Antonia Tejeda Barros
Abe (Joaquin Phoenix): "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom".Irrational Man. Wow. Such a movie. A delight for anyone who loves philosophy, especially existentialist philosophy, my favorite!The beginning of the movie is amazing. You can only hear a car and, right after the opening credits, Ramsey Lewis' amazing funky jazz. The first word, pronounced by Joaquin Phoenix, is "Kant". Woody Allen seems to have made Irrational Man for philosophy lovers: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Dostoevsky, and Hannah Arendt's thesis dance in this film. Anxiety, despair, the meaning of our existence, choice, morality, suicide, and murder are the film's main themes.Joaquin Phoenix's performance is stunning. Really brilliant. Phoenix gained 33 pounds for the role of Abe, a controversial philosophy professor, anguished, depressed and a nihilist who talks to his students about how cruel and frustrating human existence is. Phoenix appears like a man made of blood and flesh, vulnerable and tormented, who prefers to live philosophy than to talk about.I must admit that I am not a big fan of Emma Stone. I find all her performances basically the same. Nevertheless, her performance in Irrational Man is convincing thanks to Woody's amazing writing. Still, she could have bothered herself and take some piano lessons if she was going to play the role of a piano student. Oh, well, those young divas...The other woman is Rita, performed by Parker Posey, an awesome actress. Her performance is fresh, elegant and very real.Ethan Phillips (who played the nasty IRS agent Gorsky in the 90's comedy Green Card) has a small role in the movie and plays Jill's father. I read some negative reviews about Jamie Blackey's performance, who plays Jill's boyfriend, Roy, but truthfully I think that he plays his role to perfection (a simple guy in love, plain and zero exciting).Irrational Man has a bit of Match Point and a lot of Cassandra's Dream, being at the same time original, genuine, and surprising. The end is unpredictable and has a taste of Hitchcock. Woody had already used Crime and Punishment in Crimes and Misdemeanors, Match Point and Cassandra's Dream. Ramsey Lewis (who, I must admit, I didn't know -I have already bought several CDs of his) accompanies us with his amazing funky jazz during all the film. Woody's taste in music is definitely the best.The Adair University (fictitious), where Abe taught before, is the same University that honours Harry Block in Deconstructing Harry and where Sondra Pransky studied journalism in Scoop (how funny).Irrational Man is the last movie produced by Jack Rollins (Woody's producer for over 45 years). Rollins died in 2015, age 100.Abe brings to the extreme the first principle of existentialism: human beings are what we make of ourselves ("l'homme n'est rien d'autre que ce qu'il se fait", argues Sartre in L'existentialisme est un humanisme). Man is what he decides to be, in complete freedom. Sartre argues that we don't have freedom, but that we are freedom. Our freedom can never be renounced. Even if we decide not to be free, we are deciding in complete freedom not to be free. That's what reflects Sartre's explosive sentence "l'homme est condamné à être libre"(1). We are free and we are completely responsible of what and who we are. There is no God. We are alone in the Universe. We are the solely owners of our own existence and the only responsible ones for our own choices.Sartrean existentialism is a philosophy of freedom and action. To think about doing something, to hope, to wish, does not count at all for Sartre. Only to act has real value, and Abe knows it. If we wish for somebody to be dead, the only coherent action is murder. But what about morality? Well, are all men worth living? Really cruel people are parasites, are they not? Wouldn't the world be a better place with less parasites?When Abe decides to kill the corrupted judge, his life makes sense again. He starts enjoying life: he has big breakfasts (not only back coffee), is able to make love again, writes poetry again, and feels strong and alive. Suicide is not an option for Abe any more. His life has meaning. His murder plans are what give meaning to his existence.Man is a being in search for meaning. That was brilliantly said by Viktor Frankl in 1946 in his heartbreaking book Man's Search for Meaning (originally written in German and untitled ...trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen. Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager). Frankl's thesis is a yes to life with capital letters. His message: an unconditional faith in the meaning of existence: "meaning is available under any conditions, even the worst conceivable ones"(2). Life has always meaning, until the end ("life has a meaning to the last breath"(3) and it's our duty to look for this meaning. Our main task is to have to give a meaning to our own existence.Frankl argues that a person who has found the meaning of his life is able to give his life for that meaning, and a person who has not found the meaning of his life can easily commit suicide. At the beginning of the film, Abe suffers from existential vacuum and does not mind at all to die when he demonstrates to his students how to play the Russian roulette. But when he starts planning the murder and finds a meaning for his existence, he rejects suicide and embraces life.Frankl argues that life has always meaning. Sartre, on the contrary, argues that nothing has real meaning: everything is absurd (like Camus). We are alone, without God and without excuses, and we have to carry courageously the emptiness of our human existence.Frankl defines man as freedom, responsibility and meaning. Sartre defines man as freedom, responsibility and anguish. In the first half of Irrational Man, Abe follows Sartre, and, afterwards, follows Frankl. Frankl's thesis is less dark than Sartre's. Nevertheless, I have always found an answer (even if a hard and depressing one) in Sartre's philosophy, and, for what I've read, I think that Woody too.In an interview from 2010, Woody was asked about his vision on life, and said: "I have a very grim pessimistic view of it. I always had. Since I was a little boy. It hasn't gotten worse with age or anything. I do feel that it's a grim, painful, nightmarish, meaningless experience and that the only way you can be happy is if you tell yourself some lies and deceive yourself (...) One must have one's illusions to live. If you look at life too honestly life does become unbearable because it is a pretty grim enterprise"(4). I agree completely. I think that neither life nor death have real meaning, so we have to create, love and grow as much as we can in order to not to succumb to despair.Irrational Man is an absolutely brilliant film. A delightful masterpiece. 