News: Woody Allen Slams Woody Allen
posted on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 - 12:00:00 AM
Off screen, Woody Allen has long earned a reputation for self-deprecation. His real life persona certainly clashes with his popular movie image: For instance, everybody I know that doesn’t like him as a director feels he’s pretentious, a snob. In reality, though, he’s a humble as could be.
Talking to the Times UK, Allen expressed his disappointment in his career: “Out of 40 films I should have 30 masterpieces, eight noble failures and two embarrassments, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
Many of the films are enjoyable by the mean standards of movies, but look at what has been accomplished by people who have done beautiful things — Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, Buñuel, Truffaut — and then look at my films. I have squandered my opportunities and I have nobody to blame but myself.”
That’s pretty rough judgment for what many, myself included, feel is a superior body of work. Allen later recalled what he thinks his six best movies are: Bullets Over Broadway, Husbands and Wives, Match Point, Purple Rose of Cairo, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Zelig. That’s right—no Annie Hall, no Manhattan, no Sleeper, no Crimes and Misdemeanors.
In recent years, Allen has moved away from comedy, which could perhaps explain his feelings. It seems like he no longer considers funny films in the same league as dramatic works (such as those by Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini and Truffaut). Well, as someone who appreciates quality comedy, I can say this with complete confidence: Woody, you’re dead wrong.
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