I don't know French. What about Hebrew?
December 3, 2013 1:55 PM Subscribe
–Can you tell us in 25 seconds a synopsis of your new picture?
–Uh, in 25 seconds? Yes, it's a picture, it's a drama about um human emotion in the United States, it deals with the tragedy of divorce as it relates to the child and those who have to suffer continually from the effects of an unhappy home.
–Sounds like a very serious picture.
–Yes. It is.
–There's no comedy in it whatsoever?
–No, I try and keep as much comedy out of my films as possible.
A 40-minute Woody Allen from 1971 promoting Bananas. He does not answer a single question truthfully. via
–Uh, in 25 seconds? Yes, it's a picture, it's a drama about um human emotion in the United States, it deals with the tragedy of divorce as it relates to the child and those who have to suffer continually from the effects of an unhappy home.
–Sounds like a very serious picture.
–Yes. It is.
–There's no comedy in it whatsoever?
–No, I try and keep as much comedy out of my films as possible.
A 40-minute Woody Allen from 1971 promoting Bananas. He does not answer a single question truthfully. via
I like this Woody Allen better than the one who made Vicky Christina Barcelona, a movie set in an alternate universe where everyone talks like Woody Allen.
posted by Artw at 2:34 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 2:34 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
phaedon, this one?
Yeah, pretty sure that's it. It was with Terry Gross for sure. Was he trolling NPR? I don't know. I worship at the alter of Annie Hall; it's very hard not to view that movie as autobiographical. (For God's sake Alvy, brooklyn is not expanding)
posted by phaedon at 2:41 PM on December 3, 2013
Yeah, pretty sure that's it. It was with Terry Gross for sure. Was he trolling NPR? I don't know. I worship at the alter of Annie Hall; it's very hard not to view that movie as autobiographical. (For God's sake Alvy, brooklyn is not expanding)
posted by phaedon at 2:41 PM on December 3, 2013
Woody Allen : Bob Dylan :: film : music
Seriously, this Bananas interview was just a few years after Dylan's totally facetious interviews when he went electric at Newport in 1965 etc., it was probably pretty rock and roll to torment reporters in this way.
posted by onlyconnect at 3:19 PM on December 3, 2013
Seriously, this Bananas interview was just a few years after Dylan's totally facetious interviews when he went electric at Newport in 1965 etc., it was probably pretty rock and roll to torment reporters in this way.
posted by onlyconnect at 3:19 PM on December 3, 2013
Guys, I'm cracking up over here. Where did you learn how to make analogies?
posted by phaedon at 3:43 PM on December 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by phaedon at 3:43 PM on December 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
Kiss : Chitty :: Bang : Bang ?
posted by rifflesby at 3:52 PM on December 3, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by rifflesby at 3:52 PM on December 3, 2013 [6 favorites]
Q. Do you have any ambition beyond film?
A. No. I'd like to be found face down, in the street.
Q. What character, living or dead, would you most like to play?
This is the perfect interview. Thank you for showing me it.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:53 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
A. No. I'd like to be found face down, in the street.
Q. What character, living or dead, would you most like to play?
This is the perfect interview. Thank you for showing me it.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 3:53 PM on December 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Yeah, sorry, I don't really mean Allen matches Dylan artist for artist, just that this interview almost seems like the kind of completely facetious performance art that Dylan was doing in interviews back in the day.
Dylan was meaner, though.
posted by onlyconnect at 4:42 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Dylan was meaner, though.
posted by onlyconnect at 4:42 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think phaedon was remarking on the format of the analogy rather than the content. The way I learned it, you put the directly-related items together: Woody Allen is to film as Bob Dylan is to music. Or Nyarlathotep : Azathoth :: Silver Surfer : Galactus. Or whatever.
(My example above is nonsense, but I guess you could make a case for Kiss : Bang :: Chitty : Bang)
posted by rifflesby at 7:50 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
(My example above is nonsense, but I guess you could make a case for Kiss : Bang :: Chitty : Bang)
posted by rifflesby at 7:50 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Oh! My bad.
