Whomever coined the phrase "write what you know" must
have been talking about Woody Allen. Just don't tell that to the 66-
year old director, who denies that any of his work is autobiographical
(although you tell me why every Allen film seems to involve him
bedding a woman half his age, a proclivity that would become the major
scandal of his life). The media, in their zest to tear down whatever
icon is currently available in order to sell magazines and attract
viewers, has fixated on two Allen films as proof that his life and
work are at times one and the same. The first is 1997's excellent
Deconstructing Harry, where Allen played an angry, self-absorbed
neurotic writer who mines the personal lives of his three ex-wives for
story ideas.
The second is 1992's Husbands and Wives, which is
making its DVD debut courtesy of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.
At the time of its release, the story broke that Allen was having an
affair with wife Mia Farrow's 19-year old adopted daughter, Soon-Yi
Previn. Allen, who was 56 at the time, pled his case in front of
various media outlets, including "60 Minutes." In one
interview, Allen justified the abandonment of his wife for her adopted
daughter by saying, "the heart wants what it wants."
Be that as it may, life truly imitated art (or maybe life led to
better art) in Husbands and Wives. In the film, Allen and Farrow play
Gabe and Judy Roth, a happily married couple who are devastated after
learning their married best friends Jack and Sally (Sydney Pollack and
Judy Davis) are getting a divorce. The shock forces them to reevaluate
their own marriage, with Gabe falling for a 20-year old student in his
English class (Juliette Lewis). Jack takes up with an aerobic
instructor (Lysette Anthony), while a spiteful Sally shacks up with an
architect, played by Liam Neeson.
Although Husbands and Wives
is more serious than Deconstructing Harry, they both take an angry,
honest look at relationships. What goes right and wrong in a marriage
is dissected with razor precision. Some couples trade a healthy sex
life for the comfort and protection of another person. Others (usually
men, usually Woody Allen) feel that younger, firmer women are the key
to maintaining a sense of masculinity and staving off sexual
irrelevancy. Much of the story and dialogue seem so true, we feel they
must have been lifted from arguments Allen and Farrow actually had.
The performances are excellent all around. Sydney Pollack, an
occasional actor who has directed films such as Tootsie and Out of
Africa, is especially impressive. In fact, he's been impressive in
every film he's acted in, from Tootsie ("You were a
tomato!") to Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.
As for
Allen, a hundred years of protestation won't convince me that Husbands
and Wives is not based on his own experience. But whether it is or
not, Allen does tap into one truth: although, as he says, "the
heart wants what it wants," usually those desires start a bit
more to the south before (hopefully) finding their way home.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Husbands and Wives is
presented in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen, which was its original
theatrical aspect ratio. Also included on this dual-layered disc is a
pan and scan version. The important thing to consider in a film shot
in documentary style is which parts of the picture look bad on purpose
and which parts look bad because the transfer is off. The issues
present in the transfer are specks of dirt and the occasional scratch.
However, they are not distracting. Grain and artifacting are
surprisingly minimal and there are no real edge enhancements. Since
the film was shot in the autumn, the color palette is rather drab and
the contrast is murky at times, although admittedly there are few soft
looking images. Also, some of the film was shot in low and/or
available light and the picture suffers as a result, although it does
work beautifully in the movie. Detail is good and the blacks are fine
for this kind of film. It's a good enough transfer for a movie that
needs a rough-edged, documentary feel. The main menu allows the viewer
to choose between the widescreen and pan and scan versions of the
film.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Like most
Woody Allen films, Husbands and Wives is presented in glorious mono.
Thankfully, there are no audible pops and no hisses. Audio is very
dialogue-centric and it is all clear and easily discernible, although
there was some tearing when Mia Farrow's character got emotional and
shrill. Fidelity is never tested and there is absolutely no bass
activity at all. There is no score, although as usual, Allen chose
appropriate standards to play over the credits. What can I say really,
other than: the audio is fine.
The disc also includes a French
mono track, plus English Closed Captions and subtitles in English,
French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Supplements: What Goodies
Are There?
Once again, we have a Woody Allen DVD release
with barely anything on it. There are full-screen trailers for
Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery. That's it. There is
not even a fold-out booklet, which graced the DVDs of Annie Hall,
Bananas and most other MGM Allen releases.
DVD-ROM
Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?
No ROM extras have been included.
Parting
Thoughts
When Woody Allen signed a distribution deal with
DreamWorks Pictures in 2000, it seemed like an enormously positive
step: more money, aggressive marketing and better distribution for one
of the cinema's most enduring artists. However, the films released
under DreamWorks have not been all that good (although I'll take a bad
Woody Allen film over the almost anyone else's best film). So until
his latest, Hollywood Ending reaches theaters on May 3, Husbands and
Wives is the perfect rental for those with a craving for Woody's work.
The film is excellent, yet it hasn't been played to death on TV and
cable. Since I've long stopped hoping for an extras-laden Criterion
deluxe edition of a Woody Allen film, once again we'll have to live
with the acceptable video and audio provided. Some DVDs should be
bought based solely on your love of the film. And maybe that's the way
it should always be.
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