Husbands and Wives

Woody Allen is a sharp observer of human relationships, and dissecting partner relationships is one of his favorite film motifs. Spouses can be considered a kind of textbook of married life, or rather, partnership. We find herein all the basic types of marital problems, crises, and possible solutions. This film is one of Woody Allen's commercially most successful works, because at the same time, his longstanding relationship with actress Mia Farrow fell apart, and it did so quite wildly, with the malicious assistance of the tabloid media. The audience and critics tended to perceive this film as Woody Allen's family reality. The film is traditionally carefully cast and brilliantly acted, but compared to Allen's early works, I find it less entertaining. It is really more of an excellently filmed manual than a film that would emotionally affect me, like for example Hannah and Her Sisters. Mia Farrow plays an interesting role here as a seemingly fragile submissive woman, but she can subtly manipulate her surroundings and comes off as the least sympathetic character among the group of six unhappy people that Allen looks down on. Overall impression: 65%. (06/02/2011)

The fifteenth film in sequence that I've seen from Woody Allen, the tenth with the maximum rating. And yet that the Master still manages to surprise me is something that never ceases to amaze me. With so much experience with his clumsy foolishness in relationships, I should have him figured out completely, but I still can't resist. Despite the aptly misleading title of the film, I didn't expect it to present a study of marital relationships in the truest sense of the word, one that is fiercely biting, with enough objectivity yet without overly cold detachment – and that it would express ideas that are easier to look at than to talk about after the final credits. Sometimes, it also adds a bit of indispensable humor, this time with a strongly bitter aftertaste (mostly received by the simpler Sam in his horoscopic quotes). And as if that wasn't enough, it manages to create a warm atmosphere for the viewer, especially during heartfelt conversations with the talented student (the beautiful, in a down-to-earth way, Juliette Lewis). Yet another film I would rank among the director's absolute best. And by no means the last. New Year's Eve screening 2006 (12/31/2006)

Woody Allen as the filmmaker-pathologist. The relationship is dead? Let's dissect it for a while and maybe find out what killed it. The intrusive handheld camera, along with the "documentary" therapy footage, only enhances the great performances (the excellent Sydney Pollack)... It's not a very enjoyable movie, but it's certainly impressive. (09/01/2019)