Gideon24
One of Woody Allen's strongest films was the caustic and brilliant Husbands and Wives, a 1992 black comedy that doesn't provide a lot of belly laughs, but had me riveted to the screen with its scathingly accurate examination of the institution of marriage and the work and commitment that the institution constitutes.One of Woody's strongest outings as a writer and director, the film is shot in the form of a documentary that features an offscreen narrator who not only narrates the story but interviews the central characters as well. The film introduces us to Gabe (Woody) and Judy (Mia Farrow) a supposedly happily married couple, who are rocked by the calmly- delivered news that their best friends Jack (Sydney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis) are planning to divorce. What we then get is a Bergman- esque transformation between the two couples as Jack and Sally fail at new relationships and Gabe and Judy realize that they are not as happy as they think they are.There's a strong Ingmar Bergman influence here, not surprising considering that Bergman is one of Allen's few cinematic idols, as we watch two couples who are basically in the same place but don't even realize it, but end up traveling journeys that mirror each other to the point that their lives have done a complete 180 by the time closing credits roll without them realizing what has happened until after it's happened. I found myself having Personna flashbacks, the Bergman film about the actress and her nurse who gradually exchange personalities.Woody has put together an intensely personal story here that, despite the documentary film technique, still has a creepily voyeuristic feel to it. The scenes we are privy to all come off as intensely private and make the viewer feel like they are watching private moments that they are really not supposed to be seeing.As usual, Woody has assembled a first rate cast...he and Farrow are a well-oiled machine here, despite the fact that this was the final film they made together before the Soon-Yi explosion and the tension between them is apparent on screen, but it works for this story. The late Sydney Pollack once again proves that he was one of the few directors out there who could also act with his explosive performance as Jack and Judy Davis's crisp and unpredictable Sally actually earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Davis is just riveting here in a performance that burns a hole through the camera and makes it impossible to take your eyes off the woman and when Davis is not on screen, the movie is just a little bit slower. LOVE the scene where Sally asks a blind date to use his phone twice so that she can yell at Jack about moving in with someone else.Liam Neesom is sexy and vulnerable as a co-worker of Farrow's who comes between her and Davis and Juliette Lewis, in a role I kept picturing Winona Ryder in, scores as a student in Gabe's writing class who he eventually leaves Judy for. Lysette Anthony also makes an impression as the woman Jack moves in with after leaving Sally. The scene where where Pollack and Anthony make a very noisy exit from a party is almost frightening in its realism.This is not your usual Woody Allen fare and if you're looking for something with a lot of fall on the floor laughter, you will be disappointed, but if you're dedicated Woody-phile looking to experience his finest work as a writer and director, Husbands and Wives should be at the top of your viewing list. This is a masterpiece, right up there with Hannah and her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors
LindsayFlim
I only began to appreciate the greatness of this film upon my second viewing. Only then did I really take it all in and appreciate just how unflinching, superbly intricate and accurate this portrayal of relationships truly is. It really is a testament to the life experience of Woody Allen to be able to write something so deeply observed and then be able to direct this vision so it plays out with such normality.It explores all the love and heartbreak elements of relationships I can bring to mind. The individual interviews are an extremely effective way of vividly revealing the thoughts that we all have about these human relationships. They capture so many thoughts around monogamy, insecurity, honesty, anger, capriciousness, philosophy, social etiquette/acceptance, courage, fantasy.. I could go on. It flips the whole wishy-washy notion of 'love' on it's head to instead really examine the practical nitty gritty of everyday life as a couple. It's also interesting to see just how these interplay affects these people of different ages.It's one of those rare films you can watch several times. I've seen many Woody Allen films and this is definitely in the top 3 for me.
