Stardust Memories (1980)

While attending a retrospective of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Woody Allen, Charlotte Rampling, Jessica Harper

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Woody Allen	...	Sandy Bates
Charlotte Rampling	...	Dorrie
Jessica Harper	...	Daisy
Marie-Christine Barrault	...	Isobel
Tony Roberts	...	Tony
Daniel Stern	...	Actor
Amy Wright	...	Shelley
Helen Hanft	...	Vivian Orkin
John Rothman	...	Jack Abel
Anne De Salvo	...	Sandy's Sister
Joan Neuman	...	Sandy's Mother
Ken Chapin	...	Sandy's Father
Leonardo Cimino	...	Sandy's Analyst
Eli Mintz	...	Old Man
Bob Maroff	...	Jerry Abraham

Storyline

Renowned filmmaker Sandy Bates is in a professional transition, directing largely comedies early in his career now wanting to direct more serious movies so that he can explore the meaning of life, most specifically his own. Most are fighting him all along the way, including the movie going public, who continually tell him that they love his movies especially the earlier funny ones, to studio executives who are trying to insert comic elements wherever possible into his current movie in production. He reluctantly agrees to attend a weekend long film festival of his movies. Despite the throng of requests for his time, he is further able to reflect on his life as he addresses the questions at the post screening Q&A sessions. He also reflects specifically on his love life as his current girlfriend, married Isobel, shows up unexpectedly, and as he starts to fall for festival attendee Daisy - at the festival with her Columbia professor boyfriend, Jack Abel - who reminds him of Dorrie, a ...

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Plot Keywords:

weekend | retrospective | hotel | filmmaking | fan | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Persian

Release Date:

26 September 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Recuerdos

Filming Locations:

The Great Auditorium, Ocean Grove, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rollins-Joffe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Woody Allen's character argues with a women that he couldn't be attracted to her "kid cousin" as it was creepy. Woody Allen himself would go on to marry the adult adopted daughter of his ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow.

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Quotes

Sandy Bates: But shouldn't I stop making movies and do something that counts, like-like helping blind people or becoming a missionary or something?
Voice of Martian: Let me tell you, you're not the missionary type. You'd never last. And-and incidentally, you're also not Superman; you're a comedian. You want to do mankind a real service? Tell funnier jokes.

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Connections

Featured in The Look (2011)

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Soundtracks

Sugar
(1927)
Written by Maceo Pinkard and Sidney D. Mitchell

User Reviews

"i like his later, less funny films"

This is, i would say, not only woody allen's greatest movie, it is also my favourite film ever, by anyone. i've gotten more from this film every time I've watched it, over the years - which is many times - & i've found something different & new on each occasion.

This glowing recommendation doesn't, by the way, mean i am a rabidly undiscerning woody allen fanatic. i don't think he's made even a decent film since deconstructing harry - another great film inexplicably reviled upon its release - & the 'early, funny' films i have always found dull & juvenile.

What is great about woody allen - & this is still what the majority of the critics seem invariably to miss - is that only Chaplin before him mixed tragedy, comedy & pathos so perfectly (leading to the maxim in the movie industry that 'only woody can do woody'). It is this that is Allen's great gift, all his most perfect films are aglow with this sublime anomaly, & it is these films that people will still be watching fifty or a hundred years from now.

For the record, the films you really & truly need to see by woody allen are these:

Annie Hall. Stardust Memories. Manhattan. Hannah & Her Sisters. Crimes & Misdemeanours. Deconstructing Harry.

Zelig is good too, if a little slight, as is Broadway Danny Rose. of the earlier, "funny" films, Sleeper & Love And Death are by far the best. And of the films he directed but not appear, Sweet & Lowdown is probably the best, though Purple Rose of Cairo also deserves an honourable mention.

This film, Stardust Memories, will haunt you, enrich & nourish your life for years to come.

Check it out! And tell your friends!