Woody Allen: A Documentary - Part Two

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0:00:02 > 0:00:04You're about to see the second part of Robert Weide's

0:00:04 > 0:00:07absorbing documentary on Allan Stewart Konigsberg,

0:00:07 > 0:00:10better known to you and I as Woody Allen.

0:00:10 > 0:00:12Picking up in the early '80s,

0:00:12 > 0:00:15tonight's film explorers Allen's later career,

0:00:15 > 0:00:17from the magical Purple Rose Of Cairo

0:00:17 > 0:00:20to his most recent forays here in Europe,

0:00:20 > 0:00:23including his biggest commercial success to date -

0:00:23 > 0:00:292011's Midnight In Paris, which picked up the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

0:00:29 > 0:00:33There have been hits and misses along the way.

0:00:33 > 0:00:36Weide's film probes both a creative and a personal life

0:00:36 > 0:00:40that has captured hearts and minds and headlines

0:00:40 > 0:00:42across the past six decades,

0:00:42 > 0:00:46to reveal the often elusive man behind the glasses.

0:00:46 > 0:00:52This programme contains some strong language

0:01:15 > 0:01:18We're so used to conceiving of Woody Allen as a New York filmmaker

0:01:18 > 0:01:21that it's actually come as quite a shock

0:01:21 > 0:01:24to find him making films in England or in Spain,

0:01:24 > 0:01:26but the truth is he's still the same filmmaker.

0:01:26 > 0:01:29I mean, he was a metropolitan filmmaker

0:01:29 > 0:01:33and he's become a cosmopolitan filmmaker.

0:01:33 > 0:01:35He's still Woody Allen, but he's just changed -politans.

0:01:35 > 0:01:39The inspiration of London for Match Point,

0:01:39 > 0:01:44of Barcelona for Vicky Cristina Barcelona,

0:01:44 > 0:01:46of Paris for Midnight In Paris,

0:01:46 > 0:01:48and his next film will be set in Rome,

0:01:48 > 0:01:52I think these are providing a wonderful way

0:01:52 > 0:01:55for Woody Allen to recharge his cinematic batteries.

0:01:55 > 0:02:00For example, we think we've seen everything of Paris onscreen, probably, by now,

0:02:00 > 0:02:02and maybe we have,

0:02:02 > 0:02:06but, in Midnight In Paris, it's the nocturnal city

0:02:06 > 0:02:09that obviously animates not only the character Gil,

0:02:09 > 0:02:12but Woody Allen's imagination.

0:02:12 > 0:02:15It's those winding, dark streets,

0:02:15 > 0:02:18this geographical or spatial dislocation

0:02:18 > 0:02:22that creates the time warp in Midnight In Paris.

0:02:22 > 0:02:24In other words, it comes from the place

0:02:24 > 0:02:27that, suddenly, we're transported to the 1920s.

0:02:29 > 0:02:31Oh, hi, Mr Hemingway.

0:02:31 > 0:02:33The assignment was to take the hill.

0:02:33 > 0:02:35There were four of us, five, if you counted Vicente,

0:02:35 > 0:02:37but he had lost his hand when a grenade went off

0:02:37 > 0:02:40and couldn't fight as he could when I first met him.

0:02:40 > 0:02:44And he was young and brave and the hill was soggy

0:02:44 > 0:02:46from days of rain, and it sloped down toward a road,

0:02:46 > 0:02:48and there were many German soldiers on the road.

0:02:48 > 0:02:51And the idea was to aim for the first group and,

0:02:51 > 0:02:55if our aim was true, we could delay them.

0:02:55 > 0:02:57Were you scared?

0:02:57 > 0:02:58Of what?

0:02:58 > 0:02:59Getting killed.

0:02:59 > 0:03:02You'll never write well if you fear dying.

0:03:02 > 0:03:05- Do you?- Yeah, I do.

0:03:05 > 0:03:08I'd say it's probably my greatest fear, actually.

0:03:08 > 0:03:11Well, it's something all men before you have done, all men will do.

0:03:11 > 0:03:13I know, I know.

0:03:13 > 0:03:16Have you ever made love to a truly great woman?

0:03:16 > 0:03:20Actually, my fiancee is pretty sexy.

0:03:20 > 0:03:23And when you make love to her, you feel true and beautiful passion

0:03:23 > 0:03:26and you, for at least that moment, lose your fear of death.

0:03:26 > 0:03:29No, that doesn't happen.

0:03:29 > 0:03:32The very geography of the world

0:03:32 > 0:03:36is inspiring Woody Allen in this phase of his career,

0:03:36 > 0:03:41much like New York City inspired his first 25, 30 years.

0:03:41 > 0:03:43He said, you know, one of the good things

0:03:43 > 0:03:44about leaving New York is that he shot

0:03:44 > 0:03:47just about every street corner that he could.

0:03:47 > 0:03:50He came to the point where, suddenly,

0:03:50 > 0:03:52it became more difficult to make films in New York

0:03:52 > 0:03:54because they're so expensive to do

0:03:54 > 0:03:57and he was getting money to go abroad to do it.

0:03:57 > 0:04:00But I think, in the end, the films are the films,

0:04:00 > 0:04:02the stories are the stories.

0:04:02 > 0:04:05So, instead of from Long Island, people came from London.

0:04:07 > 0:04:10I forgot to tell you that Sidney Zion died.

0:04:10 > 0:04:12- Who? What?- Sidney Zion.

0:04:12 > 0:04:13Oh, Sidney Zion died? Oh!

0:04:13 > 0:04:15And Gwathmey.

0:04:15 > 0:04:16Charlie Gwathmey died?

0:04:16 > 0:04:18Yes, he had esophageal cancer.

0:04:18 > 0:04:20Really?

0:04:20 > 0:04:23Yes, so that's my news of the day.

0:04:23 > 0:04:26Oh, my God. Really?

0:04:26 > 0:04:30One after the other, the deaths have just been

0:04:30 > 0:04:31mounting up. It's awful.

0:04:31 > 0:04:33Well, there were always all those deaths,

0:04:33 > 0:04:36these just happen to be people you know.

0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's not like there was ever a lull in the number of deaths.

0:04:39 > 0:04:40I know them all.

0:04:42 > 0:04:45I don't do any preparation.

0:04:45 > 0:04:47I don't do any rehearsals.

0:04:47 > 0:04:50Most of the times, I don't even know what we're going to shoot.

0:04:50 > 0:04:53When I come, they hand me the couple of pages,

0:04:53 > 0:04:55the material that we're going to do for the day,

0:04:55 > 0:04:59and I see what it is that I'm in for.

0:04:59 > 0:05:03You know, cos I don't read the script after I'm finished with it and I rewrite it.

0:05:03 > 0:05:06I don't read it again

0:05:06 > 0:05:10because it gets stale to me and I start to hate it.

0:05:10 > 0:05:15He has a great feeling for staging.

0:05:15 > 0:05:16You have to know where the camera should be

0:05:16 > 0:05:19in order to tell what the scene is about

0:05:19 > 0:05:23and he has a great feeling about where the camera should be

0:05:23 > 0:05:27and then what part of the set you want to see.

0:05:27 > 0:05:28He doesn't like tricks,

0:05:28 > 0:05:32he doesn't like effects, he doesn't use gadgets.

0:05:32 > 0:05:34He likes collaborators around him.

0:05:34 > 0:05:37You know, it's just one word,

0:05:37 > 0:05:41actually, I would say, it's simplicity.

0:05:41 > 0:05:45He is a director who believes in the written word.

0:05:45 > 0:05:50It's not rocket science. This is not quantum physics.

0:05:50 > 0:05:53If you're the writer of the story,

0:05:53 > 0:05:57you know what you want the audience to see

0:05:57 > 0:05:58because you've written it.

0:05:58 > 0:06:04It's just storytelling, and you tell it.

0:06:04 > 0:06:07There's no big deal to it.

0:06:07 > 0:06:10MUSIC: Stompin' At The Savoy

0:06:13 > 0:06:15One night, we were in Trader Vic's

0:06:15 > 0:06:20and we uncharacteristically started talking about the future.

0:06:20 > 0:06:25He used the phrase I have endless ideas for movies

0:06:25 > 0:06:28and I remember it felt like the earth moved.

0:06:28 > 0:06:31I just thought, it would take me a year

0:06:31 > 0:06:32to have one idea about a movie,

0:06:32 > 0:06:38And he's able to think of making one or two or three or... Many?

0:06:38 > 0:06:41I might even have thought, somewhat condescendingly,

0:06:41 > 0:06:45Well, he may find out that it's not all that easy.

0:06:45 > 0:06:49This is my collection.

0:06:49 > 0:06:52This is how I'll start,

0:06:52 > 0:06:54and there's all kinds of scraps

0:06:54 > 0:06:59and things that are written on hotel things

0:06:59 > 0:07:03and I'll, you know, ponder these things.

0:07:03 > 0:07:07I'll pull these out and I'll dump them here like this.

0:07:07 > 0:07:10I go through this all the time,

0:07:10 > 0:07:13every time I start a project.

0:07:13 > 0:07:17And I sit here like this and I'll look at -

0:07:17 > 0:07:21oh, don't like that.

0:07:21 > 0:07:24Right.

0:07:24 > 0:07:27No.

0:07:27 > 0:07:31MAN: Read me one note off of one piece of paper.

0:07:31 > 0:07:34A note here would be

0:07:34 > 0:07:40a man inherits all the magic tricks

0:07:40 > 0:07:42of a great magician.

0:07:42 > 0:07:47Now, that's all I have there, but I could see, you know,

0:07:47 > 0:07:53a story forming where some little jerk like myself,

0:07:53 > 0:07:58at an auction or at some opportunity,

0:07:58 > 0:08:03buys all those illusions and, you know,

0:08:03 > 0:08:08boxes and guillotines and things,

0:08:08 > 0:08:13and... Leading me to some kind of interesting adventure -

0:08:13 > 0:08:19going into one of those boxes and maybe suddenly showing up

0:08:19 > 0:08:23in a different timeframe or in a different country

0:08:23 > 0:08:25or in a different place altogether,

0:08:25 > 0:08:27or, you know, some kind of thing.

0:08:27 > 0:08:30And, you know, I'll spend an hour thinking of that,

0:08:30 > 0:08:34and it'll go no place and then I'll go on to the next one.

0:08:34 > 0:08:37If he has an idea - and he has a lot of ideas -

0:08:37 > 0:08:41if he has an idea and he starts to write it,

0:08:41 > 0:08:43and it seems like it's going to work out,

0:08:43 > 0:08:47the writing of it doesn't take him very long.

0:08:47 > 0:08:50I've never seen anybody write so fast

0:08:50 > 0:08:54and perhaps that explains, to a large extent,

0:08:54 > 0:08:56why he's made so many films.

0:08:56 > 0:09:00If you want to compare Woody Allen, in the realm of productivity,

0:09:00 > 0:09:02you actually have to reach back an era.

0:09:02 > 0:09:04You have to reach back to the 1930s,

0:09:04 > 0:09:08when John Ford and Howard Hawks and Raoul Walsh

0:09:08 > 0:09:10and guys like that were making more than one film a year.

0:09:10 > 0:09:12They we're doing it under the studio system.

0:09:12 > 0:09:15They were basically part of the dream factory.

0:09:15 > 0:09:17Now, Woody Allen is doing a film a year,

0:09:17 > 0:09:19and writing a film a year, for 40 years.

0:09:19 > 0:09:21That's unheard of.

0:09:21 > 0:09:24That's almost without precedent, except for Ingmar Bergman.

0:09:24 > 0:09:26Who the hell is good for 20 years?

0:09:26 > 0:09:29This guy's been good for 40 years.

0:09:29 > 0:09:31Who's good for ten years?

0:09:31 > 0:09:33Five years?

0:09:33 > 0:09:35He's kind of peerless.

0:09:35 > 0:09:38The closest figure to Woody Allen would be Babe Ruth.

0:09:38 > 0:09:41Babe Ruth led the American League

0:09:41 > 0:09:45with 54 home runs one year. The next guy had 13.

0:09:45 > 0:09:47Not everybody has the staying power,

0:09:47 > 0:09:49not everybody has the tenacity,

0:09:49 > 0:09:54and not everybody has so much to say about life continually.

0:09:54 > 0:10:00So, from a purely endurance point of view,

0:10:00 > 0:10:03longevity and quantity

0:10:03 > 0:10:07is an achievement, yes, but not the valuable one.

0:10:07 > 0:10:09The achievement that I'm going for is

0:10:09 > 0:10:11to try and make a great film,

0:10:11 > 0:10:16and that has eluded me over the decades.

0:10:16 > 0:10:20LEONARD MALTIN: After a pretty amazing ten-year run

0:10:20 > 0:10:24of building goodwill with critics and audiences alike,

0:10:24 > 0:10:28and then experiencing this misfire, as it was seen in many circles,

0:10:28 > 0:10:30with Stardust Memories,

0:10:30 > 0:10:33it was clear that he was not going to be boxed into

0:10:33 > 0:10:36any kind of corner or pigeonhole,

0:10:36 > 0:10:39he was going to do what he felt like doing.

0:10:39 > 0:10:41So the question remained - what's next?

0:10:41 > 0:10:44I was going to continue to make funny films.

0:10:44 > 0:10:46I mean, I was not trying to get away from it.

0:10:46 > 0:10:47In fact, probably the next film I make...

0:10:47 > 0:10:50I haven't made a really funny film for a while.

0:10:50 > 0:10:52I would like to try that again.

0:10:52 > 0:10:55If Stardust Memories was a misstep,

0:10:55 > 0:10:58then Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy was a return to strength.

0:10:58 > 0:11:00He was actually going back to a known area,

0:11:00 > 0:11:01which was pure comedy.

0:11:01 > 0:11:04A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is the first farce

0:11:04 > 0:11:06he's done, really, since Love And Death.

0:11:06 > 0:11:08CLATTER

0:11:08 > 0:11:10It was released as a summer movie.

0:11:10 > 0:11:13People thought, "Ah, you know, here comes Woody again."

