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Interiors (1978)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Woody Allen (written by)
Release Date:
2 August 1978 (USA)
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Plot:
Three sisters find their lives spinning out of control in the wake of their parents' sudden, unexpected divorce. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 5 Oscars.
Another 8 wins
&
6 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
6 Brilliant Films by This Weekend's Honorary Oscar-Winning Dp Gordon Willis
(From Movieline. 13 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
Eric Hatch: News Correspondent
(From SoundOnSight. 1 October 2009, 11:42 AM, PDT)
(From Movieline. 13 November 2009, 2:30 PM, PST)
Eric Hatch: News Correspondent
(From SoundOnSight. 1 October 2009, 11:42 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
A Dysfunctional Family Wrapped in Frigid Austerity Makes for Allen's So-Serious Drama
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Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Kristin Griffith | ... | Flyn | |
| Mary Beth Hurt | ... | Joey | |
| Richard Jordan | ... | Frederick | |
| Diane Keaton | ... | Renata | |
| E.G. Marshall | ... | Arthur | |
| Geraldine Page | ... | Eve | |
| Maureen Stapleton | ... | Pearl | |
| Sam Waterston | ... | Mike | |
| Missy Hope | ... | Young Joey | |
| Kerry Duffy | ... | Young Renata | |
| Nancy Collins | ... | Young Flyn | |
| Penny Gaston | ... | Young Eve | |
| Roger Morden | ... | Young Arthur | |
| Henderson Forsythe | ... | Judge Bartel |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
93 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:M |
Canada:PG (Ontario) |
Netherlands:12 (re-rating) |
Brazil:14 |
Argentina:13 |
Finland:K-12 |
France:U |
Sweden:15 |
USA:PG (certificate #25289) |
West Germany:12 |
Netherlands:16 |
Singapore:NC-16 |
UK:AA (original rating) |
UK:15 (video rating) |
Germany:BPjM Restricted
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Woody Allen was known for comedy, and wanted to break the mold by having no humor at all in this picture. At one point the family is gathered around the table laughing at a joke which Arthur has just told, but we never hear the joke.
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Goofs:
Continuity: In the church, Eve knocks over a table of candles and broken glass is heard as they clatter to the floor. But as she leaves, there's not one candle on the ground.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Kids in the Hall: (#1.4)" (1989)
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Soundtrack:
Wolverine Blues
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FAQ
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It's pretty obvious that Woody Allen was so resistant in being confined as a comedy filmmaker that in the throes of his success with the wondrous "Annie Hall", he felt a need to make an über-serious drama in the Ingmar Bergman mode. This 1978 Chekhovian family drama is the result, and it is alternately affecting and exasperating. The key problem is that Allen presents such a hermetically sealed world of intellectuals and artistic souls that the interactions among the characters feel pointed and self-conscious. He has obviously since learned that his best films ("Manhattan", "Hannah and Her Sisters") are served most by his particular balance between comedy and drama.
The story concerns an upscale New York family reacting to the news that patriarch Arthur wants to leave his psychologically unstable wife Eve just released from a sanitarium. They have three daughters, all of whom are grappling with their own problems. Eldest sister Renata is a successful poet stuck in a volatile marriage to Frederick, a fellow writer whose lack of commercial success has merely heightened his jealousy and paranoia. Middle daughter Joey is Arthur's favorite, but she is unable to figure out what to do with her life, and her constant flailing frustrates everyone around her in spite of the patience of her boyfriend Michael. Youngest daughter Flyn is the beautiful, emotionally isolated one who moved to Hollywood to become a semi-successful actress.
They all respond to their mother Eve's neediness in different ways, and the inevitable turning point comes when Arthur finalizes the divorce and remarries, this time to a passionate, fun-loving widow named Pearl. Even though Gordon Willis' beige-dominated cinematography and the frigid, almost-too-perfect art direction by Mel Bourne and Daniel Robert lend the extreme austerity for which Allen seems to be striving, the acting is what makes this film dramatically effective. Mary Beth Hurt gives a brave performance as Joey, capturing all the inadequacy and wounded rejection her character feels. Maureen Stapleton is a breath of fresh air as Pearl, lending an amusing earthiness and colorful indifference when she arrives late in the story.
With her severe look, Geraldine Page effectively lends unrelenting, humorless intensity to her heavily mannered portrayal of Eve and turns her character into a hopelessly desperate victim as the story moves toward its conclusion. As Renata, Diane Keaton removes all traces of the lovable Annie Hall but unfortunately comes across as the most contrived, especially when her character cannot help but be patronizing to Frederick and Joey. Richard Jordan plays Frederick in broad strokes that make it difficult to empathize with his plight. Making lesser impressions are Sam Waterson as Michael, Kristin Griffith as Flyn and a surprisingly understated E.G. Marshall as Arthur. Just the original trailer is included as an extra on the 2000 DVD.