Broadway Danny Rose

Is it Mia Farrow's expression when she comes to the Danny’s door to say sorry? Or is it Woody Allen's blank look when she says: “I came to apologize.” Or it could be the romantic, wistful, Italian music playing in the background...  Mia says: “Aren't you going to ask me in?”  As she walks in, she says: "I hope I'm not intruding" And then she says: "I realize you hate me." And there's a smidgen of hope that he will listen, until his "guests" ask who's at the door and he stutters: "Oh it's nobody, it's nothing."  But then Mia says: “Wasn’t it your uncle Sydney who said: 'acceptance, forgiveness and love.’? I'd like to be friends." "No I don't think that would be such a great idea." You'd never expect him to run to her after that, and when he does, half of you lifts up and sighs with relief.  The movie ends on a perfect note, (literally, the music), and the classic credits; white over black. The moving scene contradicts this whole movie in itself. This movie is “Broadway Danny Rose”(1984).  It’s a fairly fast paced and upbeat movie despite the depressed and depressing characters.  I think the song “Agita” which opens the movie sets the tone of the film perfectly, although it is played many times in different keys throughout the whole film. The movie is about a talent manager; Danny Rose (Woody Allen) who manages has-beens and oddball acts. The only one that seems to get any popularity is Lou Canova. Lou is a has-been singer who was famous for about “fifteen minutes”(as stated in the movie).  Lou has a big show at the Waldorf Astoria, and he wants Tina (Mia Farrow); the woman he’s having a love affair with, to come. So, he gets Danny involved and a great adventure starts. The movie is an epic work of Woody Allen’s. The entire movie is narrarated by 9 guys in show biz at the Carnegie deli discussing which Danny Rose story is the best. They remember him from his stand up comedy. Finally one guy says: “Trust me, I’ve got the best Danny Rose story.” (And it’s true.) So the the story starts and ends with these guys. I thought this was a nice touch, to keep in contact with the present.

This movie is excellent; it is not my favorite Woody Allen movie, I think, but extremely close, this movie gets A- from me.

Lucy

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the roof is a fairly optimistic musical set in Russia in 1905 under the control of the Tsar. This movie is about Tevye, a jewish man living in Russia with his wife and his five daughters in a small town named Anatevka, though the movie primarily concentrates on  his three eldest daughters, Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava. Anatevka is divided in two, there is the orthodox jewish part and the otrthodox christian part, which is much larger. With Tevye's intense, strong voice, he carries this film beautifully as he guides us through the life of jewish russian peasents in the early 1900's in Tsarist Russia. Much of the movie shows Tevye's strong and dedicated view towards tradition and god. The tradition and culture of Anatevka strongly prohibits the teenagers and twenty somethings in the village from choosing their own match so there are various scenes that present us with the conflict of love, marriage, and of course the generale theme, tradition. So one musical scene is between Tevye's three eldest daughters, discussing their dream matches in the village and worrying about who Yente (the town matchmaker) will pick for them. Throughout the movie, you feel a sense of family and warmth, that is until the end when the village has to break up and desert Anatevka and everyone parts different ways. Then you just feel longing for the concrete things like family, tradition, culture. This movie gets an A in accurate depiction of the time in history and an A from me.

Sincerely,
Lucy 

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