0:11:13 > 0:11:15And I think that the studio backers, you know,

0:11:15 > 0:11:18had to be heaving a sigh of relief that it was in colour, as well.

0:11:18 > 0:11:20And I thought I'd like to do something

0:11:20 > 0:11:22in the country, just for fun,

0:11:22 > 0:11:26just to see the country as a beautiful thing,

0:11:26 > 0:11:28the way I see the city, just for amusement.

0:11:32 > 0:11:36- GORDON WILLIS:- Somebody saw the movie and said, "it was the first time

0:11:36 > 0:11:41"I've ever come out of a movie whistling the photography."

0:11:41 > 0:11:43You know, so I thought it was pretty funny.

0:11:43 > 0:11:46The other aspect of Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

0:11:46 > 0:11:48is that it introduces Mia Farrow to his body of work.

0:11:48 > 0:11:52- Yes, we've met before. - Ariel told me about you.

0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was such a funny coincidence when Leopold said

0:11:54 > 0:11:56that you were his cousin's husband,

0:11:56 > 0:11:58because I told him we were old friends.

0:11:58 > 0:12:01Acquaintances. We're like...

0:12:01 > 0:12:03Mia wrote me some fan letters over the years.

0:12:03 > 0:12:06Then, once, I had a New Year's Eve party

0:12:06 > 0:12:09and I said, "you know, why don't we have lunch sometime?"

0:12:09 > 0:12:11And she said, "sure."

0:12:11 > 0:12:13Boy, if I had only acted that time, you know,

0:12:13 > 0:12:15when were at the brook that night!

0:12:15 > 0:12:17- Yeah.- It just haunts me. - Yeah, me too.

0:12:17 > 0:12:21You know, not a week has gone by that I haven't dreamt about you.

0:12:21 > 0:12:23We made a date, we had lunch, and then we started going out.

0:12:23 > 0:12:25SNEEZE

0:12:25 > 0:12:27Hey, are you OK?

0:12:27 > 0:12:32Eventually, we started going out in a more serious way and then,

0:12:32 > 0:12:34I got to know her as an actress.

0:12:34 > 0:12:38Well, you know, for a woman, the years slip away quickly.

0:12:38 > 0:12:41Don't tell me you're getting scared.

0:12:41 > 0:12:42Maybe.

0:12:42 > 0:12:45But why? I don't understand. You're so beautiful and charming.

0:12:45 > 0:12:48You could get any man that you wanted.

0:12:48 > 0:12:50- Not you.- Me?

0:12:50 > 0:12:51I think, amongst all the love affairs

0:12:51 > 0:12:54I was running through in those days,

0:12:54 > 0:12:56you were the one person that could've stopped me.

0:12:56 > 0:13:00She was very nervous when we first started working together.

0:13:00 > 0:13:01She needn't have been.

0:13:01 > 0:13:05Then it was a pleasure to work with her. She was always easy to work with.

0:13:05 > 0:13:09If you lusted after me so, why weren't you also in love with me?

0:13:09 > 0:13:12Can the two feelings really be separate?

0:13:12 > 0:13:14Mia Farrow became his muse

0:13:14 > 0:13:17and he began to show us a range in Mia Farrow

0:13:17 > 0:13:18that had been denied us by, say,

0:13:18 > 0:13:22Rosemary's Baby or Hurricane, you know.

0:13:22 > 0:13:24Just sides of her we were not be able to see,,

0:13:24 > 0:13:27and Woody Allen was able to bring her out in all her rainbow of colours.

0:13:27 > 0:13:33And through her, he explored a number of wonderful modes of filmmaking.

0:13:33 > 0:13:36And, in a way, by so doing, he's also testing his own range,

0:13:36 > 0:13:40he's fulfilling every key on the pianoboard that he's got.

0:13:40 > 0:13:44He just runs the scales in his own talent through the '80s,

0:13:44 > 0:13:47with Mia Farrow as his partner.

0:13:47 > 0:13:53She was an excellent actress with a very big range.

0:13:53 > 0:13:57You know, she could play comedy and broad comedy,

0:13:57 > 0:14:00she could play serious things,

0:14:00 > 0:14:05and I felt no one had really exploited her much

0:14:05 > 0:14:09on the screen, and so I wrote roles for her

0:14:09 > 0:14:13and she never disappointed, she always came though

0:14:13 > 0:14:14and did a terrific job for me.

0:14:14 > 0:14:18That's what muse is, you know, the more you understand the person,

0:14:18 > 0:14:21then you can bring out these different qualities in them, you know?

0:14:21 > 0:14:23And he did it with Mia for years.

0:14:23 > 0:14:26Like, who would have ever thought that Mia could be

0:14:26 > 0:14:28this actress in some of these films?

0:14:28 > 0:14:32Broadway Danny Rose - I mean, who would've thought that she could've played

0:14:32 > 0:14:34these different characters with those accents?

0:14:34 > 0:14:37I mean, you didn't think of Mia as that kind of actress, but he knew her.

0:14:37 > 0:14:39You know, I never feel guilty.

0:14:39 > 0:14:42I just think you got to do what you got to do.

0:14:42 > 0:14:43You know? Life's short.

0:14:43 > 0:14:46You don't get any medals for being a boy scout.

0:14:46 > 0:14:48We always ate up at Rao's,

0:14:48 > 0:14:52an Italian restaurant uptown, and Mrs Rao, Annie Rao,

0:14:52 > 0:14:55would, you know, come and sit at the table with us and chat.

0:14:55 > 0:14:58She always had the high blonde hair and smoked a cigarette

0:14:58 > 0:15:00and wore the sunglasses

0:15:00 > 0:15:03and she was a great character, a wonderful woman.

0:15:03 > 0:15:07And Mia said to me,

0:15:07 > 0:15:10"boy, I'd love to play a woman like that sometime. I'd be great."

0:15:10 > 0:15:14And then, when I was going to do Broadway Danny Rose, it was perfect.

0:15:14 > 0:15:18Johnny's all right. He was really nice to me when my marriage fell apart.

0:15:18 > 0:15:20Yes? And what did your husband do?

0:15:20 > 0:15:25Um, a little bookmaking, some loan sharking, extortion, like that.

0:15:25 > 0:15:30So he's a professional man. What did you do, you divorced him, or you got a separation, or what?

0:15:30 > 0:15:32Some guy shot him in the eyes.

0:15:32 > 0:15:33- Really, he's blind?- Dead.

0:15:33 > 0:15:37He's dead, of course, because the bullets go right through.

0:15:37 > 0:15:39MALTIN: By this time, if you were following Woody,

0:15:39 > 0:15:41you never knew what was going to come next,

0:15:41 > 0:15:44what tone it would take, what shape it would take.

0:15:44 > 0:15:45And who would think that the same man

0:15:45 > 0:15:49who made Broadway Danny Rose would also give us Zelig?

0:15:49 > 0:15:54the relationship of the private person to celebrity

0:15:54 > 0:15:58is the theme that he inaugurates in Stardust Memories,

0:15:58 > 0:16:00but which he continues in Zelig.

0:16:00 > 0:16:02NARRATOR: Leonard Zelig continues to astound scientists

0:16:02 > 0:16:05At New York's Manhattan hospital,

0:16:05 > 0:16:08where numerous tests have led nowhere

0:16:08 > 0:16:11in determining the nature of this astonishing manifestation.

0:16:11 > 0:16:13And it's done in more radical comedic terms.

0:16:13 > 0:16:15There's a stylistic thing - he discovered

0:16:15 > 0:16:18this optical process where he could bleed himself into

0:16:18 > 0:16:22all these actual photographs of Woodrow Wilson and whomever.

0:16:22 > 0:16:27I wanted to do it like a real, actual documentary, where you just about couldn't tell the difference.

0:16:27 > 0:16:28NARRATOR: His transformation into a rabbi

0:16:28 > 0:16:31is so realistic that certain Frenchmen suggest

0:16:31 > 0:16:34he be sent to Devil's Island.

0:16:34 > 0:16:36And I thought the theme of the character

0:16:36 > 0:16:41who was always trying to be who he was around

0:16:41 > 0:16:43was a universal psychological theme.

0:16:43 > 0:16:45NARRATOR: As the men discuss their obesity,

0:16:45 > 0:16:48an initially reticent Zelig joins in,

0:16:48 > 0:16:53swelling himself to a miraculous 250 pounds.

0:16:53 > 0:16:55Next, in the presence of two negro men,

0:16:55 > 0:16:59Zelig rapidly becomes one himself.

0:16:59 > 0:17:01What will they think of next?

0:17:01 > 0:17:05and I felt that that, ultimately, would lead to Fascism because

0:17:05 > 0:17:09you would always be saying what the crowd wanted to hear

0:17:09 > 0:17:12and giving up your own beliefs and personality.

0:17:12 > 0:17:17MALTIN: There is Leonard Zelig, sitting next to Adolf Hitler,

0:17:17 > 0:17:20and the Mia Farrow character sees him blending in, as usual,

0:17:20 > 0:17:23and yet, it's him noticing her waving at him

0:17:23 > 0:17:27that snaps him out of that.

0:17:27 > 0:17:30So, ultimately, it's love that brings him back to earth.

0:17:33 > 0:17:35- LAUDER:- I like purple rose of Cairo very much.

0:17:35 > 0:17:38The Mia Farrow character has a terrible existence.

0:17:38 > 0:17:41Her husband, Danny Aiello, is an abuser.

0:17:41 > 0:17:43The only relief she gets is movies,

0:17:43 > 0:17:47so she goes to see the same movie over and over again.

0:17:47 > 0:17:49She can't find any meaning in her day-to-day existence,

0:17:49 > 0:17:52but the escapism that movies provide is the only meaning.

0:17:52 > 0:17:55OK, that's it, but at least she has this.

0:17:55 > 0:17:58This is something that encourages her to hope.

0:17:58 > 0:18:01Things are bad, but it's going to turn out OK.

0:18:01 > 0:18:03I think that's such a clever film.

0:18:03 > 0:18:06I intended it, you know,

0:18:06 > 0:18:10on a much more pretentious, deep level, you know,

0:18:10 > 0:18:12that people are faced, in life,

0:18:12 > 0:18:15with choosing between reality and fantasy

0:18:15 > 0:18:19and it's very pleasant to choose fantasy,

0:18:19 > 0:18:21but that way lies madness

0:18:21 > 0:18:24and you're forced, finally, to choose reality

0:18:24 > 0:18:28and reality always disappoints, always hurts you.

0:18:28 > 0:18:31You know, that was what made me do the film and, of course,

0:18:31 > 0:18:36the idea that someone comes off the screen, that was the gimmick.

0:18:36 > 0:18:38You know, I still can't get over the fact that,

0:18:38 > 0:18:4024 hours ago, I was in an Egyptian tomb.

0:18:40 > 0:18:44I didn't know any of you wonderful people,

0:18:44 > 0:18:46and here I am now, I'm on the verge of

0:18:46 > 0:18:50a madcap Manhattan weekend.

0:18:50 > 0:18:53My god, you must really love this picture.

0:18:53 > 0:18:55Me?

0:18:55 > 0:18:58You've been here all day and I've seen you here twice before.

0:18:58 > 0:19:01- You mean me? - Yes, you, you!

0:19:01 > 0:19:03This is the fifth time you're seeing this.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05Henry, come here, quickly.

0:19:05 > 0:19:08I got to speak to you.

0:19:08 > 0:19:09GASPS MAN: Oh, my God!

0:19:09 > 0:19:12- SHE SCREAMS - Listen, old sport, you're on the wrong side.

0:19:12 > 0:19:15Tom, get back here! We're in the middle of the story!

0:19:15 > 0:19:17Leave me alone. I'm going to have a look around.

0:19:17 > 0:19:20- You go on without me. Who are you? - C-Cecilia.

0:19:20 > 0:19:23- Let's get out of here and go somewhere we can talk. - But you're in the movie.

0:19:23 > 0:19:26Wrong, Cecilia, I'm free! After 2,000 performances

0:19:26 > 0:19:28and the same monotonous routine, I'm free!

0:19:28 > 0:19:32- Call father Donnelly! - Tom!

0:19:33 > 0:19:37Oh, boy! So that's what popcorn tastes like.

0:19:37 > 0:19:40Been watching people eat it for all those performances.

0:19:40 > 0:19:44- LAX:- The role of the handsome young guy in the piece

0:19:44 > 0:19:45was played by Jeff Daniels,

0:19:45 > 0:19:47who was really quite wonderful in it.

0:19:47 > 0:19:50Woody's not afraid to change cast members

0:19:50 > 0:19:52as he goes along, if something doesn't work out,

0:19:52 > 0:19:56and the best example of this is Michael Keaton in Purple Rose Of Cairo.

0:19:56 > 0:20:00He greatly admired Michael Keaton and still does,

0:20:00 > 0:20:03but never took the time to meet him and then,

0:20:03 > 0:20:06once he was there, just felt he was so contemporary

0:20:06 > 0:20:08for a movie that took place in the 1930s,

0:20:08 > 0:20:10that it just didn't feel right.

0:20:10 > 0:20:12And there have been other instances where,

0:20:12 > 0:20:14for whatever reason, an actor hasn't worked out.

0:20:14 > 0:20:17I would say that that doesn't happen often,

0:20:17 > 0:20:18but, when it does,

0:20:18 > 0:20:22he's not at all averse to saying, "we just need to start this over."

0:20:22 > 0:20:24He shot September twice,

0:20:24 > 0:20:28with different casts,

0:20:28 > 0:20:32and that, I think he would say, was a writing problem.

0:20:32 > 0:20:35He just felt he didn't nail it.

0:20:35 > 0:20:38So he completely recast the movie, for the most part,

0:20:38 > 0:20:40and moved people around, as if it were a repertory company.

0:20:40 > 0:20:47Casting was just a process that he had very little patience for.

0:20:47 > 0:20:51You know, when I first started, I never even met the actors.

0:20:51 > 0:20:56I had my assistant director meet them and I would sit back

0:20:56 > 0:20:59in the corner of the room somewhere and look.

