Thursday, April 16, 1998
Woody Allen proves that he’s born to be wild
FILM ‘Wild Man Blues’ crew trails filmmaker through Europe for
three weeks in documentary
By Jessie Blank
Daily Bruin Contributor
Gliding along the canals of Venice, as the sun inches toward the
horizon and golden rays of light dance across the water’s surface,
two lovers embrace. The gondolier, making sure not to disturb the
tranquillity, guides the gondola under a covered bridge. Grasping
the private moment, an enamored man leans toward his love.
Squeezing her fragile hands within his and brushing her ear lobe
with his lips, he whispers, "The gondolier could cut our throats,
and no one would ever know."
What a way to ruin the moment, Woody.
Woody Allen, subject of the documentary film "Wild Man Blues,"
steps from behind the camera, out of the director’s chair and into
the unscripted role of himself as another director assumes the
duties of filmmaking.
Barbara Kopple, winner of two Oscars for documentary films and
director of "Wild Man Blues," is the first to probe into the
personal life of the typically private Allen, scrutinizing the
mysterious madman under the lens of her camera.
"Somebody offers you a challenge like that, you can’t resist. I
said, ‘Yes. Absolutely. I’ll do it,’" Kopple says. "I just knew it
was going to fun – an interesting journey anyway."
Invited to tour with Allen through Europe, Kopple struck a deal
with Allen early on that she, her crew and her camera would have
unlimited access. Wired with a microphone for 16 to 18 hours a day
and seeing his face every morning in the reflection of a camera
lens, Allen granted great accessibility to the director and her
vision.
"We had total access. We never discussed anything about what I
could do or what I couldn’t do. Actually, I was really hoping that
he would say, ‘OK. Tomorrow you’re gonna take off. I really don’t
want anybody to film me,’ because it was a grueling experience for
us because we worked all the time. We would have loved it, we would
have cheered, but it never happened. It never happened. He let me
do whatever I wanted," Kopple says.
Allen is most renown as a filmmaker. A peddler of intellectually
provocative and occasionally perverse films, Allen produces,
directs, writes and inevitably acts in films that fare
unpredictably at the box office.
Yet, unbeknownst to many (including Kopple before her tour with
Allen), he is a man of many other passions which until now have
gone unnoticed.
The love for his ex’s adopted daughter, now his wife, whom he
calls "the infamous Soon-Yi Previn"; and his love affair with
music, specifically an affection for the clarinet and New Orleans
jazz, are excavated and explored in "Wild Man Blues."
"I think that because he takes his music so seriously, and he
wasn’t at home (in New York), he was thinking ‘She’s not going to
come into my house. She’s not gonna really get into my world – this
is an alien world. So she films me playing jazz. What could the
harm be in that?’ It was a different aspect of his life and
probably one that he wanted people to see," Kopple says.
After 16 to 18 hours of filming a day for 23 consecutive days in
18 cities across Europe, Kopple has shot hours upon hours of
footage that capture Allen at every angle, each shedding new light
on a complicated man, exacting his every idiosyncrasy and
pinpointing his every peculiarity.
"He’s a perfectionist in what he does. He wouldn’t go after
anything unless he thought it was something he could handle or
something that he could be in control of. I think that this tour
revealed to me when he is in control and when he’s out of control.
He is very much a man of habit," Kopple says.
Allen’s habits reveal the maniacal methods of this genuine
genius. Allen always demands a second suite when traveling so he
can have a second bathroom all for himself – an extra countertop
for his alchemy and a private performance space for his daily
routine. Multivitamins, baby aspirin and antibiotics are
reoccurring requests. And in homage to his art of jazz, he
practices the clarinet religiously everyday.
Meek, fragile and childlike in uncertain situations, and
confident, comfortable and in charge in other circumstances, Allen
portrays a colorful spectrum of real-life emotions in front of
Kopple’s cameras, an achievement that she values greatly.
"(Documentaries) take you through a whole gamut of emotion …
they are about introducing people to a world they’ve never been to
before," Kopple says.
"In the end these are the films that are going to last. These
are the films that are going to let us know who we are as people
and what we’re about during a certain point of time. We are all
sharing something in the moment."
FILM: "Wild Man Blues" opens Friday.
Fine Line Features
Woody Allen shows his love for music as he plays the trumpet in
the documentary "Wild Man Blues," directed by Barbara Kopple.