Movie: Annie Hall