I was voted "Most likely to write a PSAT Manual" in my high school class (my school was weird), so this is a sad comeuppance for me, but I will try to carry on.
The oddest part of the Woody Allen interview for me was the reaction of the interviewer, who seemed at first to be possibly fooled and then to be clearly understanding that he was being had and playing along even though Allen was giving barely the smallest hints of a smile here and there. I wondered whether they had set the parameters of the interview in advance, with the interviewer understanding that Allen was going to lie, lie, lie?
Anyway, I enjoyed it! Thanks for posting.
posted by onlyconnect at 8:49 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I was voted "Most likely to write a PSAT Manual" in my high school class (my school was weird), so this is a sad comeuppance for me, but I will try to carry on.
The oddest part of the Woody Allen interview for me was the reaction of the interviewer, who seemed at first to be possibly fooled and then to be clearly understanding that he was being had and playing along even though Allen was giving barely the smallest hints of a smile here and there. I wondered whether they had set the parameters of the interview in advance, with the interviewer understanding that Allen was going to lie, lie, lie?
Anyway, I enjoyed it! Thanks for posting.
posted by onlyconnect at 8:49 PM on December 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Allen discusses his athletic prowess as a boy here, too -- good at basketball though he was short, picked first for teams, etc.
posted by onlyconnect at 9:01 PM on December 3, 2013
posted by onlyconnect at 9:01 PM on December 3, 2013
The interviewer sounds a lot like Steve Coogan. But Steve Coogan does not sound like Tony Wilson and although it is Grenada TV Tony Wilson didn't show up there until two years later (1973).
posted by user92371 at 11:24 PM on December 3, 2013
posted by user92371 at 11:24 PM on December 3, 2013
Woody Allen :: Bob Dylan : Music < Silver Surfer
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:26 PM on December 3, 2013
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 11:26 PM on December 3, 2013
I found that pretty hard watching, in some respects. Not ROFL material, but I guess it's obvious there's more to answering-questions-humourously than answering-questions-falsely. Allen seems to get stuck in and bored of his own conceit pretty quickly, probably because he realises the interviewer isn't sharp or thinking quickly enough to make something more interesting out of the session.
Lowest point, though, is the ooozy creepy voice the interviewer uses when he asks Allen whether he liked anything about the, uh, luvlee laydeez he worked with in 'What's Up…'. He was clearly thinking "this'll break the ice, we'll get him heated up here".
posted by Joeruckus at 6:20 AM on December 4, 2013
Lowest point, though, is the ooozy creepy voice the interviewer uses when he asks Allen whether he liked anything about the, uh, luvlee laydeez he worked with in 'What's Up…'. He was clearly thinking "this'll break the ice, we'll get him heated up here".
posted by Joeruckus at 6:20 AM on December 4, 2013
Here's a little of the background to the interview:
Interviewer of Woody interviewer: It’s almost perfect improv between the two of you. He really starts to jazz, playfully, like a cat playing with a ball, but you never relinquish control. Chairing it perfectly.
Woody interview: Woody suggested we do something different – I’d ask whatever I liked and he’d answer with whatever he liked.
posted by ambrosen at 1:46 PM on December 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Interviewer of Woody interviewer: It’s almost perfect improv between the two of you. He really starts to jazz, playfully, like a cat playing with a ball, but you never relinquish control. Chairing it perfectly.
Woody interview: Woody suggested we do something different – I’d ask whatever I liked and he’d answer with whatever he liked.
posted by ambrosen at 1:46 PM on December 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
It seemed like a challenge, who would stray first. Woody refusing to deviate from his deadpan and the interviewer refusing to deviate from standard questions.
posted by surplus at 2:01 PM on December 5, 2013
posted by surplus at 2:01 PM on December 5, 2013
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posted by phaedon at 2:22 PM on December 3, 2013 [7 favorites]