While a fan of Woody Allen I never found him to be the cinematic genius that some did. He made good solid movies and some tremendous comedies in his career. But to rank him among the best directors always seemed like a stretch for me.In the eighties following several hit comedies Allen turned away from the genre and began making more dramatic films. Influenced by Ingmar Bergman some took on a dark tone and almost all followed the lives of women in the lead. Critically acclaimed for the most part the films died at the box office. And yet year after year studios still supported his films.ANOTHER WOMAN is one of the films from that time period. Gena Rowlands stars as Marion, the Dean of Philosophy at a woman's college on sabbatical as she writes a new book on the subject. To do so and avoid disruptions she takes an apartment that is next door to a psychiatrist's office. She discovers this when she finds she can hear his patients through the ventilation system. Putting pillows against the vent she shuts them out until one slips and she wakes from a nap to hear a woman talking about the problems she's having with her husband.The more she listens the more Marion begins to question the respectable life she now leads and the relationship she has with her own husband, Ken (Ian Holm). Compared to their friends their lives seem unadventurous and boring. An attempt to reignite their flame is rebuffed by Ken. This makes Marion recall their lives just before marriage, when the two of them were having an affair behind the back of Ken's first wife Kathy (Betty Buckley) and when his best friend Larry (Gene Hackman) encouraged Marion to leave Ken and run away with him.With each passing day Marion becomes more infatuated with the stories the psychiatrists patient (Mia Farrow) tells him. She also finds that her relationships are not what she thought they were. Her closest one is with Ken's daughter Laura (Martha Plimpton). One she had but forgot was an old friend who became an actress (Sandy Dennis) who she finds out resented her all along. As she begins to look at her life Marion begins to wonder who she is, what her life is really all about and just how she has affected those around her.The film might sound like a boring melodrama but it isn't. The combination of solid performances by everyone involved as well as the well-paced and written script makes it an interesting story and one that might inspire everyone to give their own life a look. Do we see ourselves through the eyes of others or are we blind to the possibility we aren't what we think we are? There are no big laughs in this film but no points of sadness that are inescapable either. Instead we get a glimpse into the life of this woman and what goes on in her life. In true Allen fashion I must say that his choice for characters always seems to run the same, socialites living in high fashion going to cocktail parties and drinking wine. It would be interesting to see what he could do choosing a different motif like a redneck bar.Twilight Time brings this movie back to life after being abandoned by the original studio, another of their blu-ray releases of movies forgotten or considered unprofitable by their home base. Extras are sparse with only an isolated score soundtrack and the original theatrical trailer. And as with all Twilight Time releases this title is limited to just 3,000 copies so if you're a fan of Allen make sure and order yours today.

It is one of my favorite Woody Allen films. Unlike so many of Allen's films it does not star Allen in at least a subplot where he is a neurotic failure or at least a success at something nobody else cares about that practically talks his love interest (usually played by Diane Keaton or Mia Farrow) into rejecting him over the course of the movie.Instead, and probably because Mia Farrow was pregnant at the time, it stars Gena Rowlands as Marion, the dean of philosophy at a woman's college who is taking a sabbatical to write her latest book. She feels she leads a charmed life. She is in her second marriage to her cardiologist husband, Ken (Ian Holm). Ken has been married before too, and has one child by his first wife - Laura (Martha Plimpton), now a teenager, who has a good relationship with Marion. Great job, great family, good health, what else could a person reasonably want? The film is set in New York City because, quite frankly, I just don't think director Woody Allen would feel he was not in a foreign country if he got as far away from Manhattan as just New Jersey. But that's another story.Marion has rented a room away from home where she can completely immerse herself in her work, but unfortunately the ventilation system allows her to hear everything that is said in the psychiatrist's office next door. She solves this problem by putting two large pillows over the vents between the offices. But then she takes a nap, wakes up, and realizes one of the pillows must have slipped down because she can hear the conversation going on in the psychiatrist's office again. This time, though, the conversation interests her because it is a young woman speaking about how desperately unhappy she is. As she speaks on, Marion sees parallels between her own life and the what the female patient is saying. She peeks out the door as the patient leaves and sees that she is a woman who is in the last stages of pregnancy (Mia Farrow).The rest of the film is Marion basically examining her own life in light of what the female patient is saying about her own. Marion begins to realize that she has always closed herself off from any real chance at feeling, which is rather ironic when you consider she is a leader in the field of philosophy. She examines her first marriage to a much older man, a professor of hers at the time, and what ended it. She examines how she got into a relationship with her second husband, who was still a married man at the time. He had a friend who she actually felt passion for, and he pursued her with vigor (Gene Hackman as Larry), but ultimately she picked Ken, partially, she realizes, because Ken is as cold a fish as she is and Larry's warmth and spontaneity somewhat scared her.It's a story of a life examined at age 50, and of the inevitable regrets we all have because we can't pick the right fork in the road every time. I'd strongly recommend this one. It's even very good on repeat viewing.

