MovieChat Forums > Another Woman (1988) Discussion > A forgotten Woody Allen film...?

A forgotten Woody Allen film...?


I'm happy to call myself a fan of Allen's films and have seen (I guess) about 20 or 25 of his movies. So I was very surprised when about two weeks ago I 'discovered' Another Woman. I had not even heard of it before! Why is this Allen film so un-discussed? Did it get only a limited release or something?

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That's true, no one talks about this one and I'm no film critic but it surprised me, I thought it was such a good film - and Gena R and Gene H, what actors...

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[deleted]

My guess re: why it isn't on our radar as much is that it contained what wasn't among his most memorable or resolute endings and it had very very very few laughs, even compared to his other serious stuff. But I saw it last night and I think it's almost on par with Crimes & Misdemeanors. Like Crimes, it has a very unlikeable protag but fails to make up for it with a likeable lesser protag (i.e. Woody himself in Crimes.). I for one enjoy it when Woody creates a cast of douchebags for me to loathe. Marion is a wonderful bitch, and Marion's husband is such a great but subtle @-hole. But the overall acting was as good as any other Woody film and I agree that it's solid. B+.

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You've got a point there, actually I haven't seen this film for years and years and as they don't put as many films on telly anymore.... I wouldn't mind seeing it again to refresh my memory. I mostly remember that I loved the acting in this.

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the only critic i have heard mention this film outside of its release date is roger Ebert, he thinks is one of Woody's best

Last Film I Watched:
Small Time Crooks - Woody Allen(7/10)

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my fave woody allen next to deconstructing harry. sheer brilliance!!!! There are actually people out there that appreciate this minor masterpiece.

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"There are actually people out there that appreciate this minor masterpiece."

Yep, count me as one of them.

I have always liked it from the moment I saw it back in a theater in 1988. There are delicate and insightful moments in this film that are remarkable considering how clunky and obvious I think many of Allen's films have since become.

This is a very fine film indeed.

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[deleted]

There are many critics to appreciate "Another Woman" in Europe. Italian movie critic Paolo Mereghetti, author of a best-seller dictionary, considerates this as a masterpiece, one of the very finest Woody Allen's movies.
I've just seen it and must agree, and Gena Rowlands proves (in case one doesnt know) to be a stunning actress.

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[deleted]

AKonigsberg mentions Woody's other serious stuff, what would those be exactly ? I'm actually just getting into Woody (only because i did not really enjoy what i saw till i watched Another Woman last night) and would like to know about other films that may be on the same level as Another Woman.

*I enjoy when ppl reply in a negative or positive way to my comments*

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Well, Match Point just came out and is excellent along with the similar Crimes & Misdemeanors from the late 80s. Husbands & Wives is up there and is comparable to Another Woman, and Interiors was a very serious one he made smack in the middle of his comedic run of the 70s. If you're really looking NOT to laugh and prefer being trapped in an odd, thoughftul place, go for Shadows and Fog, and if you want to experience some of Woody's depression while still getting a few Annie Hall-type laughs, try Stardust Memories, which he has said numerous times is his favorite of his own films. I also give it very high marks, but some people don't like it so much.

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great response, thanks alot... I am "Zipping" all those titles right away cept Match Point wich i saw a while ago and thought it lacked the depth i have come to expect from great writers/directors.

*I enjoy when ppl reply in a negative or positive way to my comments*

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I think you should see "Hannah and her sisters" too, and - to complete Allen's dramas list - there is "September" (although I dont think this is one of his best movies).

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I had never heard of this movie either and I see every Woody Allen movie when they come out. I just learned of this and got it from the library. It's fantastic!

Marion isn't a bitch, she's an ice-queen. She's not mean on purpose. She just doesn't realize how she comes across because she's so cold and unfeeling. Maybe a subtle difference, but it's all about intent. She doesn't intend to hurt people, but she lacks empathy. All head, no heart.

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[deleted]

I feel that Another Woman and Interiors are VASTLY underrated. Mainly because they are such serious and deep films with hardly any comedic moments. Also, the fact that Woody doesn't appear in either may prevent some from watching them.

"I think that silent films got a lot more things right than talkies." --Stanley Kubrick

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September, anyone?

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Yeah, I had never heard of it until I saw Martha Plimpton talking about it on an episode of "Dinner for Five".
I'm so glad I saw this movie - it's one of Allen's best.

