In watching the entire documentary, I have updated my review to this final.
Let me begin by writing the following: My favorite Woody Allen movie is "Bananas." My favorite Mia Farrow movie is "Rosemary's Baby." And that will never, ever change.
But this documentary isn't about that. It is about things above it - what happens in an entertainment family beyond work. The question of separating an artist's work from who they are and what they do is one of those never-ending dilemmas for us once we get exposed to it. We like their work. We support their work. But we find out they are not the half-way decent people we thought they were. Some are much worse.
Allen v. Farrow's documentary makes us think about that. It gets into this family's dysfunctions, and one member who has been trying to live with it all, find answers to questions, get closure, get her truth told. Suitable for the adult Dylan, as that is the most critical issue here. Her childhood, no matter whose story you want to believe, was ruined. She cannot get it back. Never lose that focal point of this documentary. Dylan has struggled daily with trying to live. We learn it's been a hard struggle through her adolescence and her still forging into adulthood now being a wife and mother herself.
So in Episode 1, there had to be some background to help the viewer look at how this started. Mia Farrow's concerns and others with the allegations of sexual abuse from Mia's then 'boyfriend' Woody Allen. In this documentary, we are confronted with sorting that out - was Allen a partial live-in boyfriend, was he a father, an adopted father? What?!? It is a very complex journey, and the documentary cannot even provide a definitive answer. It even gets more complicated with Mia finding her older daughter carrying on an affair with Allen. And when that all comes out, Allen claimed he wanted to keep it quiet for some time longer.
Allen does make the accusations that Mia predicated Dylan's whole sexual abuse recollections in finding out about his relationship with Soon-Yi, rather than his behaviors. In the unveiling of this documentary, Allen v Farrow it is clear that while Soon-Yi has been placed as a trigger element, she isn't. She shouldn't even be brought up at all UNLESS she was underage when Allen began his affair with her. It seems that was one of the things Mia was trying to investigate as well. However, it is unclear in this documentary still. Allen is a director, and we learn that he wants to be in charge of the story narrative at points. For example - in the recent Soon-Yi New York Magazine article, Allen reportedly directing her interview. And we hear of an accusation of Allen trying to pay Ronan's college tuition for 'good press' on this matter. Off that, we see that Allen has created consequences for his actions. Mia made consequences for her actions too, but they were based on what she saw, what she heard, and how her daughter Dylan acted.
In this documentary, we hear from Mia Farrow first about her accusations against Allen, witnesses. Again, the most important person to hear from is Dylan, and we lightly do here, but not as much as we should. Yes, we needed the background, and Mia provided that in episode 1, and we heard from Dylan a bit in episode 1. Episode 2 was more of a recollection of the accusations and by whom. Episodes 3 & 4 take us through Allen's court filings (and it would be with Soon-Yi) to gain custody of Dylan (and Ronan and Moses). It failed, and on appeal failed. Then we go through more of the systems (legal and interviews of a child). And in episode 4, we hear from Dylan and how this all has weighed on her. That is the point of this documentary.
In this documentary, it is essential to be focused on how this affected Dylan only, not what you know going in. Not what you think you know going in. Put your focus on Dylan because that is what this is all about.
Soon-Yi does not matter much in this story, and neither does their length of time together. She is not of concern, so she should not be interjected. She is not of concern. Moses's newly conflicting reports claiming Mia was abusing him and things he once said were in the house are not are of concern. But not for a reason to discredit Dylan's story but for his credibility.
Again, the focus is on Dylan. Dylan's voice matters in THIS documentary. Dylan being able to move forward with her life around all of this does. You can see in this documentary Dylan is still hurting, haunted, and torn -- and has taken all of the family problems and division during that time on herself. For that reason, his becomes another story of a high profile Hollywood dysfunctional family that has gone on for decades for us to witness.
Let me begin by writing the following: My favorite Woody Allen movie is "Bananas." My favorite Mia Farrow movie is "Rosemary's Baby." And that will never, ever change.
But this documentary isn't about that. It is about things above it - what happens in an entertainment family beyond work. The question of separating an artist's work from who they are and what they do is one of those never-ending dilemmas for us once we get exposed to it. We like their work. We support their work. But we find out they are not the half-way decent people we thought they were. Some are much worse.
Allen v. Farrow's documentary makes us think about that. It gets into this family's dysfunctions, and one member who has been trying to live with it all, find answers to questions, get closure, get her truth told. Suitable for the adult Dylan, as that is the most critical issue here. Her childhood, no matter whose story you want to believe, was ruined. She cannot get it back. Never lose that focal point of this documentary. Dylan has struggled daily with trying to live. We learn it's been a hard struggle through her adolescence and her still forging into adulthood now being a wife and mother herself.
So in Episode 1, there had to be some background to help the viewer look at how this started. Mia Farrow's concerns and others with the allegations of sexual abuse from Mia's then 'boyfriend' Woody Allen. In this documentary, we are confronted with sorting that out - was Allen a partial live-in boyfriend, was he a father, an adopted father? What?!? It is a very complex journey, and the documentary cannot even provide a definitive answer. It even gets more complicated with Mia finding her older daughter carrying on an affair with Allen. And when that all comes out, Allen claimed he wanted to keep it quiet for some time longer.
Allen does make the accusations that Mia predicated Dylan's whole sexual abuse recollections in finding out about his relationship with Soon-Yi, rather than his behaviors. In the unveiling of this documentary, Allen v Farrow it is clear that while Soon-Yi has been placed as a trigger element, she isn't. She shouldn't even be brought up at all UNLESS she was underage when Allen began his affair with her. It seems that was one of the things Mia was trying to investigate as well. However, it is unclear in this documentary still. Allen is a director, and we learn that he wants to be in charge of the story narrative at points. For example - in the recent Soon-Yi New York Magazine article, Allen reportedly directing her interview. And we hear of an accusation of Allen trying to pay Ronan's college tuition for 'good press' on this matter. Off that, we see that Allen has created consequences for his actions. Mia made consequences for her actions too, but they were based on what she saw, what she heard, and how her daughter Dylan acted.
In this documentary, we hear from Mia Farrow first about her accusations against Allen, witnesses. Again, the most important person to hear from is Dylan, and we lightly do here, but not as much as we should. Yes, we needed the background, and Mia provided that in episode 1, and we heard from Dylan a bit in episode 1. Episode 2 was more of a recollection of the accusations and by whom. Episodes 3 & 4 take us through Allen's court filings (and it would be with Soon-Yi) to gain custody of Dylan (and Ronan and Moses). It failed, and on appeal failed. Then we go through more of the systems (legal and interviews of a child). And in episode 4, we hear from Dylan and how this all has weighed on her. That is the point of this documentary.
In this documentary, it is essential to be focused on how this affected Dylan only, not what you know going in. Not what you think you know going in. Put your focus on Dylan because that is what this is all about.
Soon-Yi does not matter much in this story, and neither does their length of time together. She is not of concern, so she should not be interjected. She is not of concern. Moses's newly conflicting reports claiming Mia was abusing him and things he once said were in the house are not are of concern. But not for a reason to discredit Dylan's story but for his credibility.
Again, the focus is on Dylan. Dylan's voice matters in THIS documentary. Dylan being able to move forward with her life around all of this does. You can see in this documentary Dylan is still hurting, haunted, and torn -- and has taken all of the family problems and division during that time on herself. For that reason, his becomes another story of a high profile Hollywood dysfunctional family that has gone on for decades for us to witness.