10 / 10The best: the huge dosis of existential philosophy, Joaquin Phoenix's stunning performance, Parker Posey, and Ramsey Lewis' funky jazz.The worst: Emma Stone's perfectly combed hair.Antonia Tejeda Barros, Madrid, August 16, 2018NOTES1. Sartre, Jean-Paul. L'existentialisme est un humanisme, p. 392. Frankl, Viktor E. The Unheard Cry for Meaning, p. 413. Frankl, Viktor E. "Introduction", The Doctor and the Soul, p. xix4. Allen, Woody. Press conference You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger, Cannes, May 2010BIBLIOGRAPHYFrankl, Viktor E. ... trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen. Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager. München: Kösel, 2014 (2009), pp. 7-191Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning (trad. Ilse Lasch). Boston: Beacon, 2006, pp. ix-165Frankl, Viktor E. The Doctor and the Soul. From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy (trad. Richard y Clara Winston). New York: Vintage Books, 1986, pp. ix-318Frankl, Viktor E. The Unheard Cry for Meaning. New York: Touchstone, 1978, pp. 13-191Frankl, Viktor E. TV interview, Toronto, 1972. THE WILL TO MEANING.Sartre, Jean-Paul. L'être et le néant. Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique. France: Gallimard, 2010 (1943), pp. 11-676Sartre, Jean-Paul. L'existentialisme est un humanisme. France: Gallimard, 2003 (1945), pp. 9- 109
rahumate
Woody Allen at his best "To love is to suffer. ... Therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy." Woody Allen Woody Allen at 81 and perhaps counted in few intellect US film directors today celebrating his birthday.Woody Allen, who has niche audience; in one of his interview from UK Guardian he said, "My intention was people would pay their money and have some kind of human experience." Woody Allen started his career as a comedian in1950s, wrote jokes and scripts for television and publishing books. In 1960s, Allen began explored his hand in stand-up comedy, this world of comedy shaped his persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful snobbish.Allen started writing and directing films in 1960s, So far he has directed over 40 films are Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), and Hannah and Her Sisters (1986). In 2007 he said Stardust Memories (1980), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), and Match Point (2005) were his best films. Critic Roger Ebert described Allen as "a treasure of the cinema." Allen won four Academy Awards: three for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Director (Annie Hall). He also won nine British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. His screenplay for Annie Hall was named the funniest screenplay by the Writers Guild of America in its list of the "101 Funniest Screenplays." In 2011, PBS televised the film biography, Woody Allen: A Documentary, on the American Masters TV series.I remember his film Melinda and Melinda, I watched all his film in theaters or archives but this film was very rare to his fans. This film did not make a good fortune on box office and fetched no awards to him. I was curious to watch this film as this film is a discussion about life, the 4 people who sit on dining table talk about a fictitious character Melinda and takes her life ahead, one say, life is a comedy and show Melinda journey it turnout to be a black comedy and one say life is a tragedy and shows Melina journey but it turns out to be comedy. They conclude, 'it is our perception what matters and not the situation'."I'm probably more interested in eternal human feelings and conflicts. If I make a good film, it will always be good. The same feelings and problems will persist 5000 years from now. Like the Greek tragedies which still touch us today, which still work." (Woody Allen SPIGEL TV interview June 20, 2005 ) It was the first time when I searched all VCD stores of town and accidentally got the VCD in gray market. It proved to be a trove for me. Today on the birthday of Woody Allen I am offering my greeting through this article. I am sure he will touch 100 if not 150 and he will make more film which talks on life.
morrison-dylan-fan
Taking a look at votes on the poll for the best cast and film of 2016 on IMDb's Classic Film board,I noticed a number of mentions for cast members in Woody Allen's Café Society. Originally planning to pick up Society,I was happily caught by surprise,when a family friend revealed that he had picked up Allen's 2015 title,which led to me getting set to find out how irrational this man could be.The plot:Caught in an existential crisis, philosophy professor Abe Lucas spends all the lessons he teaches half drunk.Despite Lucas stinking of booze,student Jill Pollard finds herself falling for Lucas's world view. Aware of a ban on tutors going out with students,Lucas and Pollard decide to keep their relationship secret. Going out for lunch with Pollard one day,Lucas hears a conversation about a women fearing that a judge will take her kids away in a custody battle. Knowing who the judge is,Lucas starts to think about doing something deadly irrational.View on the film:Gaining 33 pounds for the role, Joaquin Phoenix gives Lucas a very good heaviness,as his sluggish manner pulls the existential crisis weighing down on Lucas. Spending the first half trying to find answers from a bottle, Phoenix slurs the dialogue,which whilst fitting with Lucas's state does cause possible zingers in Allen's script to end up on a jumbled,badly mumbled mess. Crossing the same wave length as Lucas,the cute Emma Stone gives a sparkling performance as Pollard,with Stone delivering Allen's quirky lines with a smooth flow and also crystallising Pollard's own existential crisis on Lucas's actions.Opening the pages of Crime and Punishment again,the screenplay by writer/director Woody Allen loops comedic philosophy with a simmering Drama. Giving the early days of Pollard and Lucas's relationship a free spirited feel,Allen gives the dialogue a playfulness that highlights the philosophy that the relationship is built on. While Phoenix's performance takes some of the charm out of the title,Allen displays a sharp eye for stirring Lucas's consideration of taking an existential walk on the wild,as Pollard finds her lover gripped by the philosophy of an irrational man.
