VHS : Stardust Memories [1980]

Rating: - Woody's secret of love and worry

Stardust Memories had obvious been the choice of pet project that Allen wanted United Artists to release instead of Manhattan, where he felt uncomfortable when a tried and tested approach to showcasing his character having a relationship with a young, mature girl underage, was not the right way to go for his reputation. Allen hated Manhattan and made no secret of it with the dealing of this main theme, he was discontent of such vile.

Hence this came along, unlike Manhattan, Stardust Memories is relaxing, often confusing, bizarre and impressive, you feel drawn into the whole persona, of a man who just wants to understand who he really is, is it him that is the fault, his own personality or his awareness of the poor being neglected by the rich that they don't want to know. He expresses his once loved pastimes such as magic tricks which he performed in his bedroom, but can't find a love for it anymore, is it lack of interest or does it revolve around so much, he can't be bothered with it anyway, he only had to think about it. His nervousiness may be the route to the often dead end relationships he suffers, ones that start maybe he can make himself attractive, his posture, his sense of humour, but whom can't relate to or feel passionate enough, it is like a sour taste afterwards a sort of boredom, not knowing how to control himself.

Stardust Memories is also a film that deals in particular with his relationship with his fans and his fierce critics, the continous crowds proclaming him their hero, all around, but with no real depth, such a set of statements.

He may be using the character of Sandy Bates to protray this, but really this is his own thoughts and feelings.

Could this be the greatest Woody Allen film, without the fuss or motivation, surrounding this small masterpiece? This could well be.

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Rating: - Stardust, Indeed...
The last of Woody Allen's great string of movies that began with 'Bananas', containing elements of the whimsical fun of 'Love & Death', the structural piercings of 'Annie Hall', and the emotional turbulence of 'Manhattan'. A neglected treat that is stupidly hard to get hold of, but well worth the effort or expense.

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Rating: - It actually is Allen's best movie. Masterful.
The Woodmeister himself has declared Stardust Memories one of his best movies, and I have to agree with the funny old ferret. Allen's early career consisted of laugh-a-minute slapstick comedies, which were wonderful (especially Love & Death in 1975); from Manhattan(1979) onwards he toned everything down a bit, replacing the slapstick with human drama, although always leaving in the priceless oneliners. I feel that Stardust Memories is his best film because it manages to meld the comedy and drama together better than all of his other attempts. (I'm not a big fan of Manhattan, I think it's dull; Crimes & Misdemeanors is perhaps his second-best movie-wovie.) There's some out-and-out hilarious comedy, particularly in the scenes that show clip's from the Allen character's early films, and the drama is complex and moving. There are moments of bad taste, and the film sometimes seems geared to patronise Allen's fans, but these are brave moves, and make it all the more memorable. Beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, brilliantly written, astoundingly funny, powerfully touching, insanely insane, comically surreal, slyly self-referential, overtly recommendable to friends and family, oven-fresh and microwave-compatible.

PS Keep your eyes peeled for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it from a young Sharon Stone at the beginning. The old dear keeps her legs close together.

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Rating: - One of Allen's finest films.
Stardust Memories was almost a nail in the coffin for Allen's career- journalists mimicked those in the film regarding who this film was about, while this would be the last film he made for United Artists (who would fold after the failure of Heaven's Gate). It seems very bitter & bleak, after the joys of Annie Hall & Manhattan- perhaps a reaction to the faulure of the Bergman-style Interiors(1978)?

Shot in black&white by Gordon Willis (The Godfather) Stardust Memories resembles Fellini's 8 1/2 - though obviously it's not close to that. Allen plays a comic-filmmaker (who could that be based on, then?) who is celebrated at a film festival one weekend, the film moving on several levels- between films he has made (one with Tony Roberts, who plays an actor here, resembles a short story of Allen's) & an 8 1/2 style dream on a train. There are women- the insane Charlotte Rampling (a similar character pops up in Husbands&Wives), the French woman (Marie-Christine Barrault) who gives some European allure to proceedings & the fan (Jessica Harper, not as barmy as in Play MIsty for Me)- who resembles too many of Woody's females (Juliette Lewis in Husbands&Wives, Dianne Wiest in Hannah, Mia Farrow in Crimes&Misdeameanours, Mariel Hemingway in Manhattan, Shelley Duvall in Annie Hall).

Allen's Sandy is unhappy about his place in 'entertainment'- a bit like his character in Manhattan (who declared 'gossip the new pornography' & left his job in TV, a bit like the character in Hannah/Sisters...)- here we have the common maladies that afflict characters in Woody Allen films. This is much more surreal & exagerrated, almost deliberately provocative- a bit like OLiver Stone's Natural Born Killers. The backdrop to Sandy's life shifting from Louis Armstrong to an image of murder in Vietnam, as a dead animal lies in his kitchen...

Stardust Memories is a rather odd film, especially when it's lead character meets aliens, who tell him to stop griping and make films, especially "the early funny ones"- bizarre that Allen claims he doesn't read his criticism! The way this is shot is amazing, the final scenes where we flip from multiple characters to a #1 fan in a Mark Chapman style are of particular note. THe best sequence here remains the sequence where Charlotte Rampling is mentally destroyed in a series of jump cuts- an advance on Bergmanesque territory mapped out in Persona.

Stardust Memories is one of Allen's strangest films, along with Husbands&Wives, Deconstructing Harry & Celebrity, it appears to be very close to the bone, deep into the marrow: but don't worry, it's just a showroom dummy of Woody, not the real guy! ?
It certainly ranks alongside Zelig as his most experimental film of the 80s & deserves to be seen- though I'm not sure that anyone who doesn't enjoy Allen will get anything out of it. In the bitter art film sense, it ranks up there with Scorsese's King of Comedy, Wenders' State of Things & Altman's The Player...