Sweet and Lowdown: Woody Allen's Cinema of Regret

by Lloyd Michaels

Over a career that has spanned more than six decades, Woody Allen has explored the emotion of regret as a response to the existentialist dilemma of not being someone else. Tracing this recurrent theme from his stand-up comedy routines and apprentice work through classics like Annie Hall, Manhattan, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Bullets Over Broadway as well as less esteemed accomplishments (Another Woman, Sweet and Lowdown, Cassandra's Dream), this volume argues that it is ultimately the shallowness of his protagonists' regret—their lack of deeply felt, sustained remorse—that defines Allen's pervasive view of human experience. Drawing on insights from philosophy, theology, psychology, and literature, the book discusses nearly every Woody Allen film, with extended analyses of the relationship films (including Alice and Husbands and Wives), the murder tetralogy (including Match Point and Irrational Man), the self-reflexive films (including Stardust Memories and Deconstructing Harry), and the movies about nostalgia (including Radio Days and Midnight in Paris). The book concludes by considering Allen's most affirmative resolution of regret (Broadway Danny Rose) and speculating about the relevance of this through-line for understanding Allen's personal life and prospects as an octogenarian auteur.

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2017

Reviews

[Jay French · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't been a big movie watcher, but I have enjoyed Allen's movies from his "classic" period. And I always enjoy the music. There are scenes in his movies that get etched in my mind, and are memorable years later. I can't say that for most other movies, or for most other directors. And I haven't ever read a book about Allen's films. I enjoyed this one. The author does mostly what you would expect here. He categorizes Allen's films into different styles and periods, then provides some description and some analysis tied to that classification. After you are done reading, you feel you could hold your own in a coffeeshop discussion of Allen movies. Or better, in line for a movie in the city. The miss here was on expectation given the title - Sweet and Lowdown was but one of many films analyzed here and it didn't seem to stick out in comparison to the rest. Another nit to pick is that there are few photos, although the author seems to have sensed that and discussed the few photos he includes at length. Overall, if you don't read many books on film and want to get some of those inside references and see how a career's worth of films adds up to more than it's sum, this is a good book.