0:20:59 > 0:21:02And only over the years did I gradually start

0:21:02 > 0:21:05to speak to the actors, and I have nothing to say to them.

0:21:05 > 0:21:07We used to have three people, every five minutes,

0:21:07 > 0:21:09in to meet him because

0:21:09 > 0:21:11he didn't want to have to make much conversation.

0:21:11 > 0:21:14That was very painful for him, very hard for him.

0:21:14 > 0:21:18For the smaller roles, the meetings were very, very quick.

0:21:18 > 0:21:21I always felt bad for these actors that would come in to the office,

0:21:21 > 0:21:24they were being sent up for a role.

0:21:24 > 0:21:25They'd ring the bell, I'd let them in,

0:21:25 > 0:21:28they'd wait for a second, and we'd go in

0:21:28 > 0:21:30and I'd introduce them - "this is so and so."

0:21:30 > 0:21:33And they would come marching into the office, like,

0:21:33 > 0:21:35expecting, you know, a half-hour with Mr Allen.

0:21:35 > 0:21:38And Woody would stand up and remain standing and say,

0:21:38 > 0:21:40"Oh, hi, you know, I just wanted to take a look at you

0:21:40 > 0:21:45"and Juliet thought you might be right for something and... OK, so that's it."

0:21:45 > 0:21:47The whole thing is awkward. They have nothing to say.

0:21:47 > 0:21:52I have nothing to say. They're being looked at.

0:21:52 > 0:21:56They feel fat, you know.

0:21:56 > 0:21:58It's terrible.

0:21:58 > 0:22:00And he would sort of, like, shake their hands and say,

0:22:00 > 0:22:02"thank you for coming."

0:22:02 > 0:22:05And they'd be ready to sit down and that was it.

0:22:05 > 0:22:08So I'd walk out and they would always look at me

0:22:08 > 0:22:10at the end like, "Are you kidding? Is that it?"

0:22:10 > 0:22:12And I'd say, "that's it."

0:22:12 > 0:22:15You know, ten seconds, sometimes.

0:22:15 > 0:22:16And, of course, Woody feels

0:22:16 > 0:22:20"but I'm doing them a favour. They can go on with their day. They've other things to do.

0:22:20 > 0:22:22"They don't want to hang around here."

0:22:22 > 0:22:24And I keep saying, "Oh, yes, they do, they'd love nothing more."

0:22:24 > 0:22:28Sometimes, for the bigger actors, they were just flat-out offered a role.

0:22:28 > 0:22:32His production office connected with my people in Los Angeles

0:22:32 > 0:22:34and they just offered me the part.

0:22:34 > 0:22:37I got a call from my agent, asking me if I was available

0:22:37 > 0:22:41for a Woody Allen movie and I said,

0:22:41 > 0:22:43"Yeah. Yeah, I'm available."

0:22:45 > 0:22:48We have this very elaborate drop-off system.

0:22:48 > 0:22:50The material does not go through the agents.

0:22:50 > 0:22:54The material goes right, directly, to the actor.

0:22:54 > 0:22:55Of course, it was very secretive

0:22:55 > 0:22:57and so the script was brought over.

0:22:57 > 0:23:00Someone who flew from New York with it

0:23:00 > 0:23:03and then drove to my house in northern California.

0:23:03 > 0:23:05Then he told me, "you're going to get a script.

0:23:05 > 0:23:08"It's going to be hand-delivered. You're going to get it at 10:30

0:23:08 > 0:23:10"and you have to return it by 4:30."

0:23:10 > 0:23:13CLEARS THROAT I go, "Oh. All right."

0:23:13 > 0:23:17Someone literally sits on the stoop of their building, waiting till they finish it,

0:23:17 > 0:23:21Or, occasionally, lets them keep it overnight.

0:23:21 > 0:23:23All I remember is that the script arrived

0:23:23 > 0:23:26and it came hand-delivered and I had to hand it back

0:23:26 > 0:23:30and it was all a very secret process.

0:23:30 > 0:23:34He always includes a handwritten note with the script to the actor.

0:23:34 > 0:23:36The next day, I was in the office,

0:23:36 > 0:23:39the script was delivered, and there's a cover letter.

0:23:39 > 0:23:41And there was a letter from Woody.

0:23:41 > 0:23:43He sent me an e-mail.

0:23:43 > 0:23:45- I got a letter. - A note, from him.

0:23:45 > 0:23:48It's obviously written on a typewriter.

0:23:48 > 0:23:49Handwritten.

0:23:49 > 0:23:51With the odd mistake, you know, X-ed out.

0:23:51 > 0:23:53I actually printed it out and I put it on my wall.

0:23:53 > 0:23:54I will frame that letter.

0:23:54 > 0:23:56I probably have the letter in a drawer.

0:23:56 > 0:23:59And it said that "you may remember me.

0:23:59 > 0:24:01"You did a movie called Melinda And Melinda.

0:24:01 > 0:24:02"I was the director." HE LAUGHS

0:24:02 > 0:24:06"I plan on shooting this film Match Point in London this summer..."

0:24:06 > 0:24:08"I have this movie that I wrote..."

0:24:08 > 0:24:12"And I think you'd be really good for the part of Boris."

0:24:12 > 0:24:14"I would love for you to play the part of Nola Rice."

0:24:14 > 0:24:19"I'd be interested in you doing it. You may not like it. You may like it. If you don't like it, it's fine."

0:24:19 > 0:24:22"I hope I can get to work with you in this lifetime."

0:24:22 > 0:24:25"If you feel like there's something there that you want to do, that would be great."

0:24:25 > 0:24:29"Feel free to modify some of the lines, if you feel like."

0:24:29 > 0:24:32"If you want to change the lines, that's fine with me.

0:24:32 > 0:24:36"Please read it and I think you have something to contribute to this part."

0:24:36 > 0:24:39- I don't know, maybe I made that part up. - SHE CHUCKLES

0:24:39 > 0:24:42As a fan of his movies, every time I go,

0:24:42 > 0:24:45I see that the cast always works.

0:24:45 > 0:24:48It's like everybody's perfect for each character,

0:24:48 > 0:24:51and he can make those decisions in five seconds.

0:24:51 > 0:24:53Just saying, "Hi, nice to meet you" to somebody,

0:24:53 > 0:24:56he knows if that person is right for that character.

0:24:56 > 0:25:01Well, that's the whole secret, is if you hire great people

0:25:01 > 0:25:06and you don't mess them up with a lot of analysis

0:25:06 > 0:25:10and conversation and speculation and nonsense,

0:25:10 > 0:25:14if you just get out of their way and shut up,

0:25:14 > 0:25:17they give you the performance that has made them

0:25:17 > 0:25:20the great performer that they are.

0:25:20 > 0:25:24- Are you angry with me?- No.

0:25:24 > 0:25:27Do you feel, um... Are you disenchanted with our marriage?

0:25:27 > 0:25:30- I didn't say that.- Are you in love with someone else?

0:25:30 > 0:25:34My God! What is this, the Gestapo? No.

0:25:34 > 0:25:36Well, what? What are you not telling me?

0:25:36 > 0:25:37What kind of interrogation...?

0:25:37 > 0:25:40Supposing I said, "yes, I am disenchanted,

0:25:40 > 0:25:41"I am in love with someone else"?

0:25:41 > 0:25:43Are you?

0:25:43 > 0:25:44No!

0:25:44 > 0:25:48I used to always write from the point of view of the male,

0:25:48 > 0:25:52and always a particular perspective,

0:25:52 > 0:25:57the comic male, the wisecracking comic male,

0:25:57 > 0:25:59and then I met Diane Keaton,

0:25:59 > 0:26:02I got a different perspective,

0:26:02 > 0:26:04I saw a lot of things through her eyes,

0:26:04 > 0:26:07and I started writing for women.

0:26:07 > 0:26:10And one of the things that I gained was

0:26:10 > 0:26:13a female's perspective.

0:26:13 > 0:26:18And it was, eventually, more interesting to me

0:26:18 > 0:26:21than the male perspective

0:26:21 > 0:26:24and I attribute that to my experience with her.

0:26:24 > 0:26:27I just want a salad. You really think I'm a loser, don't you?

0:26:27 > 0:26:29- What do...? You're being ridiculous. - You are, holly. Stop it.

0:26:29 > 0:26:32- You treat me like a loser.- How?

0:26:32 > 0:26:36You never have any faith in my plans, you always undercut my enthusiasm.

0:26:36 > 0:26:39Not so, no. I think I've been very supportive.

0:26:39 > 0:26:41I try to give you honest, constructive advice,

0:26:41 > 0:26:45I'm always happy to help you financially, I think I've gone out of my way

0:26:45 > 0:26:47to introduce you to interesting single men.

0:26:47 > 0:26:49- Losers! All losers. - You're too demanding!

0:26:49 > 0:26:53You know, I could always tell what you thought of me by the type of men you fixed me up with.

0:26:53 > 0:26:56- You're crazy! That's not true! - Hey, Hannah, I know I'm mediocre.

0:26:56 > 0:26:59Oh, will you stop attacking Hannah? She's going through a really rough time right now.

0:26:59 > 0:27:02- Why are you so upset?- You know, you've been picking on her

0:27:02 > 0:27:06ever since she came in here. Now just leave her alone for a while. I'm just suffocating.

0:27:06 > 0:27:08I think Hannah And Her Sisters

0:27:08 > 0:27:12is the movie that people expected after Manhattan, and when he satisfied that,

0:27:12 > 0:27:15he was back to even deeper strength than he ever was before.

0:27:15 > 0:27:18Now, he's in the Bergman zone, quite literally.

0:27:18 > 0:27:21He's got Max Von Sydow in there, but in a very relaxed way.

0:27:21 > 0:27:24There's nothing imitative of Bergman.

0:27:24 > 0:27:28They're simply, you know, drinking from Bergman's cup at Bergman's dinner table, but,

0:27:28 > 0:27:32at the same time, bringing Woody Allen's sensibility to the proceedings.

0:27:32 > 0:27:35But the worst are the fundamentalist preachers -

0:27:35 > 0:27:38third-rate con men,

0:27:38 > 0:27:41telling the poor suckers that watch them that they speak for Jesus

0:27:41 > 0:27:43And to please send in money.

0:27:43 > 0:27:45Money, money, money!

0:27:45 > 0:27:50If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in his name,

0:27:50 > 0:27:52he'd never stop throwing up.

0:27:52 > 0:27:53My favourite is Hannah And Her Sisters.

0:27:53 > 0:27:56It had one component which I love,

0:27:56 > 0:28:00which Woody loathes, much of the time, which is some sentiment.

0:28:00 > 0:28:04It's only optimistic in the sections that I failed.

0:28:04 > 0:28:06I mean, I wanted it to be a melancholy film,

0:28:06 > 0:28:08for the most part, but, for some reason -

0:28:08 > 0:28:12incompetence in the directing or the writing or something -

0:28:12 > 0:28:16the emphasis shifted so that it was perceived by audiences

0:28:16 > 0:28:21as more up and optimistic than I had intended.

0:28:21 > 0:28:26Early on in the film, there's some suspicion he has a brain tumour.

0:28:26 > 0:28:27- THINKING:- 'It's over.

0:28:27 > 0:28:31'I'm face-to-face with eternity.

0:28:31 > 0:28:34'Not later, but now.

0:28:34 > 0:28:36'I'm so frightened,

0:28:36 > 0:28:40'I can't move or speak or breathe.'

0:28:42 > 0:28:45Well, you're just fine. There's absolutely nothing here at all.

0:28:45 > 0:28:48And, finally, he finds out he's OK and he comes out of the hospital

0:28:48 > 0:28:50and he's jumping through the street,

0:28:50 > 0:28:52and then he stops and he realises that, you know,

0:28:52 > 0:28:55I'm not going to die from this brain tumour now,

0:28:55 > 0:28:57but I'm going to die someday

0:28:57 > 0:29:00and then, he goes back into a blue funk.

0:29:00 > 0:29:02And then he begins to look around at different religions

0:29:02 > 0:29:04and he's thinking of becoming a Catholic,

0:29:04 > 0:29:08so he goes to see a priest, the priest gives him some books.

0:29:14 > 0:29:16And then we get a scene, he's at a high mass.

0:29:16 > 0:29:19He's way in the back, he's the outsider looking in,

0:29:19 > 0:29:21the non-believer looking in.

0:29:21 > 0:29:23The character wants to believe, but he just can't.

0:29:23 > 0:29:24Mom, come out!

0:29:24 > 0:29:28Of course there's a God, you idiot. You don't believe in God?

0:29:28 > 0:29:31But if there's a God, then why is there so much evil in the world?

0:29:31 > 0:29:34Just on a simplistic level. Why were there Nazis?

0:29:34 > 0:29:36Tell him, Max.

0:29:36 > 0:29:38How the hell do I know why there were Nazis?

0:29:38 > 0:29:40I don't know how the can opener works.

0:29:40 > 0:29:41I do think it's on his mind.

0:29:41 > 0:29:43I do think that he thinks about those things.

0:29:43 > 0:29:45I think that, when you're extremely sensitive,

0:29:45 > 0:29:47which is what he is,

0:29:47 > 0:29:52you're very in tune with what life is,

0:29:52 > 0:29:56and it has to end, and it can be very cruel.

0:29:56 > 0:29:59And I think that these are the issues that haunt him.

0:29:59 > 0:30:02I do believe that's the reason why it's a theme in his movies,

0:30:02 > 0:30:03is because he does think about it a lot.

0:30:03 > 0:30:07Woody had said, you know, making a film preoccupies him

0:30:07 > 0:30:09and so he doesn't have to spend the whole day

0:30:09 > 0:30:12thinking about the meaning of existence,

0:30:12 > 0:30:15but he spends the day making a film about the meaning of existence.

0:30:15 > 0:30:17So it doesn't distract him, in the usual sense,

0:30:17 > 0:30:19I mean, he's not out, playing golf or playing tennis,

0:30:19 > 0:30:22he's working these themes into his films.

0:30:22 > 0:30:25This woman's going to destroy everything I've built.

0:30:25 > 0:30:29That's what I'm saying, Judah. If the woman won't listen to reason,

0:30:29 > 0:30:31then you go on to the next step.

