Another Woman

Woody Allen – 1988 – USA

Following 1978’s Interiors, this is the second of Woody Allen’s two overtly Bergmanesque non-comedies – (September, 1987, also a straight drama, owes more to Chekov than Bergman) – Another Woman is more confidently in line with the rest of Allen’s oeuvre, fitting squarely amid Allen’s string of increasingly ambitious meditations on the emptiness of overeducated and well-to-do WASPs in the 1980s, as seen in films like Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and the grand finale of the cycle, Husbands and Wives (1992).  Another Woman has a special quality about it, not only because Allen seems to be quite relieved of the burden to be funny, but because he seems so assured about building the film exclusively from motifs that interest him, regardless of critical preferences.  We have the jaded attitudes towards infidelity amongst intellectuals, drink loosening tongues and leading to embarrassing outbursts, the dependence upon psychiatry as a religion for the faithless, May-December romances, and a certain plot device that has recurred in several Allen films; the act of eavesdropping, particularly on therapy sessions.  Gena Rowlands plays Marion Post, a respected, conservative 50-ish philosophy professor on sabbatical to write a new book.  She takes a small apartment as a quiet place to write and soon discovers that she can overhear conversations in the psychiatrist’s office next door.  Hearing some of these, as well as being confronted by friends and relatives with accusations of emotional coldness, causes her to reflect on her life and career decisions.  This is all certainly patterned on Bergman’s classic Wild Strawberries and Allen even hired Bergman’s favorite cinematographer, Sven Nykvist, to shoot the film, but – as when Brian De Palma starts a film using Hitchcock as a template – Allen appears to be doing much more than simply parodying or trying to outdo his role model, as his critics often claim.  In fact, you could view Another Woman as his attempt to process what Bergman’s influence really means to him and his work.  It seems that he achieved what he wanted; it’s of interest to note that this is the last film of its precise type.  Later strictly dramatic works – the British-made Match Point (2005) and Cassandra’s Dream (2007) – are much more concerned with Dostoyevsky than Bergman.  Another Woman and its heroine are equally brittle, and Rowlands is about as perfect an actress as you can imagine for the needs of this role.  The longtime face of her husband John Cassavetes’ films, her presence reflexively evokes the troubled characters she played in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Opening Night (1977), and as a result, the film becomes a tribute to Cassavetes too, (who died the following year).  What I find special about Another Woman, apart from its combined loose pace and tense tone, is its remarkable cast; largely comprised of powerhouse actors making their sole appearance in an Allen film; in addition to Rowlands, there is Ian Holm, Gene Hackman, Sandy Dennis, John Houseman (in his final role), Harris Yulin, Martha Plimpton and Betty Buckley.  Buckley, in particular, steals the show in a brief scene lasting a mere two minutes; providing an emotional blast of real life into the demure proceedings that haunt the rest of the film.  Allen regular Mia Farrow, heavily pregnant, appears as the psychiatrist’s patient whose sessions Marion listens to.