Rating: 
Summary: A Powerful, Emotional and Overlooked Masterpiece
Review: "Interiors" greatest crime is simply that it was the dark and dramatic follow-up to "Annie Hall". Period.
A dark and moving picture in the spirit of Bergman, "Interiors" has some very powerful but subtle performances. No one overdoes it which ads to the surreal and grim feeling that the realities that are being dealt with in the film are as large, vicious and unrelenting as the raging ocean outside of the beach house.
It's a very theatrical film- very much like a play.
Truth is, I watched this film only after John Waters reccomended it. Go figure.
Rating: 
Summary: An impeccable tapestry.
Review: "Interiors" (1978) is Woody Allen's most serious film. His equally intelligent "September" (1987) runs a close second. If you've enjoyed either one make sure you see the other. To fully appreciate "Interiors", it is good to note the context in which it was made. After Allen made the smash-hit "Annie Hall" (to this day hilarious and heartwarming) he wanted to prove the breadth of his talent with a film of a totally different tone. Hence "Interiors" was born and there is certainly nothing much to laugh about here. The colours are cold and the characters are caustic and critical. That being said, the film is superbly done. The mother of the household is in internal chaos and to compensate she makes the interior of her home too perfect for human touch. We delve deeply into the spiritual interiors of her daughters and live through their frustrations, resentments and aspirations. Sometimes it's hard to see them in so much torment. This is a melancholy film where no-one has little reason to smile and rarely does. But it is a brave, honest and perceptive work which Allen and his actresses should all be proud of. An interesting aside is the names Allen has given his characters. The only character who realy loves life is called "Pearl". Maybe the other characters in the film need to find this essence in themselves. The cool mother is named "Eve". - ironic as Eve means "life" and "lively" and the mother is anything but lively. She is however, like the biblical Eve in that she aspires to make her home like Eden. The Renata (Keaton) character means "reborn" which she is through her poetry and detachment from her mother. "Joey" jumps around from job to job trying to find herself. The acting, writing and photography are exceptional. This is "Hannah and Her Sisters" without the laughs but with much more depth. If you are prepared to accept the total solemnity of it all watch this fascinating insight into the human condition.
Rating:
Summary: »Yes, it is very peaceful«
Review: ... is the final line of this movie. And it certainly is a very noiseless movie, at least seen from a decibel point of view. There's not even a score to the movie!Still, a lot of things happen in »Interiors«. Basicly, it is about three sisters - as we have seen it in other Allen movies. But this time, the main event is that their dad leaves their mom, and the story is based on the relationships between the different family members. Beautifully and very intimately written, filmed and performed! A less-known but extremely aestehetic piece of art by Woody Allen. A must-see.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: Allen's foray into the style of Ingmar Bergman is one of the greatest films ever made. Diane Keaton, Marybeth Hurt, E.G. Marshall and the tour de force performance by Geraldine Page all make this movie a landmark in dramatic cinema. When Marshall's character decides after decades of marriage to leave his emotionally fragile wife played by Page, the entire family into upheaval and crisis. Filled with haunting images and Marybeth Hurt's Oscar-calibre final speech, Interiors is a chilling look at the insides of our souls.
Rating:
Summary: An unforgettable drama, thanks largely to Geraldine Page
Review: Geraldine Page's performance as Eve is pure genius. She embodies the whole idea of fragile hopelessness in this role and is able to convey a range of emotions through the slightest gesture or inflection in her voice. She was cheated at Oscar time by Jane Fonda (everyone knows this) because Fonda was considered a more "glamorous" and copy-worthy figure. Page was never interested in glamor, only in the quality of the performance. She was an actor's actor, and it seems in the years since her untimely death she has been largely forgotten. Why have there been no biographies of her or studies of her work? She was, after all, an important figure in the Actor's Studio in the 50's and 60's and was instrumental in bringing respectability to Off Broadway theatre with her landmark performance in Summer and Smoke. Interiors is her finest hour on screen (almost matched by her Oscar winning turn in The Trip to Bountiful), but it affords other pleasures as well, among them her co-stars' performances and Allen's masterful compositions and sense of lighting.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful, but deliciously so
Review: Giving "Interiors" three stars is a compromise: as a film it rates worse and yet watching it can be, in a rather twisted way, a five-star experience. Just as it's difficult to pass the scene of a car accident without staring, no matter how horrible the spectacle, "Interiors" offers the viewer the same kind of irresistible awfulness. Someone once wrote to the effect that Woody Allen writes about New York WASP intellectuals not the way they are but the way he thinks they are. Not having any experience with that particular segment of society I can only say that I hope, both for their sake and ours, that Allen is wildly off the mark. Whatever emotional pain his characters may be going through, they come across as hopelessly pretentious, self-involved, and unlikeable. Of course, there's nothing to demand that movies be populated with amiable characters, but Allen makes it pretty near impossible to feel for any of these people. If he was trying to present a portrait of obnoxious New York intellectuals, then "Interiors" is a partial success, but somehow I don't think that was his desired goal. For all its faults, however, "Interiors" will remain one of those Woody Allen movies that draws me back from time to time. As Allen's deadly serious movies go, "Interiors" is not as bad as the nearly unwatchable "September" but not as good as "Another Woman". His real problem is the dialogue. The ostentatious intellectualism is tolerable, even an asset, in his comedies but in his serious films it is fairly ridiculous. One need hardly point out that real people don't talk that way. But it is precisely that quality that draws me back. It's awfulness is delicious.
Rating:
Summary: Another side from Allen
Review: Haunting, bleak, somber, grey, tragic, morose, repressed. All these describe Interiors. And this Woody Allen made right after Annie Hall! The story, expanded upon throughout the rest of these reviews, is about a family struggling with each other after the matriarch has a nervous breakdown. The children, three sisters (echoing "Cries and Whispers" and Chekov?), their significant others, and their father all debate what of their lives and history and mother and each other. Interiors is a moving film, not funny, not even light, save for Maureen Stapleton, the only character with any positive energy, whose vitality is echoed in her red, pink and kalidescopic clothing. But Interiors is a great examination and an up-close creation of a family's struggles within itself and how each individuals issues shapes the family. The set designs, in very muted tones, the clothing, the lack of music, the darkness, and the harsh and gorgeous beach photography all enhance the story.
The DVD has no features, except the usual language modifications, wide-screen/standard option and trailer.
Recommended for those interested in Allen's darker side and/or Ingmar Bergman-like/Scandanavian aesthetic.
Rating:
Summary: chillingly well done
Review: I am not usually attracted to Woody Allen movies but am sort of on a Diane Keaton kick right now and am devouring some of her earlier works as we speak. How interesting to find this movie when all I was looking for was something with Keaton. What is masterfully done in this picture is examining rage and turmoil from the perspective of silence and calmness. Raised in a home where you needed to be loud to express your feelings, I was attracted to the depth shown in so few words, so few temper tantrums. What a way to engage the audience: allow them to join the somber solitude and silence of the picture and still feel completely moved by the actors themselves. Amazingly well done, and inexplicably hard to resist.
Rating:
Summary: Save Us !
Review: I can't be too critical of Woody...This is a brilliant film if you want to be left in the dumps.. Aside from all the intelligecia who have reviewed this film.. here it is from a Woody lover without all the internal angst.. You won't find one person in this family of dysfunctionals you will like. Save, Maureen Stapleton, the outsider and new bride , who comes along later.. They are all so self internalizing.. God !! Is this what New York does to you ? If you love Woody...stay away from this one..as you image of the brilliant, intelligent; film maker will be dashed.. After Interiors, I'll take of double dose of Danny Rose.. You'll need a "pick me up " too
Rating:
Summary: Woody, drama?!!
Review: I have seen about half of Woody Allens films, and I have yet to find on that I do not enjoy! I think that Interiors is Woody taking a different approach to similar material. In his films, he often finds humor in difficult subjects such as relationships, criticism and death. In this film, there is not one trace of a joke, not one! It is a complete departure from Love And Death, which he made only three years earlier. I find it to be a very good example of his dynamic talent as a film-maker. The performances in the cast are indeed very excellent, especially those by Keaton and Page. Overall, a good movie. I reccomend it!
|