0:30:31 > 0:30:35What, threats, violence? What are we talking about, here?

0:30:35 > 0:30:39She can be gotten rid of. I mean, I know a lot of people. Money'll buy whatever's necessary.

0:30:39 > 0:30:41I'm not even going to comment on that. That's mind-boggling.

0:30:41 > 0:30:43Judah Rosenthal, the character I played

0:30:43 > 0:30:46in Crimes And Misdemeanours, is a pillar of the community,

0:30:46 > 0:30:48he's got a family, he's respected,

0:30:48 > 0:30:50but he has an affair

0:30:50 > 0:30:52with this stewardess

0:30:52 > 0:30:55played by Anjelica Huston

0:30:55 > 0:30:58and she becomes a loose cannon in his life.

0:30:58 > 0:31:02You told me, over and over again, you'd leave Miriam! We made plans!

0:31:02 > 0:31:05- I didn't!- You did! I gave up things for you, business opportunities!- Oh, pipe dreams!

0:31:05 > 0:31:08He doesn't know how to handle it

0:31:08 > 0:31:09and he calls his brother,

0:31:09 > 0:31:13who's a little on the shady side, and he resolves it

0:31:13 > 0:31:16in a way that is horrendous, really.

0:31:20 > 0:31:22When I see her,

0:31:22 > 0:31:24I'm overwhelmed by it.

0:31:24 > 0:31:27He has a great deal of difficulty living with it

0:31:27 > 0:31:30and flashes back on a Seder,

0:31:30 > 0:31:33Passover dinner that he remembered,

0:31:33 > 0:31:37where a lot of religion and philosophy is discussed.

0:31:37 > 0:31:41What are you saying, May, there's no morality, anywhere in the whole world?

0:31:41 > 0:31:44Listen, for those who want morality, there's morality.

0:31:44 > 0:31:46Nothing's handed down in stone.

0:31:46 > 0:31:49Sol's kind of faith is a gift.

0:31:49 > 0:31:51It's like an ear for music or the talent to draw.

0:31:51 > 0:31:55He believes, and you can use logic on him all day long and he still believes.

0:31:55 > 0:31:58Must everything be logical?

0:31:58 > 0:32:01And if a man commits a crime, if he...

0:32:01 > 0:32:03if he kills?

0:32:03 > 0:32:06Then, one way or another, he will be punished.

0:32:06 > 0:32:08If he's caught, Sol.

0:32:08 > 0:32:12No, no, no! Whether it's the Old Testament or Shakespeare, murder will out.

0:32:12 > 0:32:15Who said anything about murder?

0:32:15 > 0:32:16You did.

0:32:18 > 0:32:20Did I?

0:32:20 > 0:32:22Woody walks a real tightrope in Crimes And Misdemeanours,

0:32:22 > 0:32:25because he's telling, essentially, a very serious story,

0:32:25 > 0:32:29yet he knows to counterbalance it with a lighter story,

0:32:29 > 0:32:32involving him and Mia Farrow and Alan Alda.

0:32:32 > 0:32:35And it's that very deft combination that makes the movie work.

0:32:35 > 0:32:37It's amazing - I couldn't graduate,

0:32:37 > 0:32:40and the same school now teaches a course

0:32:40 > 0:32:43- in existential motifs in my situation comedies.- Really?

0:32:45 > 0:32:49I could've done the whole picture just as the murder story

0:32:49 > 0:32:52and very often regretted that I didn't,

0:32:52 > 0:32:56because I found Marty Landau's story so compelling

0:32:56 > 0:32:59and so interesting and mine so uninteresting.

0:32:59 > 0:33:07And then it occurred to me that, if my character made the film about Alan Alda,

0:33:07 > 0:33:09it tied the whole thing up because it was a funny idea,

0:33:09 > 0:33:14that I was forced to make this aggrandizing documentary

0:33:14 > 0:33:17about this guy that I couldn't stand.

0:33:17 > 0:33:19The thing to remember about comedy is

0:33:19 > 0:33:24if it bends, it's funny if it breaks, it's not funny.

0:33:24 > 0:33:28So you got to get back from the pain, you see what I mean?

0:33:28 > 0:33:32Issues of what life is about and why we're here and why it's so painful

0:33:32 > 0:33:34and relationships between the human being

0:33:34 > 0:33:37and his existence and human loneliness,

0:33:37 > 0:33:39that never gets resolved

0:33:39 > 0:33:43and so it's of constant interest to me.

0:33:43 > 0:33:45- Hi, cliff.- Cliff! Hello.

0:33:45 > 0:33:47And I can see, if I look back on my work,

0:33:47 > 0:33:50I see some of those themes creep in all the time.

0:33:50 > 0:33:53I wanted to give you this letter back.

0:33:53 > 0:33:56It's my one love letter.

0:33:56 > 0:34:00I'm cursed with the clown's approach to it

0:34:00 > 0:34:04and I always have to approach it in a comic way.

0:34:04 > 0:34:07I plagiarised most of it from James Joyce.

0:34:07 > 0:34:12You probably wondered why all the references to Dublin.

0:34:12 > 0:34:14I wish I had been born

0:34:14 > 0:34:19a gifted and great tragedian, but I wasn't.

0:34:19 > 0:34:23What are your views on divine matters?

0:34:23 > 0:34:25Excuse me, me?

0:34:25 > 0:34:28I'm asking you if you believe in god.

0:34:28 > 0:34:33It's incredible, that's the third time tonight somebody asked me that exact same question.

0:34:33 > 0:34:36You know, I would love to, believe me, I know I would be much happier.

0:34:36 > 0:34:39- Yeah, but you can't.- I can't, no, it's just, you know...

0:34:39 > 0:34:42You doubt his existence and you can't make the leap of faith necessary.

0:34:42 > 0:34:45Listen, I can't make the leap of faith necessary to believe in my own existence.

0:34:45 > 0:34:47Here's your drink, Kleinman.

0:34:47 > 0:34:50That's fine, that's tricky. You keep making jokes until the moment comes

0:34:50 > 0:34:52and you've really got to face death.

0:34:52 > 0:34:55Why are you always on such a morbid subject?

0:34:55 > 0:34:57I just, you know, that's the future.

0:34:57 > 0:35:01If I thought that there was nothing except this, I'd kill myself.

0:35:01 > 0:35:05I've thought of it. Believe me, there have been many times

0:35:05 > 0:35:07when my brain has said, "why not?"

0:35:07 > 0:35:10I mean, there's no point to anything.

0:35:10 > 0:35:17But, somehow, my blood always said, "live, live,"

0:35:17 > 0:35:20and I always listen to my blood.

0:35:20 > 0:35:21Woody Allen,

0:35:21 > 0:35:25he's always swimming around the same philosophical issues.

0:35:25 > 0:35:28There's still that thing you can do with his films

0:35:28 > 0:35:30where they'll get you thinking and talking

0:35:30 > 0:35:32or they'll spur something in you that,

0:35:32 > 0:35:33you know, it's good medicine.

0:35:33 > 0:35:36I think that Woody Allen asks these important questions,

0:35:36 > 0:35:37is there a god? Isn't there a god?

0:35:37 > 0:35:39Is there life beyond the grave?

0:35:39 > 0:35:41Makes him unique among contemporary filmmakers,

0:35:41 > 0:35:45but also makes him unique in the history of American cinema.

0:35:45 > 0:35:48These are the two key questions, and he just keeps hammering away at them.

0:35:48 > 0:35:51You know who has these thoughts all the time? Is Schultz the tailor.

0:35:51 > 0:35:53He thinks that nothing is real at all

0:35:53 > 0:35:56and that everything exists only in the dream of a dog.

0:35:56 > 0:36:00But this is real, isn't it?

0:36:00 > 0:36:02And beautiful.

0:36:02 > 0:36:04So Woody and Mia had this kind of idyllic life -

0:36:04 > 0:36:06certainly, in the public mind.

0:36:06 > 0:36:10Here were two accomplished artists, they had this strange relationship

0:36:10 > 0:36:13where he lived in his place, she lived in her place,

0:36:13 > 0:36:15but she was in all his movies and he was there every day

0:36:15 > 0:36:18and then they adopted a daughter and then they had a son

0:36:18 > 0:36:20and it seemed kind of the perfect thing.

0:36:20 > 0:36:22You know, they'd talk about how they could each go

0:36:22 > 0:36:26out their windows or their balconies and wave at each other across the park

0:36:26 > 0:36:28and this came to a crashing end

0:36:28 > 0:36:31during the filming of Husbands And Wives.

0:36:31 > 0:36:36Things fell apart at the very end of the shooting.

0:36:36 > 0:36:41Really, there may have been two or three days left of shooting.

0:36:41 > 0:36:45She must have called him and I remember him answering the phone

0:36:45 > 0:36:49because we were, like, waiting for him to shoot the sequence

0:36:49 > 0:36:54and I could tell something disturbing was happening

0:36:54 > 0:36:56on the other end of this phone call.

0:36:56 > 0:36:59Mia discovered that Woody was having this affair

0:36:59 > 0:37:02with one of her adopted kids.

0:37:02 > 0:37:07Mia had gone over to Woody's apartment for something and, on a mantelpiece in a room,

0:37:07 > 0:37:11discovered some nude polaroids of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi.

0:37:11 > 0:37:16It took me two or three days to convince Mia

0:37:16 > 0:37:20to come back to work and finish the film

0:37:20 > 0:37:25because her reaction was, "there's absolutely no way I could see this person anymore."

0:37:25 > 0:37:27And, yet, they had to, in the midst

0:37:27 > 0:37:29of this terrible emotional thing for both of them,

0:37:29 > 0:37:33behave in a professional manner to finish the work.

0:37:33 > 0:37:39So she, like a trooper, came and finished her job.

0:37:39 > 0:37:41We were going to the faculty dinner,

0:37:41 > 0:37:43and I'll never forget this,

0:37:43 > 0:37:47around fifth avenue and it was just an icy black night, we were walking downtown.

0:37:47 > 0:37:51Remember that? And then, suddenly, we decided not to go to the dinner, just said, the hell with it.

0:37:51 > 0:37:54It was just such a beautiful night. We walked into Central Park.

0:37:54 > 0:37:56It was, you know, so snowy that night.

0:37:56 > 0:37:59- I remember how cold it was. - We could see every star.

0:37:59 > 0:38:01You were so beautiful in that black dress.

0:38:01 > 0:38:04- Really. Mmm. - Don't do that.

0:38:04 > 0:38:08Why not?

0:38:08 > 0:38:11Because it's over and we both know it.

0:38:11 > 0:38:13When the great cosmic rift occurred,

0:38:13 > 0:38:15you know, across the park

0:38:15 > 0:38:17Woody was the antichrist

0:38:17 > 0:38:21on the front page of the New York Post every day.

0:38:26 > 0:38:28Their life blew up and this just became fodder

0:38:28 > 0:38:30for the gossip magazines

0:38:30 > 0:38:34and for television and for newspapers.

0:38:34 > 0:38:36It was intensely covered.

0:38:36 > 0:38:38The 12-year relationship of Woody Allen

0:38:38 > 0:38:40and Mia Farrow has come to a bitter end.

0:38:40 > 0:38:42Director Woody Allen has confirmed he is

0:38:42 > 0:38:45in love with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter.

0:38:45 > 0:38:47The acrimonious break-up caused by Allen's affair

0:38:47 > 0:38:50with Farrow's adopted daughter Soon-Yi...

0:38:50 > 0:38:52SPEAKING FRENCH

0:38:52 > 0:38:54And when it became a custody battle between them,

0:38:54 > 0:38:58it was almost lurid, in the way that it was handled.

0:38:58 > 0:39:01There was nothing too small that wasn't scooped up.

0:39:01 > 0:39:05Woody Allen and Mia Farrow have a date tomorrow - in court.

0:39:05 > 0:39:08People everywhere in the country are talking about an ugly child custody battle.

0:39:08 > 0:39:11The mud thickened today in the child custody battle

0:39:11 > 0:39:13between Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow.

0:39:13 > 0:39:17That bitter battle between Woody Allen and Mia Farrow over visitation

0:39:17 > 0:39:20and custody rights to their children heated up again today.

0:39:20 > 0:39:22His break-up with long-time companion Mia Farrow

0:39:22 > 0:39:24and their subsequent fight over child custody

0:39:24 > 0:39:28has turned his private life into a public soap opera.

0:39:28 > 0:39:34believe it or not, I didn't think I was that famous, to warrant such coverage.

0:39:34 > 0:39:36I was on magazine covers.

0:39:36 > 0:39:38I'm thinking, you got to be kidding.

0:39:38 > 0:39:42I'm not that big a deal, to warrant this interest.

0:39:42 > 0:39:46But, apparently, it was a good, juicy story,

0:39:46 > 0:39:49a very juicy story and, you know,

0:39:49 > 0:39:54it took a little edge off my natural blandness.

0:39:54 > 0:39:56You realise how these celebrity cases come to play,

0:39:56 > 0:39:58that nothing can be more important in the country

0:39:58 > 0:40:01at that moment than whatever celebrity case is playing,

0:40:01 > 0:40:05and it will last until the next one comes along.

0:40:05 > 0:40:09A judge has refused Woody Allen's request for custody of his three children -

0:40:09 > 0:40:12one biological, two adopted.

0:40:12 > 0:40:16The custody issue was... was terrible.

0:40:16 > 0:40:21That was... you know, he never cares what they write about him in the newspaper.

0:40:21 > 0:40:23Even though I care and people who care about him care,

0:40:23 > 0:40:26he doesn't care and he doesn't read it so it doesn't,

0:40:26 > 0:40:28you know, impact him in the same way.

0:40:28 > 0:40:30Not being able to see his kids

0:40:30 > 0:40:32was terrible for him.

0:40:32 > 0:40:35All through this upset with Mia

0:40:35 > 0:40:38and the scandal surrounding it,

0:40:38 > 0:40:42he was never late for a meeting.

0:40:42 > 0:40:44We would have a casting session

0:40:44 > 0:40:46before he'd go to court, half the time.

