Shadows and Fog

Woody Allen - 1991- USA

• The fourth of five Allen films made in black-and-white.

• Kafkaesque story about morality, the soul, and the nature of evil, taking place in a single night in an unspecified time and place.

• Typically eccentric all-star cast includes (in mostly very brief parts) Kathy Bates, Madonna, John Malkovich, Lily Tomlin, John Cusak, Jodie Foster, Fred Gwynne, Wallace Shawn, Kenneth Mars, and the great Donald Pleasence in one of his last roles.  (Penultimate appearance by Mia Farrow in an Allen film too.)

• Electrifying cinematography done in homage to German Expressionism; shot by frequent Allen collaborator Carlo Di Palma.