Husbands and Wives is directed by Woody Allen, who also stars in the film. This film has an interesting take on relationships and the physiological effects marriage has on the man and woman. The story revolves around two married couples. The first being, Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis), who end up breaking up and getting back together in the end of the film. The other couple is Gabe Roth (Woody Allen) and Judy Roth (Mia Farrow), who eventually end up breaking up their marriage. In the beginning of the film, Jack and Sally announce that they are breaking up and that shocks Judy the most. This sudden news, from a couple that looked happy, sets up the events of this film. Lets first take a look at the ironic theme of this film and how it goes in multiple circles before ending up with Gabe and Judy being the ones that break up. This film is made up of scenes that take you all over, or as Wallflower said, "... it's one awful scene after another after another". After the beginning scene (as shown in the video above), Judy starts to question her own marriage and asks multiple times if Gabe is unhappy or has ever though about another woman. This questioning eventually leads to a gap between the two characters and leads Gabe to start falling in love with one of his students named, Rain (Juliette Lewis). Meanwhile Judy starts feeling something for Michael (Liam Neeson). Just before we talk about what happens between those four, lets quickly look at Sally and Jack. These two have officially broken up and are looking for others. Sally finds Michael and Jack finds Sam (Lysette Anthony). While at first it looks like they are happy with the other partner, it turns out that they both realize that they are meant for each other. Once Sally learns about Jack's new love, she gets mad and calls him multiple times. Jack on the other hand learns about Sally's love and gets upset. He ends up going to Sally's house and eventually they get back together. Soon after, Gabe and Judy break up and Judy eventually marries Michael and is happy. Gabe, on the other hand, refuses to get into a relationship with Rain and leaves to live by himself. So in the end, Jack and Sally end up back together and are happy again, while Gabe and Judy break up and never get back together. Judy has Michael and Gabe ends up being single and by himself. This ironic outcome is even mentioned in the film by Jack and Sally when they talk about Gabe and Judy's break up. One character that really stands out in this film is Judy. Who is "accused of being passive-aggressive" by her first ex-husband. This is an interesting statement that is mentioned a couple times throughout the film. We see Judy acting in this sort of manner when she starts questioning her marriage and eventually leading to a break up and remarriage of Michael. This is in someways, pointing out that she gets what she wants and is depicted as the sort of villain in the relationship. Towards the end we see Gabe trying to make love to her and even willing to try and have a child. Judy turns him down and soon after they break up and she marries the man that she wants next. Gabe on the other hand does something unexpected and decides to not get into a relationship with Rain, even after spending the whole film attracted to her. This makes the audience feel bad for Gabe because in the end, he never wanted to end his marriage and was left without anyone to love. This turn of events leads to a shocking ending were the character that has the most development with his love, turns her down. Everyone else in the film sort of cuts to the end where they are in love. Jack and Sam are together when we first meet them. Sally and Michael get together pretty fast too. Judy and Michael spend very little time before they get married. Gabe and Rain are the only two characters that flirt with each other and develop this kind of relationship between them that lasts throughout the film, only to have it turn out that they never get together. In the end we can see that the most loyal and caring person of them all was Gabe, who fought his urge and did what was best for everyone and not just him. Another aspect of the film is the use of the camera and how it is not something used very often. This film is shot with a hand held camera and no stabilizer, making the film shake and move around in ways that feel unnatural to the viewer. Allen comments on this saying, "I said to myself, why not start to make some films where only the content is important. Pick up the camera, forget about the dolly, just hand-hold the thing and get what you can". This comment is interesting because a viewer is so used to having a stable frame and perfect cuts. In this film, Allen turns the viewers expectations around and after a while the viewer gets used to it. This use of just a camera makes it feel like you are part of the film and there with them. Not only did this lack of major investment in camera angles, editing cuts and stability help the film to be produced faster, but also lead to it being under budget. Allen broke the rules about traditional editing and camera angles, and made it seem more like a documentary a normal couple would film themselves. There is no special use of high tech cameras, just a camera following the actors around and using some long shots without any editing. Another interesting use of the camera is when Rain and Gabe are in the taxi. Originally, it was intended to fit both Gabe and Rain into the frame. This didn't end up happening because, "... the angle on Allen disfigured his nose, so he finally decided to just keep the camera on her the whole time". (This scene can be seen in the video down below). It is an interesting scene because we see Rain talking about the negatives in Gabe's book and Gabe in the background sounding offended and pathetic. This use of the camera angle is also a good example of Allen's talents as a director. Overall this film has a lot of irony and relationships going around. It is hard to follow sometimes, but in the end we get a great film about marriage and how it doesn't always have to work out. Some couples believe that they want something better and eventually return back to each other, and others may seem perfect on the outside but eventually break up because of the internal battles. This view on relationships and how the people in them believe there is something better on the other side is what makes this film stand out. In the end, I enjoyed seeing a different take on marriage and how it doesn't always have a happy ending for everyone.
2 Comments
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |