Interiors

Rating:
Summary: "Okay, that was beautiful. Now give me even less."
Review: Some if not most of the performances in "Interiors", especially Geraldine Page's and E. G. Marshall's, are masterpieces of minimalist acting. It barely resembles acting at all, which is of course the finest compliment a person can pay a performance. It seems as if Woody Allen would get a take, and then another one, and after each take would say, "Okay, that was beautiful. Now give me even less." Alot of people probably see this film as being way too self-conscious, which it may be, but it is also quite extraordinary.

Rating:
Summary: Chilling, extraordinary, and rare.
Review: The starkness and instability in this film are amazing. The tone is sad, somber, and broaches every deep side of ourselves. There's not a single ounce of happiness or light-hearted fun. Faces filled with sadness glance out of windows, their eyes exploring for at least a sign of peace within themselves. Their questions still are not answered at the end of the film, unlike most films. The emotions you recieve are unbelieveable. On a more basic ground, this film is about a family broken up by the father, who decides to seperate his wife, who has spent time in mental hospitals and still is emotionally fragile. The plot expands from there, with the characters silently struggling to deal with the unexpected absence in the family. It becomes worse when the father decides to marry another woman, a woman who is free-spirited and acts in total contrast with Eve, the mentally-ill mother. Eve becomes delusional and suicidal from there. The three sisters tries to cope in their own ways, but there is always an antagonism surfacing, even though they won't say it out loud. This film hit me deeply and left me in tears. I love movies with morals, and this one is a perfect example. For me, the moral was that you cannot have everything answered in your life, much as you want them to be. But it's not the solitary reason why I loved it so much. It's very unlike Woody Allen's style, whose films are always filled with satire and neurotism, as well as a fun-packed wallop of laughs. I loved this movie because it really showed the characters' dark sides, their inward battles, their frustration of not being able to express to one another, and their inability to make themselves happy, among much more. There is no trace of happiness. The characters rarely smile, but when they do, it's doled out forcefully. Their pain is heartbreakingly evident. The title, "Interiors" is a perfect title. It matches the mother and daughters. Eve, beyond her power to change things, tries to cope by buying expensive things and rearranging them all around the house so they can look pretty, clean, and available for everyone to look at, in exact opposition to her struggles inward. But the vases and frames she buys are void of color; they are white, like everything else in the house. Not a single thing is out of place, no curtains grace the windows, and everything looks shiny, smooth, and tight. It does not have the mark of a family, but the mark of a person who is about to go over the edge.

The daughters are detached from their mother, and from each other. They greet each other with polite hellos and wan smiles. Renata and Joey, the two most developed characters, compete against each other, and they differ in support for Eve-Joey tries to steer her back to the realization that there's no possible chance for a reconciliation, and Renata is the type to shove things under the carpet and try to smooth out the bumps. The questions we ask will linger to which there's no answer. Everything is as it should be-unanswered. You can feel the tension pressing down on you in the air, your breath shorten and staggen, and marvel at the enormity of this movie. There is no room for a morsel of cheerfulness, but forced smiles and downcast eyes in which silent battles rage behind their placid facades. I've never been able to forget the very last scene when the three sisters glance out of a window simultaneously and Joey says, "The water's so calm." and Renata says, "Yes. It's very peaceful." Words that may seem simple and common, but it's the very antithesis-their struggles with themselves hasn't died. Everything is left suspended in the air, with no coherent and rational answer. Plus, the way Hurt and Keaton said it, with their eyes continually searching..was I the only one who was sobbing my eyes out? I noticed every last detail to this scene and their immense sadness. I could go on all night blabbing about this beautiful film, but I don't think there are any words available for description. I've tried my best. As one of the few seventeen-year-old girls on this planet that likes Woody Allen, this is yet another masterful to add to my collection. I highly acclaim Allen for his rare work and Mary Beth Hurt, Geraldine Page, Maureen Stapleton, and Diane Keaton for their unique and unforgettable portrayals. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this movie to literal audiences who loves movies that come with emotional catharses and deep, conscious self-analysis. "Interiors" is a movie destined to be remembered well into the next century. Do not miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding (for some of us)
Review: There are a lot of movies that are very very good but aren't meant for everyone. This is one of them. If your intelligence is better than average, you'll appreciate this one, and wallow in the perfectly-written script and the messages Woody is trying to get across to his audience, one of which is sticking the underused word "irrevocable" in the script at least twice, a word that rarely comes out of the mouths of most of us. The contrast between the characters that the stoic Geraldine Page and the garish Maureen Stapleton play is interesting, and the fact that E.G. Marshall prefers the Maureen Stapleton character because he's more interested in having a good time in his final years than in the "good taste" that he had become accustomed to from Geraldine Page. It's also interesting to watch how Woody portrays people who take themselves too seriously (almost everyone in the picture), and contrasts them with those who don't (Flynn and Pearl). Now, unfortunately, if you consider yourself white trash level who can't handle anything more than a slapstick comedy, you'll be screaming to get away from the TV set on this one.

