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The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is a 2001, comedy crime film, written, directed and starring Woody Allen. The film also features renowned actors; Helen Hunt as Miss Fitzgerald, Dan Aykroyd as Mr. Magruder as well as a very young Charlize Theron.The film is set in New York in the year 1940, gambling, larceny, addiction and infidelity is at the core of these characters and the film. We follow the story of CW Briggs who is an insurance investigator at North Coast Insurance. Later on Briggs and a group of people as well as his possible love interest Miss Fitzgerald go to see a hypnotist where they get programmed to react a certain way when a certain word is used. They are not aware of the fact that the hypnotist wants to use this control to his advantage. They suddenly become puppets in his master puppeteer's plan. The film seems to look like an old black-and-white Noir film, just in colour this time, and the witty banter and comments exchanged between characters, especially that of Briggs and Fitzgerald, makes them more lovable towards the audience. In the foreground we see characters living in the mid-ground of apartment buildings and the insurance company. They join the background when we see Briggs going out to do as the Hypnotist said. Allen stays to the traditional linear storyline, following only one story line (which is that of Briggs) clearly staying to the recipe of cause-and-effect, logic and rational. Allen cleverly uses contrast in the execution of the characters. Briggs is seen as a more hyper character saying what's on his mind in the most creative ways, as well as covering his own behind in the most clever of ways. The other characters being more calm and collected in their lines and execution of their character. It is also definitely seen in the difference in behaviour between when Fitzgerald and Briggs jump from being themselves to being controlled by the hypnotist. We also see the actors and actresses giving not only giving great work, but also giving such theatrical performances that at some stage it felt like I was watching a theatre piece and not a film. By keeping the look of the film warm and almost retro, the director succeeds in creating a film that is visually as enjoyable as the story itself.The film is also presented as a satirical Noir film. The use of warm colour and mundane shapes make this film easy to watch, and almost sooths you as you go along for the ride. There are crimes being committed, investigations being held, our protagonist confronted with beautiful women and his own hormones, just in this case our hero is not your normal Noir hero, he's the underdog, the loser. They guy who has wanted attention his whole life.Like in most of Allen's films, such as 1977's Annie Hall, 2013's Blue Jasmine and 2014's Magic in the Moonlight, we are clearly aware of the space in which the story takes place, as well as which perspective from where the story is told from, in this case the character of Briggs. The title of the film and the content of the film go hand in hand. Fitzgerald and Briggs are under the control of the Jade Scorpion. Doing as the hypnotist wishes and not asking anything. It makes you think that maybe we are all just puppets in the hands of a great or evil puppeteer. Aren't we all just instruments? Then there's the recurring carnival music that plays when Briggs or Fitzgerald goes into their larcenist hypnosis. This makes me feel like he's putting the people on display, saying humans are made to be viewed and made to be manipulated, because in the end their minds are stronger than their bodies, but it is so easy to hack those minds, thus so easy to control those bodies. The characters in this film are also a lot older than me at this stage and they all have been married at some stage, but none of it turned out the way they wanted it to be. People cheat on each other and even when they judge the act of infidelity we have two characters, Fitzgerald and Magruder engaging in a heated affair. This comments strongly on the legitimacy of marriages, what do they really mean, when people are so eager to break them. We see people who are filled with addiction, Briggs with his gambling with the horses, Fitzgerald who has tequila at 10 in the morning, downing a bottle in a matter of seconds, as well as a bullpen filled with drifting smoke from the smoking staff. We are also faced with the idea of mental illness, what is reality, if we are all just puppets in the hands of a master pupeteer... We see Fitzgerald wanting to jump out of the window just when Magruder, (who has a wife) tells her he can't be with her. The film also highlights the power of the human mind and the senses of the human as strong and durable. Because there was nothing Briggs could do on his own about the hypnotist and his assistant, because he didn't know what was going on and it was his mind that made him do what he was doing. We also see a slow and steady love story that makes us realize that maybe the one you were meant to be with was right under your nose, because even when their feelings for each other don't come out until the end, Briggs and Fitzgerald behave as if they are an old married couple. In the end we see them together, but only after Fitzgerald's secret word is said. I then started to ask myself, what is love, is it just an infatuation that can't last, or are we so hypnotized by the idea of love or a strange love story that we are willing to settle, like most of the characters in this film? How intoxicating or toxic is love actually? Because in the end all the characters are playing games with each other, this is shown much more clearly with the sly way the hypnotist uses hypnosis to force people to do what he wants, Magruder holding Fitzgerald on a line, postponing to talk to his wife, but rather keeping Fitzgerald under wraps and not letting anyone know what's really going on. We also see a film about men being attracted to strong women, men like Briggs, and women seeking independence and adventure as with the characters of Fitzgerald and the erotic supreme queen, Laura Kensington. On an imitational level the film succeeds to create a story that doesn't only feel plausible, but it creates a world that was so long ago, but it feels so real and tangible right now. On a formalist level, we don't see Allen really playing around with symbolic composition, the film's composition is as real as possible. He intuitively uses the elements of a realistic, yet theatrical, film.And then on an emotional level we see the film excelling in making us feel sympathetic towards the characters, in the way the music flows from one scene to the next. The way Allen and Hunt so carefully and steadily create their chemistry on stage, as well as the believability of the whole situation, even though he threw in something as strange and odd as hypnosis. In the end I found myself really enjoying this film. It's not one of my favourite films, but it's definitely not one of my least favourite. You start to wonder if Allen is really playing a character, or if he's just being himself and living out his own life frame for frame. In the end it made me feel hopeful about life and love, saying that you have to take chances on yourself and other people, and that sometimes just the right word can change your whole life.