0:40:46 > 0:40:48He never missed a beat.

0:40:48 > 0:40:50It was almost as if

0:40:50 > 0:40:54Woody has dreaded so many bad things happening to him in life

0:40:54 > 0:40:58that, when something really bad did happen to him,

0:40:58 > 0:41:01he was totally prepared.

0:41:01 > 0:41:03Everybody had an opinion about my private life,

0:41:03 > 0:41:07which I felt they were all free to have

0:41:07 > 0:41:13and free to respond in any way that made them happy.

0:41:13 > 0:41:19They could sympathise with me, not sympathise with me,

0:41:19 > 0:41:23they could dislike me, they could like me,

0:41:23 > 0:41:24they could, you know...

0:41:24 > 0:41:27It could have no effect on whether they saw my films,

0:41:27 > 0:41:30they could never see my films again.

0:41:30 > 0:41:32None of that mattered to me.

0:41:32 > 0:41:34I really, at the time, thought,

0:41:34 > 0:41:37"Oh, my God, is this really the ruination of Woody?"

0:41:37 > 0:41:40But, you know,

0:41:40 > 0:41:44he was able to continue his work and his career,

0:41:44 > 0:41:46which, to me, is the main thing.

0:41:46 > 0:41:48How much I envy his ability to compartmentalise.

0:41:48 > 0:41:51He was able to continue to work all the time...

0:41:51 > 0:41:53Woody has the ability to compartmentalise his life.

0:41:53 > 0:41:57So he was able to sort of compartmentalise...

0:41:57 > 0:41:58Woody's ability to compartmentalise...

0:41:58 > 0:42:00He can compartmentalise his life.

0:42:00 > 0:42:03I'm very good at compartmentalizing,

0:42:03 > 0:42:06for better or worse.

0:42:06 > 0:42:09When we were writing Bullets Over Broadway,

0:42:09 > 0:42:11the custody trial was about to happen

0:42:11 > 0:42:14and so there were, of necessity,

0:42:14 > 0:42:18a lot of interruptions in our work.

0:42:18 > 0:42:21We'd be talking through the scenes, as we would do with each other,

0:42:21 > 0:42:23and then the phone would ring and he'd say,

0:42:23 > 0:42:26"Oh, excuse me, I got to take this," and then he'd go over

0:42:26 > 0:42:31and you would hear a very hushed "hello," you'd hear, you know,

0:42:31 > 0:42:34"detective" and maybe "get a sample."

0:42:34 > 0:42:36You know, you'd hear kind of hair-raising phrases

0:42:36 > 0:42:39and then he'd hang up and he'd come back and he'd go,

0:42:39 > 0:42:40"OK, let's go back to work."

0:42:40 > 0:42:44I just remember this one day, we had been interrupted three times and, after the third time,

0:42:44 > 0:42:47when there'd been some other grisly exchange on the phone,

0:42:47 > 0:42:49he came back and he looked at me and he goes,

0:42:49 > 0:42:54"OK, back to work on our little comic bauble."

0:42:54 > 0:42:57We got the money! We can do the play!

0:42:57 > 0:42:59What?! When?! How?!

0:42:59 > 0:43:02A single backer going for the whole show.

0:43:02 > 0:43:05- And no hitches?- Well, uh...

0:43:05 > 0:43:08We'll meet tomorrow and discuss it, all right?

0:43:08 > 0:43:09I just thought it was a funny idea,

0:43:09 > 0:43:12that a guy wants to put on a show

0:43:12 > 0:43:14and a gangster, you know, bankrolls it

0:43:14 > 0:43:16and makes his girlfriend the star of it, or one of the stars of it.

0:43:16 > 0:43:23- Hey, Dave, she read your play. - Yes, yes. It's thrilling, turbulent, a page-turner.

0:43:23 > 0:43:25Charmed, charmed, charmed, charmed.

0:43:25 > 0:43:28She's a great little actress, you know. She just needs as break.

0:43:28 > 0:43:30So what have you been in, Miss, uh...?

0:43:30 > 0:43:32Olive, olive, olive. Call me olive, honey.

0:43:32 > 0:43:35Olive. You're... Well, you're experienced?

0:43:35 > 0:43:37Well, I had a little experience.

0:43:37 > 0:43:38Oh, she ain't got no experience.

0:43:38 > 0:43:41- I do, too. I have, too!- She's a natural.

0:43:41 > 0:43:43They ain't talking dancing, olive.

0:43:43 > 0:43:45He doesn't know what he's talking about.

0:43:45 > 0:43:48You don't mean dancing, do you? She used to wiggle at this joint in Hoboken, you know,

0:43:48 > 0:43:51- pick up quarters off the tabletops with her... - Hey! Hey! Hey!

0:43:51 > 0:43:53I'm just trying to break the ice, all right?

0:43:53 > 0:43:55Butt out, why don't you! They're talking to me!

0:43:55 > 0:43:57- Who wants a drink? - I'll have a double anything.

0:43:57 > 0:43:59Bullets over Broadway is just...

0:43:59 > 0:44:01I just think it's a wonderful movie.

0:44:01 > 0:44:04I mean, you know what they say,

0:44:04 > 0:44:06write about what you know - well...

0:44:06 > 0:44:09It must be difficult, getting a work like this on.

0:44:09 > 0:44:12It's a sad reality of the marketplace, I'll tell you.

0:44:12 > 0:44:14We've never really had a chance to talk.

0:44:14 > 0:44:15- No. - Hi, folks. What can I get you?

0:44:15 > 0:44:18- Two martinis, please, very dry. - How'd you know what I drank?

0:44:18 > 0:44:22Oh, you want one, too? Three.

0:44:22 > 0:44:24We spoke a lot by phone when he was making Bullets...

0:44:24 > 0:44:26And so I'd say, "how's the movie going?"

0:44:26 > 0:44:28And he'd say, "Everything's going great,"

0:44:28 > 0:44:31but, at first, Diane Wiest, whom I had felt, right from the beginning,

0:44:31 > 0:44:34was wrong for that part - and had no trouble telling him.

0:44:34 > 0:44:38I kept saying, "Dianne Wiest for that vain, hammy actress?"

0:44:38 > 0:44:39Because you know,

0:44:39 > 0:44:42she's so sweet and vulnerable and, you know,

0:44:42 > 0:44:44it seemed so not like Dianne Wiest.

0:44:44 > 0:44:48And he kept saying, "No, she has to do it. She can do anything."

0:44:48 > 0:44:51So I thought, "OK, go ahead, sink your own picture, what do I know?"

0:44:51 > 0:44:56What happened was this - we shot for two days.

0:44:56 > 0:45:00He said, "Tonight, come and see the dailies with me."

0:45:00 > 0:45:05I sat there and I saw this

0:45:05 > 0:45:09painful, painful attempt

0:45:09 > 0:45:13for me to do this role. Pathetic, pathetic.

0:45:13 > 0:45:16He said, "Do you see?" And I said, "Yeah, I do."

0:45:16 > 0:45:20He said, "Well, you know, what are you going to do?"

0:45:20 > 0:45:22And I said, "You've got to pick up the phone

0:45:22 > 0:45:24"and you've got to find somebody who can do this.

0:45:24 > 0:45:26"It's not me. You've got to replace me."

0:45:26 > 0:45:30He said, "No, no, no, no. There's something we can do. There's something."

0:45:30 > 0:45:33When I was talking to her, she was convinced she was going to get fired.

0:45:33 > 0:45:36And with the first couple things we re-shot,

0:45:36 > 0:45:39she didn't have that deep baritone voice

0:45:39 > 0:45:42and I think she was sort of finding that.

0:45:42 > 0:45:44Or they were finding it together.

0:45:44 > 0:45:51Without my own voice, I was free to do

0:45:51 > 0:45:55this mad, crazy, you know, psychotic woman.

0:45:55 > 0:45:58Helen, have you thought about what I said before,

0:45:58 > 0:46:00- about the way I feel? - Don't speak.

0:46:00 > 0:46:02But I want to express...

0:46:02 > 0:46:05Don't speak, don't.

0:46:05 > 0:46:09- There's just a few things that I want to tell you... - Don't speak, no, no.

0:46:09 > 0:46:10When we first met, I was thinking...

0:46:10 > 0:46:13Don't speak. Please, don't speak, please.

0:46:13 > 0:46:16Don't speak! No! No, no, no!

0:46:16 > 0:46:21Go, go, gentle scorpio, go!

0:46:21 > 0:46:25Your pisces wishes you every happy return.

0:46:25 > 0:46:28- Just one... - Don't speak!

0:46:28 > 0:46:31She couldn't believe that I wanted her

0:46:31 > 0:46:34to play it so broadly,

0:46:34 > 0:46:37and I did, I wanted her to play it like Norma desmond,

0:46:37 > 0:46:39just as broad as could be.

0:46:39 > 0:46:42She went straight from there to her,

0:46:42 > 0:46:46I think, second academy award.

0:46:46 > 0:46:50And so it's odd - he's a director whose actors get

0:46:50 > 0:46:52tremendous numbers of awards or nominations for awards,

0:46:52 > 0:46:55but if you watch him on the set,

0:46:55 > 0:46:59he's the least directive director you can imagine.

0:46:59 > 0:47:02I love his directing style because, honestly,

0:47:02 > 0:47:06a director who has confidence in his actors

0:47:06 > 0:47:10and who doesn't try and muscle them around the set,

0:47:10 > 0:47:12allows them to blossom and makes them take

0:47:12 > 0:47:15the responsibility for their performance.

0:47:15 > 0:47:17See, the thing is, if you're with somebody who says,

0:47:17 > 0:47:19"It's all you now, go," it really then

0:47:19 > 0:47:21puts the ball in your court, you got to come with the goods.

0:47:21 > 0:47:24So let me ask you a question - are you ever frightened that,

0:47:24 > 0:47:27when a guy comes over your house and pays you,

0:47:27 > 0:47:30that he's going to, you know, maybe like tie you up and kill you?

0:47:30 > 0:47:32Oh, no, I always get paid in advance.

0:47:32 > 0:47:34FANFARE PLAYS

0:47:34 > 0:47:36Come on.

0:47:36 > 0:47:40He said that he didn't really like to rehearse,

0:47:40 > 0:47:42unless I wanted to, and I was like, "No, that's OK,

0:47:42 > 0:47:44"because I actually didn't really love rehearsing either."

0:47:44 > 0:47:47He said, "You don't have to say

0:47:47 > 0:47:50"any of the words I've written, if you don't want to,"

0:47:50 > 0:47:52and I was shocked because I was like,

0:47:52 > 0:47:55this is the best, genius, comedy writer we have.

0:47:55 > 0:47:58His script is so fantastic, why wouldn't I say the words?

0:47:58 > 0:48:02And he said, "No, the script is just a blueprint.

0:48:02 > 0:48:05"It's whatever makes you as real, natural, and funny as possible.

0:48:05 > 0:48:09"So if you want to say something else, go ahead and say it."

0:48:09 > 0:48:11And you never thought of just getting a regular job?

0:48:11 > 0:48:13Well, yeah, sure I did. No, I did things.

0:48:13 > 0:48:16I waited on tables, I worked in a massage parlour, I did phone sex.

0:48:16 > 0:48:19Now and then, I would, you know, turn a few tricks

0:48:19 > 0:48:20in order to make some dough.

0:48:20 > 0:48:23And one day, my friend Suzie calls me

0:48:23 > 0:48:24and she asks me if I want to be in a film,

0:48:24 > 0:48:26something called Snatch Happy,

0:48:26 > 0:48:28and I said sure, and I remember

0:48:28 > 0:48:30I was very nervous because I'd never done it

0:48:30 > 0:48:33in front of people with a camera before,

0:48:33 > 0:48:35you know? And so, there I am on the first day,

0:48:35 > 0:48:38on the set, and there's this guy

0:48:38 > 0:48:39fucking me from behind, right?

0:48:39 > 0:48:42And there's these two huge guys dressed like cops

0:48:42 > 0:48:46in my mouth at the same time and I remember thinking to myself,

0:48:46 > 0:48:49"I like acting. I want to study."

0:48:49 > 0:48:52I never expected to win the Oscar, never.

0:48:52 > 0:48:55And I was, like, preparing to be happy

0:48:55 > 0:48:57for whomever's name they called,

0:48:57 > 0:48:58and then they called mine.

0:48:58 > 0:49:01I think the secret is

0:49:01 > 0:49:04that everybody wants to work for him so badly

0:49:04 > 0:49:07that they know they have to do their best

0:49:07 > 0:49:10and I think they bring their very best

0:49:10 > 0:49:13to the set every day on a Woody Allen film.

0:49:13 > 0:49:17They don't want to disappoint.

0:49:17 > 0:49:19We gave Sean guitar lessons.

0:49:19 > 0:49:21Six months before the movie,

0:49:21 > 0:49:23we sent a guitar... we paid for a guitar teacher

0:49:23 > 0:49:25to go over to Europe and stay with him.

0:49:25 > 0:49:27So, I didn't have to, you know, do one of those shots

0:49:27 > 0:49:30where you always had to cut away to someone else's hand.

0:49:30 > 0:49:32That was Sean.

0:49:36 > 0:49:39He didn't ask to see or know anything

0:49:39 > 0:49:41until he rolled the camera.

0:49:41 > 0:49:44His feeling is that the best, complete thing he's going to get

0:49:44 > 0:49:47is going to come out of the actor's instinct

0:49:47 > 0:49:50and that what he finds out on day one is

0:49:50 > 0:49:51whether or not he cast it well.

0:49:51 > 0:49:55Really, I'm not one of these guys who gets his head turned

0:49:55 > 0:49:56every time some dame walks by.

0:49:56 > 0:49:58I've had plenty of beautiful women

0:49:58 > 0:50:01and I always put 'em in their place.

0:50:01 > 0:50:03Yeah, love 'em and leave 'em,

0:50:03 > 0:50:04that's my motto.

0:50:04 > 0:50:08Love 'em and don't look back.

0:50:08 > 0:50:10I never once regretted... Not one time

0:50:10 > 0:50:13did I ever regret dumping a beautiful dame.