Rating:
Summary: visceral and subdued
Review: This emotional film may appeal to refugees from nauseating and intelligence-insulting Hollywood tear-jerkers. The film exposes expression and suppression of emotion in the educated upper middle class family of origin. The emotional tension rises higher and breaks down more hysterically than in his films that address marriage and the sexual relationship.

Modern interiors gut-hardeningly frame the confrontations and evasions. The interiors on their own would make it worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: visceral and subdued
Review: This emotional film may appeal to refugees from nauseating and intelligence-insulting Hollywood tear-jerkers. The film exposes expression and suppression of emotion in the educated upper middle class family of origin. The emotional tension rises higher and breaks down more hysterically than in his films that address marriage and the sexual relationship.

Modern interiors gut-hardeningly frame the confrontations and evasions. The interiors on their own would make it worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: As Good As Woody Allen Gets
Review: This is a very beautiful movie: He'll probably never make another movie like this as there's not much market for it but I wish a lot more movies of it's ilk were made. Yes there's plenty of Bergman influence but it's at least as much in the spirit of Checkhov (high compliment). Most of the characters are bright, preening, self absorbed people cut of from the flow of life, that enjoy wallowing in the pain of their magnified personal issues. It's not historionic like Bergman, the film is dispassionate and measured although it deals with depression and suicide. There is no musical soundtrack (including the opening and closing credits), except when the characters are dancing: it plays very much like theater. The central character Eve is an interior decorator and she shapes the lives of the other characters through upbringing or their response to her, hence: Interiors.

Rating:
Summary: a haunting study of family dynamics
Review: This is one of my favorite Woody Allen movies, up there right along with Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway. It's not a comedy and why should it be? Mr. Allen got some flack when it was first released for straying from his familiar comedic terrain. Yet, Interiors proves for me that Woody Allen is one of the definitive psychological directors of the cinema. Each relationship is carefully dissected, be it spousal or sibling. The terrain is rarely pleasant yet fearlessly explored. The emotional lives of this upper class family are put on display in the most complete and satisfying way. You're aware after the first five minutes that something is terribly wrong wiith these people and slowly, beautifully your questions are answered. Intelligent people with a knack for self-analysis will love this movie; others will be groaning for sure. Watch this movie alone on a rainy day as you nurse some emotional wound of your own and I guarantee you'll have your needed emotional catharsis by the end!

Rating:
Summary: Allen's best pure drama
Review: This is perhaps the most serious of Allen's films and among his best. Some of his other more serious films have comic relief. This has none. These are deep, painful experiences that families go through.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional, and Gets Better With Time
Review: Very highly recommended. This is a carefully nuanced work of art that needs time and exposure to be appreciated. The acting, the writing and the visuals are all stunning. "Interiors" is a gifted examination of the crippling effects of perfectionism, and the vacuity of life lived only in the head.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best Allen film around, but still interesting!
Review: Woody Allen follows in the steps on Ingmar Bergman in filming the falling apart of women and sisters. The sisters are all very much different from each other. Joey [played by Mary Beth Hurt in a performace that makes me want to gag.] is the sister who can not find herself, even though we're told she has so many talents. You just feel like smaking her and saying, "Hey, there's people who have it a lot rougher than you out in the world." The two best things about this film are Geraldine Page and Maureen Stapleton, who were both nominated for Oscars. Stapleton plays the fathers new love interest who isn't like by the whole family, but ends up winning them over. Page brilliantly plays the fragile and distraught mother who is on the verge of suicide. The ending scenes are unavoidable as the story progresses. A great film to watch if your a fan of Allen's or Bergman's. It's also a great film to watch if your a fan of Geraldine Pages.
5 1978 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS:
BEST ACTRESS-GERALDINE PAGE
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS-MAUREEN STAPLETON
BEST DIRECTOR-WOODY ALLEN
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY-WOODY ALLEN
BEST ART DIRECTION