oOoBarracuda
Often times I'm asked, usually by people who believe Woody Allen acted in his films for too long, why I better enjoy the films he has a role in over the films he doesn't. I can now point to The Curse of the Jade Scorpion as a prime example. I didn't love this film; like always, I have no problem with the fantasy elements intertwined with real world events, Woody Allen does a fantastic job of weaving real world and fantasy. Despite my lukewarm feeling to it, Woody Allen reveals himself to be not unlike the human chameleon he portrayed in his 1983 film, Zelig. Allen can so effortlessly put himself in any time period in any of his films and something about it will just work. Woody Allen can make himself work in any decade which makes it a consistent treat to see him pop up in his films. The 2001 film written and directed by Woody Allen saw him as an insurance investigator who can always catch a thief until he's hypnotized into becoming one. Also starring Helen Hunt, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is another trek into comedy/fantasy/mystery land that Woody Allen is so proficient in.In New York in 1940, CW Briggs (Woody Allen) a veteran insurance investigator is having his life turned upside down as he is being challenged by an efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald, who started her position with the company 6 months prior. The two constantly butt heads as Betty Ann wants to implement drastic changes which rubs C.W. the wrong way, as he is reluctant to change. One evening after work, the office members go out for drinks and volunteer C.W. and Betty Ann to go on stage to be hypnotized by a performer. Despite both claiming to be unable to be hypnotized, they reluctantly go on stage and become entranced. The kicker is that they are both left under hypnosis and used in a robbery. While under hypnosis, C.W. is sent on a jewelry robbery that he has no recollection of. Meanwhile, sent back into hypnosis, Betty Ann assists in some robberies, as well. Following their instincts, the two are led to begin accusing each other of the crimes even though neither thinks the other has it in them to be a thief. It's always the Woody Allen films I like the least that I notice how funny they are. Maybe that's my own downfall in that I'm so invested in other areas of the Woody Allen films I enjoy that their comedy is secondary to me. Whatever the reason, I noticed all through watching The Curse of the Jade Scorpion that the script lands every joke it launches. Even the most subtle of jokes hit their mark through the entire film's run time. I was so impressed by the period detail achieved, the costumes, the dialogue, every aspect of the film felt like it was the 1940's. I missed Woody's black-rimmed bespeckled face, but his slimmer frames fit the tone of the film nicely. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion goes to show just how much is too Woody Allen, for me anyway, because I can always find something to appreciate in one of his films.
Petri Pelkonen
It's New York in the 1940's.CW Briggs is an insurance investigator who's constantly fighting with efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald.She has an affair with his boss Chris Magruder, only his wife is on the way of their happiness.Then those two, CW and Betty Ann are hypnotized by a magician called Voltan.When he hears the word Constantinople, he falls into deepest trance.The word Madagascar does the same for her.These words make them do things they wouldn't normally do, like commit a robbery.And also like each other.Could they be meant for each other? The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) is a Woody Allen film, where he also plays the lead.He has gotten a terrific female lead from Helen Hunt as Betty Ann.Dan Aykroyd gives a great performance as Magruder.Elizabeth Berkley is fantastic as Jill.Charlize Theron has the looks and the talent, in this one she plays Laura Kensington.Allen's regulars Wallace Shawn and David Ogden Stiers play George Bond and Voltan.I just saw the movie on a DVD, having seen it once before.This is a rather interesting Woody Allen picture.It may not be the funniest, a few chuckles here and there, but it's fascinating.It's quite enjoyable to watch Allen every time he hears Constantinople.The movie tries to capture the spirit of the old screwball comedies, kind of what Tracy and Hepburn did, but gets only halfway.But it's a very good effort.