0:50:13 > 0:50:16Because you got to keep your guard up. You don't, them pretty ones

0:50:16 > 0:50:21get their worms in you and then it's over, you're done.

0:50:21 > 0:50:23Particularly if you're an artist.

0:50:23 > 0:50:26Nah, I've seen too many guys crying in their beer.

0:50:26 > 0:50:30Me? I'm going to be a star.

0:50:30 > 0:50:32After the cut was called,

0:50:32 > 0:50:34I looked at him to say,

0:50:34 > 0:50:39you know, "should I choose window or aisle on my way home

0:50:39 > 0:50:42"or am I sticking around?"

0:50:42 > 0:50:44And he was already looking at somebody else,

0:50:44 > 0:50:48getting, you know, ready to just, you know, do another take,

0:50:48 > 0:50:51or do something, and there was never a comment at all.

0:50:51 > 0:50:54To this day, I've never heard him make

0:50:54 > 0:51:00a specific comment about the character that I played.

0:51:00 > 0:51:03But when it comes to directing an actor,

0:51:03 > 0:51:07it's a bare-bones clarity that any personality

0:51:07 > 0:51:10can understand and interpret.

0:51:10 > 0:51:14I can't write all night and then drive in the daytime!

0:51:14 > 0:51:16You know, I fell asleep at the wheel.

0:51:16 > 0:51:19Oh, god. Well, are you OK? Did anyone get hurt?

0:51:19 > 0:51:22Look, I need time to work on my book.

0:51:22 > 0:51:24When are you going to finish that book?

0:51:24 > 0:51:26Like that?

0:51:26 > 0:51:28Y-Yes, physically like that,

0:51:28 > 0:51:32but what's missing from it is...

0:51:32 > 0:51:35the argumentation.

0:51:35 > 0:51:37I think I've come to realise that he is

0:51:37 > 0:51:39the best actor's director I've ever worked with,

0:51:39 > 0:51:42and I've worked with some really good ones,

0:51:42 > 0:51:45so I say that after a lot of thought.

0:51:45 > 0:51:48And so, while he's giving us a lot of free rein,

0:51:48 > 0:51:52he's still going for something very specific,

0:51:52 > 0:51:54the way he's offering these suggestions all the time,

0:51:54 > 0:51:56but then sort of backtracking and saying,

0:51:56 > 0:52:00"but we don't have to, and, you know, if you don't feel comfortable with it,

0:52:00 > 0:52:04"then forget I ever said it," so it can just be real life.

0:52:04 > 0:52:06I mean, how many times can you write

0:52:06 > 0:52:09and tear up and rewrite these chapters?!

0:52:09 > 0:52:11It's like you're scared to finish.

0:52:11 > 0:52:15OK, you know what? You're right. I'm gun-shy, I can't handle it,

0:52:15 > 0:52:19if it's confirmed, yet again, that all those nice things predicted about me were wrong.

0:52:19 > 0:52:22- That I was, what, a flash in the pan? - Well, stalling is not the answer.

0:52:22 > 0:52:26All my friends have family! Can I do that?

0:52:26 > 0:52:31- Yeah, sure, yeah. - Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. - Warn me.

0:52:31 > 0:52:35And you shut the door because we're going to cut in here.

0:52:35 > 0:52:37I'm anything but comfortable on this set, for sure.

0:52:37 > 0:52:39I've spent a week and a half here getting ready to start

0:52:39 > 0:52:43and it's been the most torturous week and a half of my life

0:52:43 > 0:52:46because he's one of these guys that you want to please,

0:52:46 > 0:52:48you know, you really want to please him.

0:52:48 > 0:52:51It's like going back to, you know, acting school,

0:52:51 > 0:52:53you know? I feel like I know nothing

0:52:53 > 0:52:57and I just want to please this guy's vision.

0:52:57 > 0:53:01And she's sipping her drink, chatting.

0:53:01 > 0:53:03Right here. And I'm...?

0:53:03 > 0:53:06You're in here with her. Why? You ask.

0:53:06 > 0:53:08Uh-Huh.

0:53:08 > 0:53:12No, I didn't ask why, I just asked where. I mean, why? Is always the question,

0:53:12 > 0:53:15why we do have to be alone together?

0:53:15 > 0:53:19That I can never find the answer to. What could you do in here?

0:53:19 > 0:53:22Just be uncomfortable.

0:53:22 > 0:53:23OK.

0:53:23 > 0:53:27I mean, what could I do as an action, what could I do as a...?

0:53:27 > 0:53:32I mean, you can come in... I mean, you can come in for your cigarettes,

0:53:32 > 0:53:34you know, get them while you're here.

0:53:34 > 0:53:38You can come in and sit down in anticipation of your salad.

0:53:38 > 0:53:44You know, if they say to me, "would you like me to do it this way?" Or "was I too mean in that?"

0:53:44 > 0:53:48You know, I can't just stare back at them and not answer,

0:53:48 > 0:53:50so I have to say yes or no.

0:53:50 > 0:53:56You do get actors that want a little feedback and they do ask questions

0:53:56 > 0:53:58and I give them a short answer,

0:53:58 > 0:54:03a short, flattering answer - "Oh, you were great, do exactly what you're doing,"

0:54:03 > 0:54:05or something, and they're fine.

0:54:05 > 0:54:09Do it that way and let's see. This was quite good.

0:54:09 > 0:54:12Now, if you're telling me you can be

0:54:12 > 0:54:15even more natural, fine, that never hurts anything,

0:54:15 > 0:54:17but this was not...

0:54:17 > 0:54:18If you saw this, you wouldn't think,

0:54:18 > 0:54:22"Oh, it's not authentic or it's artificial."

0:54:22 > 0:54:25Right. Well, that's what I don't want, by any means.

0:54:25 > 0:54:26It looks perfectly natural.

0:54:26 > 0:54:30I ask him a lot of questions. He says, "Don't worry about it. Get a good night's sleep.

0:54:30 > 0:54:32"I'll see you tomorrow. Learn your lines

0:54:32 > 0:54:35"and I'll point you in the right direction and you'll be fine."

0:54:35 > 0:54:40He doesn't really go into motivation or, like, acting stuff, like,

0:54:40 > 0:54:43you know, what's the back history, what's the story?

0:54:43 > 0:54:46He doesn't really go into any of that.

0:54:46 > 0:54:48I think... I'm not sure.

0:54:48 > 0:54:53I think he once said, "I gave a standard direction - do it faster."

0:54:53 > 0:54:55We didn't meet until three days before filming,

0:54:55 > 0:54:57when I showed up in Paris,

0:54:57 > 0:55:01and we shook hands and he asked me how my flight was

0:55:01 > 0:55:05and it was a good flight and uneventful,

0:55:05 > 0:55:09and he said, "Great. This will be the last you hear from me."

0:55:09 > 0:55:14The words I think you hear most often on set are

0:55:14 > 0:55:15"Make it up. Make yourself comfortable.

0:55:15 > 0:55:19"Put it in your own words. If you get an idea, go with it."

0:55:19 > 0:55:23Even if I have to say something like, "Woody, nobody says 'valise', you know, I can't say 'valise'."

0:55:23 > 0:55:26And he'll say, "Well, what would you say?" "I have a suitcase."

0:55:26 > 0:55:30He'll say, "fine, say suitcase. It doesn't matter. Say whatever you think,

0:55:30 > 0:55:32"as long as it has the same intention as the line."

0:55:32 > 0:55:35Some of the directions would be like, you know,

0:55:35 > 0:55:38"what you're doing is very good but, you know,

0:55:38 > 0:55:41"there's a Knicks game at... Speed it up."

0:55:41 > 0:55:46"You've got to move this along because I've got to leave. The knicks are playing. Sure."

0:55:46 > 0:55:49I don't have a lot of patience, in life, or in general,

0:55:49 > 0:55:54so, you know, I don't have the patience to do another take.

0:55:54 > 0:55:57If I've gotten what I want,

0:55:57 > 0:56:00then I want to move on, finish, and go home.

0:56:00 > 0:56:03I don't have the concentration or the dedication

0:56:03 > 0:56:09that you really need to be a great artist.

0:56:09 > 0:56:12I'd rather be home, watching the ballgame.

0:56:12 > 0:56:16He is a very efficient worker and runs his set in a way

0:56:16 > 0:56:20where everyone's working hard, but nobody's taxed

0:56:20 > 0:56:24or no one's like, "Oh, my gosh, I can't believe we're on another 18-hour day."

0:56:24 > 0:56:28You only do a handful of takes. He gets most of his footage in master shots,

0:56:28 > 0:56:31so he'll shoot a four- or five-page scene all in one shot.

0:56:31 > 0:56:34I'd be conscious of "OK, one page to go."

0:56:34 > 0:56:37"You got a line coming up, you got a line coming up."

0:56:37 > 0:56:39Because you didn't want to screw up because then you

0:56:39 > 0:56:41have to go back to the beginning and do it all over again.

0:56:41 > 0:56:44You didn't want to mess up the take. It's daunting.

0:56:44 > 0:56:47Almost a hundred years after the abolition of slavery,

0:56:47 > 0:56:50a man couldn't play a game of baseball

0:56:50 > 0:56:53in the big leagues if his skin colour was black, OK?

0:56:53 > 0:56:54You're harping on one point.

0:56:54 > 0:56:58OK, forget blacks! Take Jews.

0:56:58 > 0:57:00- What?- Here we go.

0:57:00 > 0:57:03For years, they restricted the number of Jews in schools, medical school.

0:57:03 > 0:57:07In America, as much as they hated blacks, they hate Jews even more.

0:57:07 > 0:57:09- Why?- Blacks, they were scared had too big a penis.

0:57:09 > 0:57:12- Jews, they hated, even with little penises. - For god's sake, I'm eating!

0:57:12 > 0:57:16After I did my first scene, he came up to me and said,

0:57:16 > 0:57:18"That wasn't horrible."

0:57:18 > 0:57:20HE LAUGHS

0:57:20 > 0:57:23But this notion that I hear that he doesn't direct,

0:57:23 > 0:57:26I mean, that's kind of ridiculous.

0:57:26 > 0:57:28He gets what he wants.

0:57:28 > 0:57:31The thing about Woody, as a director,

0:57:31 > 0:57:35was just go, be there and do whatever you want

0:57:35 > 0:57:38and mess up the lines and turn your back to the camera

0:57:38 > 0:57:41and let's grab it here and lets go.

0:57:41 > 0:57:44You got to go back to your shrink. I want you to see dr Ballard again.

0:57:44 > 0:57:45Larry, I went for two years!

0:57:45 > 0:57:49Yeah, I know, but you know how General Motors will recall defective cars?

0:57:49 > 0:57:52- You got to go in for a tune-up. - Larry, we'll be in and out in five minutes, honey.

0:57:52 > 0:57:56No, no, I'm telling you! I'm your husband. I command you to sleep!

0:57:56 > 0:57:58- Well, I... sleep!- No!- I command it! I command it!

0:57:58 > 0:58:00It was so easy.

0:58:00 > 0:58:05It was so simple and relaxed and fun

0:58:05 > 0:58:07and no pressure and nobody expected anything

0:58:07 > 0:58:10and I've never worked with anybody like that, ever.

0:58:10 > 0:58:12This musical we did, Everyone Says I Love You,

0:58:12 > 0:58:14we had a very involved sequence with Goldie Hawn

0:58:14 > 0:58:18which involved dancing with wires in Paris.

0:58:18 > 0:58:20As far as Woody was concerned,

0:58:20 > 0:58:22"Oh, we'll just show up and do it on the day."

0:58:22 > 0:58:23I said, "Well, you know, there's, like,

0:58:23 > 0:58:27"all these flying rigs and, you know, dance choreography

0:58:27 > 0:58:30"and, I mean, this all has to be worked out.

0:58:30 > 0:58:32"We just can't show up on the day with, you know,

0:58:32 > 0:58:35"with a hundred guys on the quay."

0:58:35 > 0:58:39I used to have to, like, drag him, kicking and screaming,

0:58:39 > 0:58:43for, like, one or two rehearsals for something like that.

0:58:43 > 0:58:47# Just you

0:58:47 > 0:58:50# Just me

0:58:50 > 0:58:53# Let's find a cosy spot

0:58:53 > 0:58:56# Where no one can see... #

0:58:56 > 0:59:00I wanted to do the old-fashioned kind of musical,

0:59:00 > 0:59:03where I used old-fashioned songs.

0:59:03 > 0:59:08I didn't want to do anything more innovative or modern,

0:59:08 > 0:59:12I just, you know, wanted to get people who, you know,

0:59:12 > 0:59:16like to sing in the shower or couldn't sing.

0:59:16 > 0:59:18None of that mattered to me.

0:59:18 > 0:59:21# What are my arms for?

0:59:21 > 0:59:26# Use your imagination

0:59:26 > 0:59:30- # Just us - Just the two of us... #

0:59:30 > 0:59:34That film has got its fans,

0:59:34 > 0:59:38but it was not a huge success.

0:59:38 > 0:59:42I did it, like all my films, for the few people who like it.

0:59:45 > 0:59:48It's interesting. Because of the auteur theory,

0:59:48 > 0:59:51there were a lot of filmmakers who felt,

0:59:51 > 0:59:53no, I have to make a great film.

0:59:53 > 0:59:55People felt obliged to top themselves.

0:59:55 > 0:59:58Woody Allen has never felt obliged to top himself.

0:59:58 > 1:00:01He's felt obliged to do whatever interests him most,

1:00:01 > 1:00:04to go there with a full commitment,

1:00:04 > 1:00:06but when he's done, he moves on,

1:00:06 > 1:00:09and he just - he moves right into the next thing.

1:00:09 > 1:00:12Deconstructing Harry was based on the premise

1:00:12 > 1:00:15that you learned about the character and his life

1:00:15 > 1:00:18from what he wrote.

1:00:18 > 1:00:22So Harry was a writer who's having a writer's block

1:00:22 > 1:00:28and was going through bad child custody stuff with his ex-wife.

1:00:28 > 1:00:31Sick, sick, sick fucking bastard.

