Customer Reviews

Reconstructing Woody

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As a big Woody Allen fan I really enjoyed reading Mary P. Nicols "Reconstructing Woody". Nicols is a professor of political science at Fordham University, and this book is basically her in-depth study or "thesis" on the cinematic art of Woody Allen. She digs deeply into 12 of Allen's films, namely "Play It Again Sam", "Annie Hall", "Interiors", "Stardust Memories", "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy", "Zelig", "The Purple Rose of Cairo", "Another Woman", "Crimes and Misdemeanors", "Manhattan Murder Mystery", "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Mighty Aphrodite". She looks at the artisty and craftsmanship of Allen's works and gives her own interperetations as to their deeper meanings, uses of symbolism, and Woody's obvious homages to classic art and literature. She also points out what I've told people all along...that whether he is using comedy or drama as his vehicle, Woody Allen is master storyteller who creates characters of great depth! The chapters on "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and "Stardust Memories" are especially intriguing and enlightening, so much so that Nicols has actually deepened my appreciation of those films. (Not that they wern't favorites already!) I would have liked to have seen what she had to say regarding "Manhattan" or "Broadway Danny Rose", but for some inexplicable reason they were not included. Now that four more Woody Allen fims have been released since the publication of this book, it would be nice to see Nicols do a follow-up which could cover "Deconstructing Harry", "Celebrity", "Sweet and Lowdown", "Small Time Crooks" and some of the older titles that were overlooked here. If Amazon ever offers such a book, I'll be the first here to buy it!

Professor Mary Nichols's "Reconstructing Woody" is a profound and provocative meditation on life and art that gazes at these issues through the lens of Woody Allen's films. Nichols's treatment is unique for its insight and readability. Moreover, she succeeds in establishing three truths in her book: 1. That film is as complex, philosophic and insightful a medium for reflecting upon life as any other literary genre, combining especially the novel's ability to recreate a detailed world and drama's ability to have visual impact. 2. That the literary/dramatic reflection of life in art is not simply "reflective" or "passive," but instead represents the artist's ability to see the world through "a" world. If that artist is thoughtful and talented enough, then we do ourselves a service by trying to enter into his or her lens to view our own world. Nichols persuasively demonstrates that Allen is an artist of that rank. 3. That (and this is a very old issue in the Western world) the "sophisticated criticism" of certain intellectuals may, in fact, be less profound than the art it tries to explain. Allen himself has clearly and funnily portrayed this in his films, and Nichols, by presuming that Allen has something to teach her and us, has produced an intellectual commentary that does not distort or render shallow his dramatic corpus. In short, in confronting Allen's art through Nichols's book, the reader will emerge with a greater ability to appreciate a worthy artist's work and the world that that work represents.

Nichols has basically written the equivalent of a term paper on the films and life of Woody Allen. That is not to say that the book is dull or only a collection of non-emotive facts about Allen. It delves deep to examine the many facets of his life and the films that he has created. For anyone who really appreciates Woody Allen's films, this would be the book for you.

Nichols has made an exemplary contribution to film studies by integrating that mushy discipline with the rigor of political philosophy. She's surely smarter and better than Woody, but with her help we can see what is best about his art as moral and philosophical illumination.