The European art cinema has typically provided the basic source of inspiration for Woody Allen's "serious" films, and Shadows and Fog (1992) is no exception. While some of his older films have one obvious model--for example, Stardust Memories (1980) is clearly an homage to Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 (1963) and Interiors (1978) is haunted by the spirit of Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers (1972)--Shadows and Fog is a virtual collage of film references. The Doctor's conversation with the Murderer (a stand-in for Death), the subplot of marital strife in a circus, and the exploration of magic and illusion specifically recall Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957), Sawdust and Tinsel (1953) and The Magician (1958), respectively. German cinema of the Weimar era, particularly F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), G. W. Pabst's The Joyless Street (1925) and Pandora's Box (1929), and Fritz Lang's M (1931) seem likely influences as well. At the same time, the basic situation of Kleinman's character is clearly reminiscent of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial, and the soundtrack uses several Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill songs.
The film has its source in Woody Allen's earlier one-act play "Death," which was originally published in his 1972 anthology Without Feathers. No concrete setting is indicated in the play, though a reference to steak house salad dressing would suggest that it takes place in the United States. Allen considerably rewrote and expanded the play for the film version--not only is the film now set in Central Europe, but many characters and incidents have been added, including the brothel and circus sequences. The film also has more of an overt philosophical dimension, and the character of the killer retains his basic menacing quality to the very end, whereas in the play the killer finally becomes a comic figure.
The most noteworthy aspect of the film is undoubtedly the atmospheric black and white cinematography by the late Carlo Di Palma (1925-2004). Before moving to Hollywood, Di Palma had worked with directors such as Bernardo Bertolucci and Michelangelo Antonioni. He had not made a film in black and white since the Sixties, when it was still relatively common, particularly in Italy. In that respect, the choice of black and white represented something of a conscious return to the past for both him and Woody Allen. (During the Seventies and early Eighties, Woody Allen was one of the few major directors who worked repeatedly with black and white film stock; in fact, Manhattan (1979), Stardust Memories and Broadway Danny Rose (1984), all photographed by Gordon Willis, remain among the best American forays into black and white during the past few decades.) Di Palma worked with Allen regularly from Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) up to Deconstructing Harry (1997). In this film, Allen and Di Palma, together with the production designer Santo Loquasto, deliberately evoke the atmosphere of German Expressionism through the extensive use of fog and low-key lighting. Especially striking is the way Di Palma often creates silhouette effects by backlighting subjects through the fog. In purely pictorial terms, it's one of the director's most accomplished films to date.
Because of his large European following, especially in France, Woody Allen's films have often performed better there than in the United States. In some cases, his films failed to recoup their costs during the domestic release but later turned a profit overseas. In the case of Shadows and Fog, the domestic release was delayed because of Orion Pictures' financial problems. Since overseas distribution rights were held by Columbia Pictures, it was actually released in Europe first. Against production costs totaling approximately $14 million, the film ultimately grossed only $2.7 million in the U.S. Not helping matters was the chilly critical reception it received here, though at least one major critic, Vincent Canby of the New York Times, praised the film precisely for its unpredictable shifts in tone and as its "brazen, irrepressible pastiche of references." Indeed, the film's quirky sensibility, luminous cinematography and astonishing collection of star cameos suggest that while Shadows and Fog will probably never be rated as one of Woody Allen's major works, it is certainly more worthy of attention than it has been given so far.
Producer: Robert Greenhut
Director and Writer: Woody Allen
Photography: Carlo Di Palma
Production Design: Santo Loquasto
Editor: Susan E. Morse
Costume Designer: Jeffrey Kurland
Cast: Woody Allen (Kleinman), Mia Farrow (Irmy), John Malkovich (Clown), Kathy Bates (Prostitute), John Cusack (Student Jack), Jodie Foster (Prostitute), Fred Gwynne (Hacker's Follower), Julie Kavner (Alma), Madonna (Marie), Kenneth Mars (Magician), Kate Nelligan (Eve), Donald Pleasence (Doctor), Lily Tomlin (Prostitute), Philip Bosco (Mr. Paulsen), Wallace Shawn (Simon Carr), David Ogden Stiers (Hacker), Michael Kirby (Killer), Eszter Balint (Woman with Baby).
BW-85m. Letterboxed
by James Steffen