1:00:31 > 1:00:33And I thought that would be interesting,

1:00:33 > 1:00:35that what he wrote was telling

1:00:35 > 1:00:38and maybe even sometimes more telling about him

1:00:38 > 1:00:41than how he carried on in his actual life.

1:00:41 > 1:00:43I like it.

1:00:43 > 1:00:48A character who's too neurotic to function in life,

1:00:48 > 1:00:53that can only function in art.

1:00:53 > 1:00:55Now Harry's nothing like me.

1:00:55 > 1:00:57I've never had a writer's block in my life.

1:00:57 > 1:00:59You know, I would never have the nerve

1:00:59 > 1:01:01to kidnap a child in a custody thing.

1:01:01 > 1:01:03I... That's not my life.

1:01:03 > 1:01:06What's the man like?

1:01:06 > 1:01:07It's me, thinly disguised.

1:01:07 > 1:01:09In fact, I...I don't even think

1:01:09 > 1:01:15- I should disguise it anymore. It's... You know, it's me.- Uh-Huh.

1:01:15 > 1:01:18In the late '90s and then into the turn of the next century,

1:01:18 > 1:01:21some people were starting to write him off,

1:01:21 > 1:01:23saying that he was played out.

1:01:23 > 1:01:26There's a period that comes after Deconstructing Harry

1:01:26 > 1:01:29where I just had to think of it as Woody adrift,

1:01:29 > 1:01:30because he was making a film a year.

1:01:30 > 1:01:32They were coming out steadily,

1:01:32 > 1:01:36but there was something that was off in film after film.

1:01:36 > 1:01:39You know, and there would always be something that was on

1:01:39 > 1:01:41in film after film at the same time.

1:01:41 > 1:01:45But you'd see and you'd go into each new Woody Allen film and hope, cos you never do know.

1:01:45 > 1:01:48I suggested once to him,

1:01:48 > 1:01:52"What if you were only making one film every two years?

1:01:52 > 1:01:55"Wouldn't that be more of an event?

1:01:55 > 1:01:59"Wouldn't people just feel like there was something special about it?"

1:01:59 > 1:02:03And he said, "No, that makes no sense at all."

1:02:03 > 1:02:06He just has to be out there making films.

1:02:06 > 1:02:09He's always been a person who's done what he wanted,

1:02:09 > 1:02:12whether it was moving from Bananas to Annie Hall

1:02:12 > 1:02:15or moving from Annie Hall to Interiors.

1:02:15 > 1:02:17There's always been...

1:02:17 > 1:02:20His career has been guided purely by his sense

1:02:20 > 1:02:22of what's the right thing for him to do,

1:02:22 > 1:02:24not "what does the audience want me to do?"

1:02:24 > 1:02:28And he's not afraid to fail. That's the thing, too.

1:02:28 > 1:02:30Like, failure does noth... He kind of...

1:02:30 > 1:02:34You can tell he kind of approaches it like a baseball player.

1:02:34 > 1:02:37Like, "OK, I'll get em the next time."

1:02:37 > 1:02:41I'm willing to fail without any problem whatsoever.

1:02:41 > 1:02:44I just... I draw the line

1:02:44 > 1:02:47at an obvious, flagrant committing suicide.

1:02:47 > 1:02:53I don't really care about commercial success,

1:02:53 > 1:02:56and the end result is I rarely achieve it.

1:02:56 > 1:02:59See, that's one of the great things about Woody.

1:02:59 > 1:03:02He really doesn't give a hoot what anybody says about him,

1:03:02 > 1:03:05you know, which I think

1:03:05 > 1:03:10is the hallmark of an artistic sensibility,

1:03:10 > 1:03:14as opposed to kind of a more normal movie-making sensibility.

1:03:14 > 1:03:17You know, how can you get too caught up

1:03:17 > 1:03:19in reviews or how the movie's doing

1:03:19 > 1:03:22if you're already on to your next movie?

1:03:22 > 1:03:24Which is probably a good way to be,

1:03:24 > 1:03:27cos it kind of protects you a little bit from, you know,

1:03:27 > 1:03:31"How's this doing? Or "what are the numbers on this?"

1:03:31 > 1:03:36It's an artist who continually paints

1:03:36 > 1:03:38and has to be heard from and has to...

1:03:38 > 1:03:40Maybe... I don't know why you do this,

1:03:40 > 1:03:43but do you do it so that you know you're alive

1:03:43 > 1:03:46and you want to let people know you're alive and you're still thinking

1:03:46 > 1:03:48and you're still in there punching?

1:03:48 > 1:03:50You know, I think probably that's what it is.

1:03:50 > 1:03:52How many great films has he made?

1:03:52 > 1:03:56A lot. You know, so he's made a few clunkers, but even the clunkers,

1:03:56 > 1:03:59there's always something about them.

1:03:59 > 1:04:01Always. That's art.

1:04:01 > 1:04:04I've been working on the quantity theory.

1:04:04 > 1:04:07I feel if I keep making films and just keep making them,

1:04:07 > 1:04:10every once in a while, I'll get lucky

1:04:10 > 1:04:13and one will come out, and that's exactly what happens.

1:04:13 > 1:04:16I just will never forget, you know,

1:04:16 > 1:04:18after Curse Of The Jade Scorpion,

1:04:18 > 1:04:22after anything else, after all those films that seemed to wander...

1:04:22 > 1:04:26In a theatre, seeing a movie. OK, here's a coming attraction

1:04:26 > 1:04:28for a film that's set in Britain.

1:04:28 > 1:04:29It's a thriller,

1:04:29 > 1:04:32and it looks really intense, and it's got a good cast.

1:04:32 > 1:04:34People are nudging, "Hey, let's see this."

1:04:34 > 1:04:37You're threatening me? If I don't do what you say, you'll go to my wife?

1:04:37 > 1:04:39Hello?

1:04:39 > 1:04:41Who keeps calling?

1:04:41 > 1:04:43You lied to me. You're a liar!

1:04:43 > 1:04:46You can learn to push the guilt under the rug and go on.

1:04:46 > 1:04:49Otherwise, it overwhelms you.

1:04:50 > 1:04:52And then, suddenly, boom -

1:04:52 > 1:04:54written and directed by Woody Allen.

1:04:54 > 1:04:56Match Point. Hello, what's this?

1:04:56 > 1:04:59I grew up on Woody Allen movies,

1:04:59 > 1:05:02so, for me, working with Woody was always -

1:05:02 > 1:05:05that was like, you made it.

1:05:05 > 1:05:07You have to lean in

1:05:07 > 1:05:10and hit through the ball.

1:05:10 > 1:05:15I was doing just fine until you showed up.

1:05:15 > 1:05:17Ah, the story of my life.

1:05:17 > 1:05:19So tell me,

1:05:19 > 1:05:21what's a beautiful young American ping pong player

1:05:21 > 1:05:24doing mingling amongst the British upper class?

1:05:29 > 1:05:33Did anyone ever tell you you play a very aggressive game?

1:05:35 > 1:05:39Did anyone ever tell you you have very sensual lips?

1:05:43 > 1:05:44Extremely aggressive.

1:05:44 > 1:05:47Match Point is sexy.

1:05:47 > 1:05:52It's a sexy, sexy movie. You know what I mean?

1:05:52 > 1:05:54I mean... I mean, it's more sexual

1:05:54 > 1:05:58than anything from guys half his age.

1:05:58 > 1:06:00This can't lead anyplace.

1:06:03 > 1:06:07It's funny, because when we were shooting Match Point, we shot that scene in the wheat field,

1:06:07 > 1:06:11and it's pouring rain, and I'm, of course, allergic to wheat.

1:06:11 > 1:06:15Woody knows this and thinks it's hilarious, I'm sure.

1:06:15 > 1:06:18I'm dying and sinus-y and mucous-y

1:06:18 > 1:06:21and itchy and feeling not sexy at all.

1:06:21 > 1:06:23Not to mention the fact that Jonathan Rhys Meyers

1:06:23 > 1:06:28totally split my lip in the middle of the scene with his tooth.

1:06:28 > 1:06:30Woody would say things like, "it looked... It looked...

1:06:30 > 1:06:33"No, I saw the dailies the other day, and they were good.

1:06:33 > 1:06:37"Very... I... I think it's... I think it's working. I think it's working."

1:06:37 > 1:06:38You know, and you're just like,

1:06:38 > 1:06:41"OK, Woody, well, if you think it's working, then it means

1:06:41 > 1:06:44"we don't have to do any reshoots of that last scene."

1:06:44 > 1:06:48It was one of the best summers of my life shooting that movie.

1:06:48 > 1:06:50I had such an incredible time.

1:06:50 > 1:06:53And part of that was really just forming a friendship with Woody.

1:06:53 > 1:06:57We just were two peas in a pod.

1:06:57 > 1:07:00I feel very lucky

1:07:00 > 1:07:03to be sitting on this couch with...

1:07:03 > 1:07:04with a proven genius.

1:07:04 > 1:07:08You know, I wear the mantle of greatness with humility.

1:07:08 > 1:07:09I mean, I think you have to.

1:07:09 > 1:07:13It is lonely at the top. Whoever said that knew.

1:07:13 > 1:07:14You know, maybe if she was...

1:07:14 > 1:07:16if I was a little less intelligent,

1:07:16 > 1:07:19or maybe she was slightly brighter or something...

1:07:19 > 1:07:22Or if you had kind of more brownish hair.

1:07:22 > 1:07:25Yeah, maybe if I had brownish hair or if I was...

1:07:25 > 1:07:27You know, who knows what would have happened?

1:07:27 > 1:07:30Scarlett, you know, is a crippler.

1:07:30 > 1:07:33But like any artist, you have to say something.

1:07:33 > 1:07:36It can't all be technique.

1:07:36 > 1:07:38And with Scarlett

1:07:38 > 1:07:41and Penelope, they're saying something.

1:07:41 > 1:07:44I thought we could go for a ride to the countryside later.

1:07:44 > 1:07:48I mean, you know, the weather is beautiful.

1:07:48 > 1:07:51IN SPANISH:

1:07:51 > 1:07:53In English.

1:07:53 > 1:07:54Oh, no, it's fine.

1:07:54 > 1:07:57You speak no Spanish?

1:07:57 > 1:08:00No, I, uh, studied Chinese.

1:08:00 > 1:08:02Chinese?

1:08:05 > 1:08:06Why?

1:08:06 > 1:08:08When we were in Barcelona,

1:08:08 > 1:08:12and they took Penelope and Javier and whatever,

1:08:12 > 1:08:15they were so worried about getting fired.

1:08:15 > 1:08:18I kept on saying, "don't worry about it. You two are so great.

1:08:18 > 1:08:19"You don't have anything to worry about."

1:08:19 > 1:08:22That was their main concern, cos Woody has that reputation.

1:08:22 > 1:08:25IN SPANISH:

1:08:39 > 1:08:41He completely trusted Javier and I

1:08:41 > 1:08:43with the translation from the English to Spanish,

1:08:43 > 1:08:46because we did the translation ourselves,

1:08:46 > 1:08:48and we improvised so much.

1:08:48 > 1:08:50And he was always walking around the set.

1:08:50 > 1:08:52"I have no idea what these two are saying, but I trust them."

1:08:52 > 1:08:54I don't know what they said.

1:08:54 > 1:08:56I mean, they could have been talking about,

1:08:56 > 1:08:59you know, building an atomic bomb or something.

1:08:59 > 1:09:02I mean, I just know the movie seemed to go over with people,

1:09:02 > 1:09:05so they must have been doing something correct.

1:09:05 > 1:09:07Is it reasonable of me to ask you

1:09:07 > 1:09:10if you will both join me in my room?

1:09:10 > 1:09:12I'm engaged to be married.

1:09:12 > 1:09:17I have a handsome, lovely fiancee who I make love with

1:09:17 > 1:09:20and also holds a very real place in my heart,

1:09:20 > 1:09:22and to be perfectly frank, Juan Antonio,

1:09:22 > 1:09:24if I were the type of person that played around,

1:09:24 > 1:09:26I don't think it's in the cards for us.

1:09:26 > 1:09:28And you?

1:09:28 > 1:09:32I'll go to your room, but...

1:09:32 > 1:09:34You have to seduce me.

1:09:34 > 1:09:38He loves women, he appreciates women.

1:09:38 > 1:09:43He has written some of the best female characters of all time.

1:09:43 > 1:09:48And I love how well he knows neurotic women.

1:09:48 > 1:09:51I know I'm not going to settle

1:09:51 > 1:09:53till I find what I'm looking for.

1:09:53 > 1:09:57Which is what?

1:09:57 > 1:10:00Um...

1:10:00 > 1:10:03Something else.

1:10:03 > 1:10:07I want something different, something more,

1:10:07 > 1:10:09some sort of...

1:10:09 > 1:10:12Counterintuitive love.

1:10:13 > 1:10:16Meaning?

1:10:16 > 1:10:19Meaning...

1:10:19 > 1:10:22I don't know.

1:10:22 > 1:10:24I don't know what I want.

1:10:24 > 1:10:27I only know what I don't want.

1:10:27 > 1:10:29And if you don't start undressing me soon,

1:10:29 > 1:10:32this is going to turn into a panel discussion.

1:10:34 > 1:10:36He's cast that scene so perfectly

1:10:36 > 1:10:39that those two actors can bring off their own heat,

1:10:39 > 1:10:41but they also are very comfortable with the braininess

1:10:41 > 1:10:42of the things they're saying.

1:10:42 > 1:10:45It feels like a much younger filmmaker

1:10:45 > 1:10:47because it feels so immediate.

1:10:47 > 1:10:51But it's also somebody in his 70s knowing what love is,

1:10:51 > 1:10:52knowing what attraction is,

1:10:52 > 1:10:55and being able to represent it well.

1:10:55 > 1:10:59You age, but you don't...

1:10:59 > 1:11:03Until you're really put out of commission,

1:11:03 > 1:11:08you can still do that stuff, and you know what to say,

1:11:08 > 1:11:13and you know what they say in retaliation all the time.