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Apparently! I've seen tons of Allen's films, but I never saw this one on any list about his films, and I found myself finding it one of the best he ever made!!! I'm surprised it didn't land oscar noms (c'mon, it deserved best actress and screenplay!! And that cinematography blew me away)

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I agree completely, it's one of his most overlooked films, and one of his best. My guess is that, compared to his other films of that era which got more attention (Hannah, Purple Rose, Crimes) it's a relatively slight and small-scale film with a subject matter (regret and a journey of self-discovery) which many people don't find exciting. Nevertheless, it really holds up today as one of his most nuanced, moving and intelligent character studies.

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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said, "I've gone out the window."

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No wonder as it truly is quite forgettable - a second rate Bergman knock-off preoccupied with tedious, monotoneous Manhattanite navel gazing and made all the more insufferable by the constant literal minded exposition. A relentlessly bleak, tiresome number that feels drawn out even though the ordeal only lasts for 77 minutes. Pretty much the only good thing about it is Rowlands's performance that almost manages to make something semi-worthwhile out of the lacklustre material (meanwhile, the usually ever-reliable Ian Holm and Gene Hackman are rather resolutely shut down). An excellent example why Stiffy should have never tried aping his Swedish idol too closely.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Completely disagree with you on this. While Allen has never attempted subtlety (this by his own admission), and relies always on literal minded exposition, I don't feel that this takes anything away from his films. It's just how he works.

Yes, it's another Bergman homage, and yes it's filtered through the perspective of wealthy Manhattanites (as all of his melodramas are) but again, for me that's absolutely fine.

What makes the film memorable is Rowland's performance. She carries the entire story, and does so quite remarkably. The parts played by Holm and Hackman may be slight, but they both take the opportunity to play them well. Hackman in particular has some very nice scenes towards the end, and does an excellent job of playing against type.

The plot doesn't have the forward momentum or inherent charm of something like Purple Rose, or the philosophical depth of Crimes and Misdemeanors, but as a character study I find it works quite beautifully.


Obviously, all this with respect to your opinion. I just see this film quite differently.

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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said, "I've gone out the window."

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"Allen has never attempted subtlety (this by his own admission), and relies always on literal minded exposition".

I think that's why it's so important for his movies to have an element of humor and, sometimes, fantasy. I'm not sure even Crimes & Misdemeanors (his best as far as I'm concerned) would be as great if it solely concentrated on the moral dilemmas of Judah's story. I don't think I've really liked any of his fully serious films - surely in part because they all indeed concern themselves with the relationships of the wealthy cultural elite that's sort of a hermetically sealed-off environment unto itself. I mainly just feel disconnected from all that stuff... and I don't find it as "deep" or insightfully written as to engage & satisfy on a purely intellectual level, either. Another Woman, September, Husbands & Wives, Match Point... they're all kind of irritating and dull to varying degrees.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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I agree with you about 'Crimes', but I don't find the humourless tone of his other chamber dramas to be alienating. I genuinely get drawn in to the lives of the wealthy, self-obsessed characters in Interiors, September, et al, despite their being so shallow.

I totally understand where you're coming from, but suspect I'm one of those people who finds it interesting to watch Allen even when he's being portentous and navel-gazing, just to see where he goes with the story.

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He left a note. He left a simple little note that said, "I've gone out the window."

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Oh, I don't think anyone is shut down. Hackman, who never was anyone's idea of a classically handsome matinee idol, in 1988 or before or after, gives a master class in that kitchen scene in how to be sexy and magnetic anyway ("Not even if he loved a woman passionately?"). He and Rowlands are brilliant there. He's also so tender as Larry's "dream" self, talking about his novel, his wife, his "Hlenka" character.

Holm has a thankless role, yes, but a necessary one.

The main thing I value about the film is how all of these great actors, principally Rowlands but all of them, are given space to create these people, and they're all surprisingly specific at it, from Plimpton's forlorn teenager to Houseman's ancient patriarch (Stiers is dead-on as the younger version). Harris Yulin has, I think, two scenes, and is heartbreaking as the brother, because he doesn't *try* to yank at anyone's heartstrings. He just matter-of-factly lays it out there, what his sister said to him and how he's lived with it all these years.

There is no better demonstration of Allen's supremacy as an actors' director. The film isn't on the level of Wild Strawberries, which was one of a kind, but it's not just a boiled-sterile aping of it either. It has some integrity as a piece on the same themes, even though it's awfully diagrammatic.

Its reputation seems to be on the upswing. Both the Telegraph and Time Out pieces of 2015-16 ranking Allen's nearly 50 films had it very high. Telegraph had it fourth, Time Out 13th.

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The reason to watch AW is the great Gena Rowlands, she gives one of her finest performances. From beginning to end I was enraptured by this film.


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