ElMaruecan82
Gabe (Woody Allen) and Judy (Mia Farrow) live in couple for about 10 years and are friends with Jack (Sidney Pollack) and Sally (Judy Davis), married for twenty years with kids in college. The film opens with an announcement from the Jack-Sally couple, they're splitting up. Whether it's a trial or definitive separation doesn't matter, the news come as a big shock, especially to Judy who is so upset that she steals Jack and Sally's thunder. We're too busy wondering what's with Judy that we don't really listen to Jack and Sally's explanations.The opening scene is one of Allen's most inspired moments. What we have is a couple quietly handling the idea of a separation after 20 years of common life, making tremendous efforts to rationalize it and convincing the entourage that they're happy with that, and another couple, totally confused and distressed about it. The directing contributes to create a dizzying effect, the scene is shot with a hand-held camera going back and forth from a character to another, with so many jumps and cuts it conveys a deliberate feeling of real-life confusion. It's just as if the characters played by Allen and Farrow didn't expect the news, and the cameraman didn't know if he had to go on or stop filming. The chaos almost reaches the level of a Cassavetes' film, except that Cassavetes was a director of raw emotion, while Allen, more cerebral, uses the scene to raise the very questions to which the film will try to provide answers.Jack lived 20 years with a woman extremely cerebral and anguished, and not a detail at all, cold in bed. Rather than an alibi for Jack, it serves to show how sex can cement the harmony within a couple or totally destroy it. After leaving Sally, Jack dates a sexy, beautiful, aerobics instructor. He feels like living again as if he was wasting away with Sally. Of course, he would sooner realize that all the fantasies that filled his marital sex-less nights couldn't live up to the everyday realities. Any older man is capable to seduce the sexiest bimbo but then would he feel confident enough to introduce her to his friends? As for Sally, the life following the breakup oscillated between many attitudes. She's first devoured by jealousy when she learns that Jack sees another woman, positive that it's a colleague of him who's like a younger version of her. Judy is so full of herself that she can't imagine Jack going for a 'cheaper model', and it hurts her because she's a confident woman and her pride can't allow this. Yet at one point, she's not old anymore but experienced, not single but free. She changes her perceptions and it seems to work for a while, to a point even Judy is impressed by her self- confidence. But from Sally's new perspective, Judy is not just impressed; her reaction is closer to jealousy and gives some early hints about the reasons of her reaction in the opening scene. Indeed, Judy and Gabe is a more perplexing couple, they live independently to each other yet passion seems to lack in their relationship. In fact, they argue so frequently that the moments of tenderness are more unusual. It feels like they had no chance to live in harmony as soon as their friends separated, as if Jack and Sally were the third link of their relationship. The separation of an ideal couple could easily mean a threat to a more fragile couple. To give us more insights about the characters, Allen shoots the film in documentary style, punctuating the scenes with interviews from the different protagonists. Gabe had a lust for highly libidinous women or nut-cases, and married Judy because she would reconcile him with a more normal way of life. As for Judy, the separation hit a sensitive nerve, maybe she was wasting great opportunities with Gabe. But these interviews only illustrate what the scenes brilliantly show. In "Husbands and Wives", Woody Allen demonstrates again his incredible talent when it comes to human emotions' writing. Halfway through the movie, we're so familiar with the protagonists that we can immediately guess their true reactions regarding one or another's actions, and not only guess them, but also understand them. And it's this very capacity to inspire our empathy that gives all the credit to a wonderfully written screenplay. Indeed, the movie tackles the difficult subject or relationships within couples, and in a thought-provoking move, the script succeeds in making us wonder whether marital commitment drives or undermines one's quest for happiness. In other words, can this quest not be just personal? That's it, in "Husbands and Wives", we understand any of Gabe, Sally, Judy or Jack, no one is guilty or innocent because no one can actually be blamed of seeking harmony or self-contentment. Made in a difficult personal time for Woody Allen, hi film is thought provoking because it chronicles people's approaches to marital commitment. And while we're committed to live with the same person for the rest of our lives, it's impossible not to think about what our life would be, with another person, or if we were single. Being married for less than a year, the film didn't have the same effect on me as on the first viewing. I understood the characters, I can understand the lust a man can have on a younger, or a sexier, on a more or less sophisticated woman. The food in the neighbor's table always look more appetizing.Still, why do some people stay together even if they know they don't share the same dreams than their companion? Because although we'd feel guilty and weak not to fulfill our personal dreams, guilt and weakness are double-edged swords when they concern the person we loved for a long time. It's up to us to see on which side, those feelings would be more tolerable.
