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The Purple Rose of Cairo

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Film Review: The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)@drax1680d

(source: tmdb.org)

Woody Allen’s films are an acquired taste and, as such, unlikely to attract large audience. Even some of those who admire Allen’s work often get frustrated by his tendency to bring some brilliant original ideas in his films only to squander them with poor or uninspired execution. Luckily, this isn’t always the case and Allen at times did deliver very good films. One of them is his 1985 period fantasy romantic drama The Purple Rose of Cairo.

This film was the second in Allen’s directorial filmography not to feature him as a star. Main role was given to Allen’s then-girlfriend Mia Farrow who plays Cecilia, woman who lives in 1930s New Jersey. She makes a living as waitress and barely makes ends meet, constantly under threat of being fired and joining the millions of people left jobless by Great Depression. Her domestic life isn’t any better, since her husband Monk (played by Danny Aiello) is unemployed alcoholic, compulsive gambler and womaniser. Cecilia tries to find escape from her sad reality by regularly visiting local cinema where she spends hours looking at fantasy and glamour on the screen. She is especially fond of The Purple Rose of Cairo, comedy depicting life of rich Manhattan elite. When she watches that film for the fifth time, something extraordinary happens - Tom Baxter (played by Jeff Daniels), charming adventurer and one of the characters in the film, breaks the fourth wall and not only notices Cecilia watching him, but he is actually so smitten with her that he crosses over into the real world. Cecilia is at first surprised to see her dreams become true, but soon starts whirlwind romance with an apparently ideal man. In the meantime, other characters remain stuck in the film, while its producer sends actor Gil Shepherd (also played by Daniels) to New Jersey to deal with potentially scandalous situation. He meets Cecilia and soon she gets to choose between ideal but unreal Tom and less perfect but real Gil.

Allen’s script for this film looks, at first glance, like a "high concept" romantic comedy with minor fantasy twist and some period nostalgia. But if we are to scratch under surface, The Purple Rose of Cairo is actually quite serious and in many ways rather dark drama that explores some deep issues like the relationship between fantasy and reality. Allen, by creating sharp contrast between depressive world of Depression-era working class America and world of rich and beautiful people on the screens of Classic Hollywood, is showing how fantasy and reality can collide and it is usually the real world that fares badly in such collisions. Allen’s willingness not only to admit but to actually show the falsity of Hollywood results in one of the most devastating, but in the same effective endings in history of 1980s American cinema.

Allen was also fortunate to have some great talents at his disposal. Gordon Willis, famous cinematographer and Allen’s collaborator, did great work by showing the despair in Cecilia’s world and his achievement is even greater due to use of mainly warm colours. Willis was even more impressive by using black-and-white photography for the film within a film and Tom’s world looks glamorous and seductive despite being monochromatic. The cast is also great. Mia Farrow is very good in the role of abused housewife who indulges in fantasy too much for own her good, but the more impressive is Jeff Daniels in difficult double role of one-dimensional fictional creation and vain actor who created it. Allen as director, like with of his films, paid great attention to pacing and The Purple Rose of Cairo is very short, although there are some scenes that might have been trimmed (like Tom’s visit to brothel). It is nevertheless one of the Allen’s best films and it could be enjoyed even by the audience that don’t like the rest of his filmography.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

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2 more reviews

›Movie review: The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)@vickaboleyn2420d
Author's note: The following review was published on November 9th, 2019, in Spanish language. It may contain spoilers.

Source of the image: Amazon

It was an ordinary day in the life of Cecilia, a sweet but clumsy waitress Depression Era New Jersey who strives to get ahead. Monk, her husand, is an unemployed man who plays dice every day and asks her for money to waste it on alcohol and women in exchange for nnot beating her. However, what seem to be one more day soonwould become in an adventure that will leave her with a deep mark inside.

On Friday I went with my little brother to the screening of this movie on the University's Cultural Centre near home. An interesting and fun movie with a moral.

Written and directed by Woody Allen, and starred by Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo is a retrospective analysis of human emotions in times of crisis and how the movie theater has somehow helped to forget for a few moments the harsh reality of the outside. The main character, Cecilia, seeks on the movies a refuge, an escape from her reality; she sees in Tom Baxter, the film's character, the ideal man, the man with whom she desires to live her life with.

So much was the force of her yearning to escape that she watches several times the same movie until Baxter, breaking the famous fourth wall, tells her: "My God, you must really love this picture". That single sentence reminded me of myself and the eleven times I went to watch The Mummy movie with my mother in 1999; it was a sentence that my own mother implied to me every time we went to the movie theater to see Brendan Fraser fight against Arnold Vosloo. We loved the movie and Brendan's character, Rick O'Connell ... Well, I loved that character for his self-confidence and bravery.

