All Woody Allen’s films are personal, but some are more personal than others. One that stands out with its deep connection with author’s past is his 1987 semi-autobiographical comedy Radio Days.
Allen doesn’t appear directly in the film and instead serves as voice-over narrator, telling the story of his character, named Joe (and played by Seth Green), growing up in working class Jewish family in New York neighbourhood of Rockaway Beach between 1938 and 1944. In his home parents (played by Michael Tucker and Julie Kavner) are forced to live with extended family and their most treasured possession appears to be radio set, which is always turned on, which allows them not only to hear some great music, but also be entertained by quiz shows and radio dramas that allow them to enjoy luxury, excitement, adventure and romance that they lack in their ordinary lives. Each family member has his or her favourite show; for Joe it is show about Masked Avenger, which would briefly get him into real life trouble. Humorous stories about Joe and his family are followed by various urban legends about popular radio personalities, including Sally White (played by Mia Farrow), ditzy cigarette salesgirl in popular night club who slowly, through series of lucky incidents, builds her show business career that would make her radio gossip columnist.
Radio Days lacks firm plot and instead works as a series of loosely connected vignettes that play out over extended period of time. As such, the film was often compared with Fellini’s Amarcord, film with similar narrative structure, somewhat similar period setting and equally nostalgic approach towards distant past. What makes this film different is music. Unlike Nino Rotta’s memorable, but conventional score in Fellini’s work, Radio Days features formidable collection of pop songs from the period. Allen actually began to work on the script by listening to great hits from his childhood, noting that each one of them was tied with particular memory, which is explicitly stated by his narration in actual film. As a result, music in the film is not only authentic, but also very diverse – ranging from traditional pop standards, big band pieces, Carmen Miranda and sometimes delightfully silly novelty songs.
Allen uses the same approach towards film’s general look. In his narration he clearly states that it presents not the world as it was but the world as he remembers it. In his vision weather in Rockaway Beach is always rainy or cloudy, but it is nevertheless attractive, mostly due to skillful cinematography by Carlo Di Palma. Great deal of effort is spent in recreating past through costumes, props and other period detail that made Radio Days one of the most expensive films in Allen’s career. Allen also makes a sharp contrast between ordinary life of Joe’s family and glitzy and glamorous world of radio stars and celebrities that inhabit magical night club, penthouses and luxury dwellings in Manhattan. Both worlds are, however, shown with great deal of sympathy and love for the characters that inhabit them. Like Amarcord, this film also have a brief departure towards tragedy which happens near the end.
Like in many Allen’s films, quality of humour varies a lot from scene from scene. Some segments are lame, while some are hilarious. Many, however, require at least some familiarity with history or American popular culture in early 1940s, which is something that might create difficulties for most of the audience. Examples include references to Second World War, as well as Allen’s hilarious comment on the way Orson Welles’ infamous 1938 radio adaptation of War of the Worlds was taken as actual news by millions of the listeners. Film also gives some insight in the era known as the Golden Age of Radio, when radio used to be most important and popular form of entertainment, serving the same purpose as television in our world. The way radio shows were produced and aired in lovingly recreated and Allen seems to like the way the medium used to relied on people’s powers of imagination and created its own sets of illusion. The best example might be the character of superheroic Masked Avenger, who is in real life a short balding man, played by Wallace Shawn. This loving tribute to era long gone proved to be one of Allen’s commercially most successful films, but it could be argued that it is also one of the best.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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