Another Woman

Gena Rowlands    w/d Woody Allen

I loved this film when I saw it 25 years ago and loved it again this time. Here the woodman wrote a great script, enlisted a first-rate cast of players, hit upon a tone perfect for a film about end-of-life reflection and created a small masterpiece...one of those little-known gems that shine in the history of cinema.

I don't understand why this film is so little recognized...even by Allen fans. There's no humor here...it was done during his 'serious' period (1988). But unlike Interiors it's not deadly serious a la Bergman. It's studied, reflective and very moving.

The performances are excellent...the standout being Gena Rowlands, whose intelligence and subtlety carries the film and exceeds anything she ever did with Cassavetes. It's impossible not to believe her character, see her with all her faults and ache with her for the choices she's made. It's a tour de force and should have been awarded.

Perhaps it will be revived some day. Perhaps not. But for me it will stand as one of his best works...alongside Annie Hall...at the peak of this wildly prolific filmmaker's oeuvre.

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