And I'm sure that Cecilia, through her gestures and her interaction with Tom and Gil Shepherd (the actor who portrays Tom), felt that kind of love and admiration for the same person, even idealizing the real man (Shepherd). A quote that shows her fascination is the talk she has with her sister after watching the film for the first time: " I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional but you can't have everything".

The sentence is, in a certain way, a subtle wink about the final scene of the movie. A bittersweet but instructive ending, because Allen makes us understand that cinema is a platform to give life to our illusions or to criticize the society around us, and even a way to inspire us, to seize courage to face things and resign ourselves in due time. Cecilia understands very reluctantly when she chooses Gil over Tom; the latter is very perfect, very fictional while Gil is more real, more human.

And she understands it even more when she sits in the seat of the cinema for the last time after having a hard disappointment from Gil. What will Cecilia do after being homeless and unemployed? Perhaps she'll try to dance with Fred Astaire or she may decide to go elsewhere, to fight for her future and for herrself thanks to the courage of Tom Baxter and to that moment of happiness with Gil Shepherd.

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›Reseña fílmica XLIV: "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985)@vickaboleyn2423d
Ojo: Puede contener spoilers.

Fuente de la imagen: Amazon

Era un día cualquiera en la vida de Cecilia, una tierna pero torpe camarera de la Nueva Jersey de la Gran Depresión que se esfuerza por salir adelante. Su marido, Monk, es un desempleado que juega todos los días a los dados y le pide dinero para desperdiciarlo en alcohol y mujeres a cambio de no agredirle. No obstante, lo que parece ser un día más pronto se convertiría en una aventura que dejará una profunda huella en su interior.

Ayer fui con mi hermano menor a la proyección de esta cinta en el Centro Cultural Universitario que estaba cerca de casa. Una película interesante, entretenida, y con una enseñanza.

Escrita y dirigida por Woody Allen, y protagonizada por Mia Farrow y Jeff Daniels, The Purple Rose of Cairo es un análisis retrospectivo sobre las emociones humanas en tiempos de crisis y cómo la sala de cine ha ayudado en cierta forma a olvidar por unos instantes la dura realidad de las afueras. Cecilia, la protagonista, busca en el cine un refugio, un escape de su realidad; ve en Tom Baxter, personaje del film, al hombre ideal, al individuo con el que desearía vivir su vida.

Tanta era la fuerza de su anhelo por escapar que ve varias veces el mismo filme hasta que Baxter, rompiendo la famosa cuarta pared, le dice: "Dios mío, realmente debes amar esta película". Esa sola frase me recordó a mí misma y las once veces que fui a ver la película The Mummy con mi madre en 1999; era una frase que mi propia madre me dio a entender cada vez que íbamos al cine a ver a Brendan Fraser pelear contra Arnold Vosloo. Amábamos la película y al personaje de Brendan, Rick O'Connell... Bueno, yo amaba a ese personaje por su seguridad y su bravura.

Y estoy segura de que Cecilia, a través de sus gestos y de su interacción con Baxter y con Gil Sheperd (el actor que da vida al personaje), sintió esa especie de amor y admiración hacia la misma persona, llegando incluso a idealizar al hombre real (Sheperd). Una frase que deja constancia de su fascinación es la charla que mantiene con su hermana luego de ver por primera vez el filme: "Acabo de conocer a un hombre maravilloso; es de ficción, pero no se puede tener todo".

Esa frase, en cierto modo, es un sutil guiño sobre la escena final de la película. Un final agridulce pero aleccionador, pues Allen nos da a entender de que el cine es una plataforma para dar vida a nuestras ilusiones o para criticar a la sociedad que nos rodea, e incluso una manera de inspirarnos, de agarrar valor para enfrentar las cosas y resignarse a su debido momento. Cecilia lo comprende muy a su pesar cuando elige estar con Gil y no con Tom; éste es muy perfecto, muy ficticio mientras que Gil es más real, más humano.

Y lo comprende todavía más cuando se sienta por última vez en la butaca del cine luego de llevarse una dura decepción respecto a Gil. ¿Qué hará Cecilia luego de estar sin casa y sin trabajo? Quizás intente bailar con Fred Astaire o quizás se decida marcharse a otro lado, a luchar por su futuro y por sí misma gracias al valor de Tom Baxter y a ese momento de felicidad con Gil Sheperd.

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