1:11:13 > 1:11:17So, I haven't reached the age yet

1:11:17 > 1:11:20where all that's behind me.

1:11:20 > 1:11:25But there will come a day when I'll just be able to say,

1:11:25 > 1:11:29"What? What? Can you move your lips? What?"

1:11:29 > 1:11:31You know?

1:11:31 > 1:11:33And then I won't...

1:11:33 > 1:11:36I won't be able to do those scenes in my life,

1:11:36 > 1:11:39so I won't be able to write them so well.

1:11:48 > 1:11:52There are a lot of surprises that happen between writing it,

1:11:52 > 1:11:56doing it, and seeing it on the screen.

1:11:56 > 1:11:58Most surprises are negative.

1:11:58 > 1:12:01Most surprises are that you thought something

1:12:01 > 1:12:05was good or funny, and it's not.

1:12:05 > 1:12:08I've made just about 40 films in my life,

1:12:08 > 1:12:12and so few of them have really been worth anything

1:12:12 > 1:12:14because it's not easy.

1:12:14 > 1:12:17If it was easy, it wouldn't be fun,

1:12:17 > 1:12:20it wouldn't be valuable.

1:12:20 > 1:12:23He gave me this theory that stayed with me ever since,

1:12:23 > 1:12:25and I thought it was really great.

1:12:25 > 1:12:28He said, "Every movie has a sort of amount of time

1:12:28 > 1:12:30"that an audience will sit for that story."

1:12:30 > 1:12:37So he is ruthless about looking at everything and saying,

1:12:37 > 1:12:39"It's good, but not good enough. It's out."

1:12:39 > 1:12:41Let's run through it a little bit.

1:12:41 > 1:12:44I thought just the sparkler and the test tubes.

1:12:44 > 1:12:47You want to go back and make some more of those others then?

1:12:47 > 1:12:50Yeah, let's go back. Let's trim the cut before that.

1:12:50 > 1:12:53I would just use that and that's it.

1:12:53 > 1:12:56I wouldn't use anything after that.

1:12:56 > 1:12:58I'd move in to that and lose all the footage after that.

1:12:58 > 1:13:02When I first started editing, we edited with a movieola,

1:13:02 > 1:13:06which is really like an old Model T.

1:13:06 > 1:13:10And we spliced, and the film was spliced,

1:13:10 > 1:13:11and we looked at it,

1:13:11 > 1:13:14and all those films got made on movieolas

1:13:14 > 1:13:16and Steenbecks for decades.

1:13:16 > 1:13:18And they were fine, they were no problem.

1:13:18 > 1:13:23And it was more tedious, and it would take weeks.

1:13:23 > 1:13:27Now I can edit a picture in four or five days,

1:13:27 > 1:13:31from a technical point of view, without a problem

1:13:31 > 1:13:34because my editor is punching in keys,

1:13:34 > 1:13:36and it goes very, very fast.

1:13:36 > 1:13:39But, you know, there's a big difference

1:13:39 > 1:13:41between what you set out to make

1:13:41 > 1:13:44and what you make almost every time.

1:13:44 > 1:13:47Her ex-husband, Alfie Shepridge.

1:13:47 > 1:13:50He awoke in the middle of the night,

1:13:50 > 1:13:53Thought about eternity, broke out in a sweat,

1:13:53 > 1:13:55And it's been jogging and health foods ever since.

1:13:55 > 1:13:58Is that the best...? Is that the best one we have on him

1:13:58 > 1:14:00or do we have...? Do we have a more...?

1:14:00 > 1:14:03Let's just check and see if we have an angrier one.

1:14:03 > 1:14:05Just the "that's enough" would do it.

1:14:05 > 1:14:08So it's a fast cut to him.

1:14:08 > 1:14:10FILM REWINDS

1:14:10 > 1:14:13That's enough. Stop it.

1:14:13 > 1:14:15All right. That's a little bit better.

1:14:15 > 1:14:18You know, by the time you get the thing together,

1:14:18 > 1:14:19it's such a mess,

1:14:19 > 1:14:23and you're flitting around the editing room

1:14:23 > 1:14:27making all sorts of compromises and saying,

1:14:27 > 1:14:30"Oh, gee, if I put the last scene first

1:14:30 > 1:14:34"and the middle scene, you know, at the end of the picture

1:14:34 > 1:14:36"and get a narrator and use dissolves

1:14:36 > 1:14:41"and do opticals, and put this in slow motion and use titles here."

1:14:41 > 1:14:43And you're struggling for survival.

1:14:43 > 1:14:47And I still screw up a lot of the times.

1:14:47 > 1:14:48So that's why I've often said -

1:14:48 > 1:14:51and it sounds facetious, but I'm serious -

1:14:51 > 1:14:55that the only thing standing between greatness and me is me.

1:14:55 > 1:14:58You know, there is no excuse.

1:14:58 > 1:15:01My question is for mr Woody Allen.

1:15:01 > 1:15:03Your film says many things about death,

1:15:03 > 1:15:07so I'd like to ask, how is your relationship with death now?

1:15:07 > 1:15:10My relationship with death remains the same.

1:15:10 > 1:15:13I'm strongly against it

1:15:13 > 1:15:14and, um...

1:15:14 > 1:15:17LAUGHTER

1:15:17 > 1:15:19APPLAUSE

1:15:19 > 1:15:23Woody is not happy to have to promote the films.

1:15:23 > 1:15:25He doesn't like doing interviews,

1:15:25 > 1:15:28and he also is a big believer that none of the publicity ever helps.

1:15:28 > 1:15:33Woody complains about doing the red carpet in Cannes

1:15:33 > 1:15:36or in any festival or any premiere that we have.

1:15:36 > 1:15:39You know, it's a brief period of time,

1:15:39 > 1:15:42and I don't think it's as terrible as he likes to portray.

1:15:42 > 1:15:48The whole thing is a psychological nightmare for me,

1:15:48 > 1:15:52but my wife likes Cannes, the kids like Cannes.

1:15:52 > 1:15:55The distributors of the film, it's very important to them.

1:15:55 > 1:15:59And so, you know, I do it.

1:15:59 > 1:16:02It's a surreal, preposterous thing,

1:16:02 > 1:16:06because there's no experience in reality

1:16:06 > 1:16:10where you're in a tuxedo and you're walking up a red carpet.

1:16:10 > 1:16:15Hundreds and hundreds of people are screaming your name, and flashbulbs going off.

1:16:15 > 1:16:18This doesn't happen to a schoolteacher

1:16:18 > 1:16:21or a college professor, or a doctor or - you know.

1:16:21 > 1:16:24It has no reality to it.

1:16:24 > 1:16:26Woody!

1:16:26 > 1:16:28Woody!

1:16:28 > 1:16:29Woody!

1:16:29 > 1:16:32Woody!

1:16:32 > 1:16:34Woody!

1:16:34 > 1:16:36We'll be passing among them,

1:16:36 > 1:16:38throwing some raw meat in a little while.

1:16:38 > 1:16:39MAN LAUGHS

1:16:39 > 1:16:41I've always been a performer, as well,

1:16:41 > 1:16:42so, for me, it's not difficult.

1:16:42 > 1:16:47I can address, you know, 200 people or 100 people

1:16:47 > 1:16:52and sit at round tables with people doing interviews.

1:16:52 > 1:16:54You know, I'm used to it.

1:16:54 > 1:16:56And I'm used to doing two and three shows a night

1:16:56 > 1:16:59and doing nightclubs and, so, you know,

1:16:59 > 1:17:00it's not - not so difficult for me.

1:17:00 > 1:17:02Woody Allen!

1:17:02 > 1:17:07When you go to a screening like here in Cannes, the people are friendly,

1:17:07 > 1:17:09they're rooting for you.

1:17:09 > 1:17:12They love you. They're, you know, in a festive mood,

1:17:12 > 1:17:14and they're here to see films.

1:17:14 > 1:17:18And so the fact that they're clapping and all of that,

1:17:18 > 1:17:22and the stars of the film that they've just seen

1:17:22 > 1:17:24are right there live, and they stand up.

1:17:24 > 1:17:28Of course they're going to be supportive just out of common politeness.

1:17:28 > 1:17:32You have to learn not to take that seriously.

1:17:32 > 1:17:36Well, it was a completely fake reaction by the audience.

1:17:36 > 1:17:38They faked it very well?

1:17:38 > 1:17:40They faked it, yeah. They're good at that.

1:17:40 > 1:17:42That's how they keep the festival going.

1:17:42 > 1:17:45Nobody ever comes up to you and says anything bad,

1:17:45 > 1:17:49so you learn to disregard all the compliments that you get

1:17:49 > 1:17:51because they never mean anything.

1:18:06 > 1:18:10I'd love to come up with an idea

1:18:10 > 1:18:11that pleased multitudes

1:18:11 > 1:18:15and, you know, huge swarms of people turned out

1:18:15 > 1:18:18and saw the picture two and three times,

1:18:18 > 1:18:21and it broke box office records,

1:18:21 > 1:18:25but I don't think that's ever going to happen in my lifetime.

1:18:33 > 1:18:38Midnight In Paris has gone on to be the largest grossing movie

1:18:38 > 1:18:42that Woody Allen has ever had, worldwide as well as in America.

1:18:42 > 1:18:45At the present time,

1:18:45 > 1:18:52Midnight In Paris has crossed the 50 million mark in box office.

1:18:52 > 1:18:55Worldwide, it's at about 106 million.

1:18:55 > 1:19:00So my guess is we'll be well above 120, 125 million before we're done.

1:19:00 > 1:19:03It's like, it's a smash.

1:19:03 > 1:19:07- It's like he's Michael Bay all of a sudden. - LAUGHS

1:19:07 > 1:19:10I don't think he has a great expectation

1:19:10 > 1:19:15of his movies are going to, you know, make much money here.

1:19:15 > 1:19:16I think a lot of it's the title.

1:19:16 > 1:19:23He said that he came up with the title Midnight In Paris before he had any story.

1:19:23 > 1:19:26And so, you know, people love, you know, that city,

1:19:26 > 1:19:30and it has such a hold on people's imagination.

1:19:30 > 1:19:33And it's gotten some good reviews,

1:19:33 > 1:19:36and so it seems like people are turning out for this one.

1:19:38 > 1:19:41What are you doing?

1:19:41 > 1:19:43I don't know.

1:19:43 > 1:19:45I...

1:19:51 > 1:19:55I did feel, for a minute there while I was doing it,

1:19:55 > 1:19:59like I was immortal.

1:19:59 > 1:20:00But you look so sad.

1:20:00 > 1:20:04Because life is too mysterious.

1:20:04 > 1:20:07This is the time we live in.

1:20:07 > 1:20:09Everything moves so fast,

1:20:09 > 1:20:13and life is noisy and complicated.

1:20:13 > 1:20:15It's a happy accident,

1:20:15 > 1:20:19because you try and make a good film every time out.

1:20:19 > 1:20:23And for some reason, Midnight In Paris

1:20:23 > 1:20:27was affectionately embraced by people.

1:20:27 > 1:20:29I think that's what they are.

1:20:31 > 1:20:35I do believe this is the happiest I've ever known Woody.

1:20:35 > 1:20:38He's in a good relationship, he has two lovely children,

1:20:38 > 1:20:40he's very devoted to them.

1:20:40 > 1:20:43He seems to enjoy his life.

1:20:43 > 1:20:45He's doing the work that he likes.

1:20:45 > 1:20:49This is definitely the happiest I've seen him.

1:20:49 > 1:20:51I love that his father lived to be 100

1:20:51 > 1:20:53and his mother lived to be 96,

1:20:53 > 1:20:56because he's clearly taking great care of himself anyway,

1:20:56 > 1:20:59and with those kind of genes, it means that we might have

1:20:59 > 1:21:02Woody Allen at the age of 105 still making a film a year.

1:21:02 > 1:21:07Gloomy as he is about the prospects of immortality,

1:21:07 > 1:21:09I think he has a fair chance,

1:21:09 > 1:21:14with a handful of other filmmakers of roughly his time,

1:21:14 > 1:21:18to have a nice little place in history.

1:21:18 > 1:21:23I have referred to Woody Allen in the pst as Albert Camus as comedian.

1:21:23 > 1:21:28Camus said, "I do not want to die. I do not want anyone I love to die.

1:21:28 > 1:21:31"I am going to die, and everyone I love is going to die,

1:21:31 > 1:21:33"and that makes life absurd."

1:21:33 > 1:21:36And Woody believes that, but he's able to weave in humour.

1:21:36 > 1:21:40Now, I think it probably does make it a bit more palatable.

1:21:40 > 1:21:44But I would want to ask him, if life really is absurd

1:21:44 > 1:21:47and horrible and brutal, why are we laughing?

1:21:47 > 1:21:52But shouldn't I stop making movies and do something that counts, like helping blind people

1:21:52 > 1:21:54or becoming a missionary or something?

1:21:54 > 1:21:57ALIEN VOICE: Let me tell you, you're not the missionary type.

1:21:57 > 1:22:00You'd never last. And incidentally, you're also not superman.

1:22:00 > 1:22:01You're a comedian.

1:22:01 > 1:22:04You want to do mankind a real service? Tell funnier jokes!

1:22:04 > 1:22:07Yeah, but I've got to find meaning.

1:22:09 > 1:22:11When I look back on my life,

1:22:11 > 1:22:14I've been very lucky that I've lived out

1:22:14 > 1:22:16all these childhood dreams.

1:22:16 > 1:22:20I wanted to be a movie actor, and I became one.

1:22:20 > 1:22:24I wanted to be a movie director and a comedian, I became one.

1:22:24 > 1:22:26I wanted to play jazz in New Orleans,

1:22:26 > 1:22:29and I played in street parades and joints in New Orleans

1:22:29 > 1:22:33and played in opera houses and concerts all over the world.

1:22:33 > 1:22:36There was nothing in my life that I aspired toward

1:22:36 > 1:22:39that hasn't come through for me.

1:22:39 > 1:22:43But despite all these lucky breaks,

1:22:43 > 1:22:48- why do I still feel that I got screwed somehow? - LAUGHS