September (1987) is not one of Woody Allen’s more popular movies. In fact, it lost quite a lot of money, but Allen went way over budget, so that may explain the financial failure to a degree. Allen fired one of the principle actors early on because he didn’t think he was right for the part, and then he fired the replacement and several others when the film was nearly completed. So basically, he shot the film twice.
Elaine Stritch’s character had a few funny lines, but the film was almost devoid of Allen’s sense of humor. It is straight up drama inspired by Chekov’s Uncle Vanya with a plot twist borrowed from the life of Lana Turner, and Allen wanted it to have the feel of a stage play. There’s a lot of dialogue and a lot of long shots with few close ups. The setting was a country house, but it was filmed entirely on a soundstage. There isn’t a single scene that takes place outdoors or away from the house. So maybe it’s just not cinematic enough, or maybe most found it too sad or slow.
Oddly enough, I have always loved it, and I’ve seen it many times. It is one of my favorite Woody Allen movies. I have to admit that I love the house even though it’s not a real house. They did a wonderful job by adding numerous quaint and charming but realistic details. And I loved how Allen suggests late summer in New England with light, thunderstorms and the sound of crickets and tree frogs.
Mia Farrow plays Lane, the main character. Lane attempted suicide the previous fall, and after getting out of the hospital, she moved to her family’s country house to recuperate. Howard, an older college professor, is her nearest neighbor, and he kept Lane company on many long winter nights. Howard fell in love with Lane, but he kept his feelings secret because Lane was still fragile. At the beginning of summer, Lane rented out her guest cottage to a man who is taking a break from his job in the city with the intensions of writing a novel, but Peter doesn’t make much progress. Nevertheless, Lane idealizes Peter and begins to develop feelings for him. Lane’s old friend Stephanie pays her a visit late in August. Stephanie is married and has two children, but she needed to get away from her family because she’s having problems with her marriage. Peter soon develops feelings for Stephanie. So there’s a lot of tension, frustration and jealousy in the air. And as if all the unrequited love weren’t enough, Lane’s mother and her latest husband drop in for an unexpected visit. Diane is an aging Broadway actress and playgirl, and her husband Lloyd is a physics professor. Diane immediately becomes the center of attention when she enters a room, and she seems completely oblivious to how her antics affect Lane.
In the late ’80s, I was suffering from severe depression, and I strongly related to Lane. Events from her past haunted her, none of her relationships had worked out, and she had not been able to settle on a career. Noting ever seemed to work out for Lane, and Farrow played her in such a way that you could see the stress and heartache she had endured in her demeanor, the clothes she wore, her facial expressions, her tired eyes and the timbre of her voice. Lane looks like someone who has experienced unrelenting and unbearable pain and is close to death. I felt the way Lane looked, and when Stephanie takes away her sleeping pills and asks if she really wants to die, Lane delivered a line that has always resonated with me: “That’s my problem. I’ve always wanted to live.”
I was studying philosophy and religious studies when I first saw this film. That’s because I wanted and needed to know what the meaning and purpose of life is. I was grappling with these fundamental questions and trying to decide what I believed. I feared that life had no meaning or purpose, and this film had a philosophical element that helped me confront the psychological aspects of my intellectual pursuits. As I said, Lloyd, Diane’s husband is a physics professor, and he and Peter have a chilling conversation about physics and the meaning of life one night when the power is out. In the course of this conversation, Lloyd informs Peter that the universe is “haphazard, morally neutral and unimaginably violent.” We have to endure petty betrayals and disappointments and watch everyone around us die as we await our turn, and we have to go inside of ourselves and find hope and a reason to continue because the universe isn’t going to provide us with the answers.
I guess the film does sound rather heavy and depressing, but I appreciate it’s honest attempt to portray the human condition. People usually go to the movies for distraction, and that’s important. We all need to get away from our pain now and then, but sometimes we need to confront out pain or we won’t be able to learn to cope. The country house with the sound of crickets in the background is, for me, like going into a therapist’s office, and there I have the courage to face some of my demons.
No comments:
Post a Comment