"Wild Man Blues", Barbara Kopple's 1997 documentary about Woody Allen's tour of Europe with his New Orleans jazz band is both rare and interesting on some levels. It was also disheartening on others. Allen, a fairly prolific clarinetist, travels the major cities in Europe with his band, a tour that is an extension of their regular Monday night gigs at "Michael's", a jazz club in New York. Presumably, this is his first tour, and Woody is his regular angsty self, fretting over whether people are there for the music or to see him. While the musicians really stand up in terms of quality, Allen included, it is pretty clear that the majority of the concert attendees are there for Allen the Icon, whose films are immensely more popular overseas than they are here.
The film is not outstanding in terms of production, but more importantly, the camera acts as a fly on the wall perspective on someone who is not particularly comfortable in the public eye. His amazement at the scores of people who attend his concerts, wait for him at the concert hall and outside his hotel is almost comical, and the paparazzi are insatiable, particularly since the film was made a short time after the whole Mia-Woody-Soon-Yi scandal. The scene I found most intriguing of all actually occurs during the last ten minutes of the film, and that is when he returns home after the tour and goes to visit his parents with Soon-Yi and his sister, who accompanied him on the tour. The fact that his parents still feel that he would have been better off as a pharmacist, and that his "acting thing" isn't all that great, yet get defensive when he seems to take sole credit for his creativity was very interesting.
When the Woody Allen "scandal" broke during the 1990's, I was one of his most ardent supporters, an opinion that was extremely popular, regardless of any reasoning. Throughout it all, I couldn't help but wonder what he saw in this woman, but I never questioned his morals in choosing her to be his companion. I just assumed that, being as intelligent as he is, she must be his intellectual and spiritual match. Unfortunately, that image was shattered for me with this film, because she came across not only as completely vapid, but ignorant and not personable at all. She was obviously acting for the camera, and really ended up being a hindrance to the film, in my opinion.
As a documentary, however, Kopple provides us with a good piece of film-making, though it is certainly a niche piece; only fans of Allen or those curious about him will make it through the film, much less appreciate it. 6/10 --Shelly
The film is not outstanding in terms of production, but more importantly, the camera acts as a fly on the wall perspective on someone who is not particularly comfortable in the public eye. His amazement at the scores of people who attend his concerts, wait for him at the concert hall and outside his hotel is almost comical, and the paparazzi are insatiable, particularly since the film was made a short time after the whole Mia-Woody-Soon-Yi scandal. The scene I found most intriguing of all actually occurs during the last ten minutes of the film, and that is when he returns home after the tour and goes to visit his parents with Soon-Yi and his sister, who accompanied him on the tour. The fact that his parents still feel that he would have been better off as a pharmacist, and that his "acting thing" isn't all that great, yet get defensive when he seems to take sole credit for his creativity was very interesting.
When the Woody Allen "scandal" broke during the 1990's, I was one of his most ardent supporters, an opinion that was extremely popular, regardless of any reasoning. Throughout it all, I couldn't help but wonder what he saw in this woman, but I never questioned his morals in choosing her to be his companion. I just assumed that, being as intelligent as he is, she must be his intellectual and spiritual match. Unfortunately, that image was shattered for me with this film, because she came across not only as completely vapid, but ignorant and not personable at all. She was obviously acting for the camera, and really ended up being a hindrance to the film, in my opinion.
As a documentary, however, Kopple provides us with a good piece of film-making, though it is certainly a niche piece; only fans of Allen or those curious about him will make it through the film, much less appreciate it. 6/10 --Shelly