"Woody's European Tour"
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What You Need To Know:
WILD MAN BLUES is a documentary about Woody Allen on tour in Europe with his jazz band. The movie follows Woody on a private plane with Soon-Ye, records several appearances on stage, overhears band chatter, and shows Woody meeting various VIPs. Time is spent watching Woody hang out in hotel rooms. Finally, the movie concludes in New York where Woody has a lunch with his parents, and his mother openly criticizes him.
Though WILD MAN BLUES contains some entertainment, including the music and some of Woody's comments, it will disappoint those who want to know more about New Orleans jazz. The movie does not tell us how the band was formed, why, where else they have played, and if they will continue. Ironically, the movie does reveal a great deal about his relationship with Soon-Ye Previn. Perhaps the greatest lesson learned in this movie is the foul language discrepancy between his real life and his movies. Though there were a few obscenities in WILD MAN BLUES, many of Woody's more recent movies are filled with obscenities and profanities. It is commendable that he doesn't use large amounts of obscenities in his real life, but it is reprehensible that he foists it on the audience in his movies.
Content:
(Pa, L, N, A, D) Pagan worldview of Woody Allen & his travels in Europe; 2 obscenities & 3 profanities; no violence; no sex; woman in bikini & upper male nudity; alcohol use; and, smoking.
More Detail:
Everyone knows about Woody Allen’s film careers as a writer, director and actor. Known for off-the cuff bizarre, self-depreciating humor, his films range from brilliant to profane. Many people are familiar with his bizarre personal life, where he is now married to his step-daughter, the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow, Soon-Ye Previn. However, many people do not know that Woody Allen is an accomplished clarinetist who plays in a New Orleans style jazz band, when he isn’t making movies. WILD MAN BLUES is a documentary about Woody Allen on tour in Europe with his jazz band. The movie follows him from his flight to Paris through Europe and then back home again to New York.
The audience watches Woody on a private plane with Soon-Ye and his sister, and several appearances on stage where he is with his band. The audience witnesses band chatter behind stage, and Woody meeting various European VIPs who have attended his shows. A great deal of the time is spent with Woody hanging out in hotel rooms between shows and eating food, swimming or talking about his impressions of Europe. Highlights include taking a gondola trip in Venice and playing a set in the dark. Finally, the movie concludes in New York where he has a lunch with his parents and his mother openly criticizes him.
Though WILD MAN BLUES contains some entertainment, including the music and some of Woody’s comments, it will disappoint those who want to know more about New Orleans style jazz. Woody explains how much he loves it. “It’s like taking a bath in honey,” he says, but the movie does explain how the band was formed, why, where else they have played, and if they will continue.
Ironically, the movie does reveal a great deal about his relationship with Soon-Ye Previn. Although they seem comfortable with each other, it is strange to see her giving him orders, which she does often. It is odd to see a film icon being emasculated by a step-daughter lover who wasn’t even born when he made his best work. She says that she hasn’t even seen ANNIE HALL.
Perhaps, the greatest lesson learned in this movie is the foul language discrepancy between his real life and his movies. Though there were a few obscenities in WILD MAN BLUES, making it unacceptable for children, many of Woody’s more recent movies, including DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, are filled with obscenities and profanities.
My grandfather said that he doesn’t like to go to the movies anymore because of all the foul language in them. My grandfather says that he doesn’t know anybody in real life that has such a filthy mouth as the characters in many modern movies. Woody doesn’t use a lot of foul language either. Even as he is tempted to ham it up in front of a camera he consciously knows is on him, he practices a restraint that he lets go while writing. It is commendable that Woody doesn’t use large amounts of obscenities in his real life, but it is reprehensible that he foists it on Americans in his movies.