Gena Rowlands' Marion Post is only modest on the surface, but it's so beguiling that she almost does not recognise the air of superiority and disdain herself. Her opening voice-over narration has a reserved, bored quality about it that, as if she has finally found herself a place to settle down and enjoy the rest of life. Then a simple technique; the thin walls of the therapist office give way to creeping thoughts about wasted life and ambitions and futility that are mirrored in her own mind. This leads to a series of reveals that are like a thread unravelling the seemingly peace and contentment of Marion's life and relationships. It starts with a timid question with her 2nd husband whom we understand has not slept with her for quite some while. And we feel that this sort of introspection has not breached Marion's mind for a long time; she has been too haughty, too dismissive, too self centred and confident in her appearance. She has slowly eroded any sense of respect from her 1st marriage, but oh, it was only under the guise of being honest! And she is a home-wrecker too - there is that icy interruption of a gathering by the ex-wife Cathy that is reminiscent of Bergman, and it is so cold in the way that Ken shushes her emotional breakdown in the politest way. Marion sees this in her own way; not the emotional distress of Cathy, but worrying that it might someday be her in that situation (and she is eventually correct). One thing that isn't honest at all is Rowlands' performance. Her mask of genuineness is put on in almost every social gathering, but there is a hint of this stalker-like presence, as if each quietly absorbed word is being filtered through her ego. There is a brief scene at a restaurant when she is having dinner with her friends and a former student of hers confesses that she has changed her life. Rowlands' reaction is just perfect; a hint of modesty, a fluttering of the eyes, and though she is proud, there is also a semblance of shame, as if she has never ever had that sort of effect on anyone that was actually close or important to her. There are also these dream sequences that indicate her mind is filled with regret. These aren't the most subtle of Allen's scenes, but when is this emotion ever slight? Gene Hackman's Larry is the lost love, the one that got away, and there is also a wondering of what might have eventuated of an abortion borne out of an affair with a professor (and how the edit seamlessly transfers an older Marion into the worries). Two things signals her eventual change. One, how she notifies the therapist of the 'acoustic oddness' because she is no longer fretting about hearing these so familiar thoughts of pessimism. And two, the little chapter at the end from Larry, which is the first instance of a positive memory of Marion in the entire film. It offers a sweet, lovestruck perspective, as if it were not too late to start over, and that even at 50, such an emotion could be sought once more.

Woody Allen's most satisfying cinematic achievement, psychologically speaking. A well accomplished woman in her fifties, through a deep and painful process, reaches upon the realization that her entire life has been full of lies and deception, intended on defending herself from true passion and emotion. The film paces through like a slow haunting voyage into her psyche, with each step going deeper, reaching painful truths that Marion (and the audience) cannot block away any further. This goes on until finally she is forced to see her life and choices for what they are. At which point liberation and inner peace become possible. It is really a metaphor for the psychoanalytical process at its best.