As I have already made clear, I am a huge Woody Allen fan. What is less known on here (but will probably become evident as the years go on) is that I am also a huge John Cusack fan. Imagine my joy when I first found out that the two had actually made a film together. This was only the second time I have seen Shadows and Fog, and whilst the first time was filled with expectations from both the Director and the Actor, this time I sat down to watch it completely forgetting this happy marriage until I saw it in the credits. In fact this film has a cast that, considering that it's a fairly low key affair, is really very impressive. Jodie Foster, John Malkovitch, Mia Farrow, Julie Kavner, Lily Tomlin, and even Madonna makes an appearance (but don't hold that against the film).
The film is the story of Kleinman, a man who is woken up in the middle of the night by a vigilante mob and told that in order to catch a killer who has struck again, they must enact the plan, the only problem is that Kleinman has no idea what his role in the plan is, and whenever he tries to ask he is merely criticised for not knowing. It is loosely based on the works of Franz Kafka, and in particular 'The Trial' Where a man is put on trial for something he is not aware what. In what begins as a separate story we also follow Irmy, a sword swallowing wife of a clown, who unhappy at catching her husband trying to coerce another woman into sleeping with him she flees the circus and ends up in a whorehouse, which is sort of how she comes to meet Kleinman. As the film progresses the mystery of the plan is never unveiled, and the audience is left in the same state of confusion as Kleinman.
Woody Allen used to be a film maker who whilst mostly sticking to his tried and tested formula (not a criticism when the formula was as good as his) would occasionally take a detour and make an unusual film. One of these films is Shadows and fog. Sure we have the standard Woody Allen humour infiltrating the script, but with Woody Allen on the screen it would seem unnatural not too, we also have some of the same themes of Love, Sex and Death. However, with this film Woody Allen really seemed to explore his own talents as a film maker. I have made the point before that Woody Allen is a fantastically adventurous Director, In Annie Hall he broke the Fourth Wall in Annie Hall, introduced haphazard cutting that jumped around in time yet remained cohesive to the story and many other wonderful things, but besides Manhattan he wasn't ever really known for creating beautiful shots. Don't get me wrong, personally I think that some of the Shots in Annie Hall where he begins the shot with no-one in frame, just voices, only for the characters to enter, I think these are beautiful, but in terms of those shots like the two characters sitting on the bench overlooking the river with the bridge in the background, he didn't do many. Thankfully Shadows and Fog is filled with these, taking influence perhaps from films like The Third Man, with a great use of the darkness of Black and White cinema, he creates one of his most visually arresting films.
This film isn't perfect, some people may find its lack of story or conclusion frustrating, but that is in essence the point of this film, it's a film about the things in life that confuse us, you could even argue that it is a pacifist film, arguing that the intentions of those entering into a war, (represented here by the vigilante mob) are confused and unknown to those who are forced to take part (such as those in the military). Whether this was Woody Allen's intention is unknown, but the fact this film isn't about anything in particular makes it more interesting, as it could be about anything. An underrated gem in a very shiny back catalogue.
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