Did anyone else notice a strong resemblance to The Seagull? I loved this movie and as I watched it—the theatrical narrative, the house on the lake, the romantic triangles, the summer home filled with ennui and artists—I began to sense parallels to one of my favorite plays. I'm not very well-versed in theater, so maybe I'm pulling at loose straws here, but I'd love to know if anyone else picked up on this.
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September is an updated treatment of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya". I had the surreal experience of seeing the Chekhov play at the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago starring Austin Pendelton (one of the charter members of Steppenwolf along with many others like Gary Sinese, Joan Allen, John Malkovitch) followed the very next night by seeing Woody's "September". I almost fell out of my seat! They are virtually identical! The sex of some of the characters has been changed and the dialog has been updated (Art Tatum and Ben Webster had not been born when Chekhov wrote Vanya) but every plot thread is there. Woody even ends September with Mia Farrow sitting at a table going over the household ledger exactly as does Chekhov.
As much as I love this film, I find it missing the same thing that so many productions of Vanya lack — humor. The Austin Pendelton performance was a revelation in this regard. How much better September could have been if Woody had seen that performance first.
I always thought it was a take on Lana Turner and the Stompanato killing
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