"Congratulations. It finally has balls."
"Which would you save if you rushed into a
burning building and could only save one: an anonymous human being or the only
remaining copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare?” How many of us
add second thoughts?
“Do you love the artist or the man?” Is that about Allen himself or the all idea
just came to him when he was wishing to shoot some lousy actress?
David is an idealistic young playwright. In
order to gain financing for his play he agrees to give an opportunity as an
actress to Olive, the girlfriend of a powerful gangster. Dealing with the
classic dilemma of having to sacrifice his integrity as an artist, in exchange
for fame and fortune, the main character is corrupted in all possible ways
along the story. An unexpected twist comes when a common mobster, Cheech, has
the audacity to question David’s work. Ultimately Cheech grabs the pen, and David
takes the pool cue. Suddenly the plot gets darker, and Cheech is the one who
ends facing the life-or-death decision over the integrity of his art.
The plot is so rich as one can, Bullets is
simultaneous a gangster movie, a backstage comedy and a philosophical
interrogation, but it’s David’s fall and redemption that drives the action.
Having to deal with his lack of talent Shayne became ashamed of is ‘eunuco
version’ of the screenplay, but in the end, he and ourselves realize that what
he really pursuits is the answer to the question he keeps asking his
girlfriend: Does she love him as the artist or as the man?
Allen's heroes are brilliant talkers who attack
their enemies with floods of words. No doubt that Allen’s major talent is upon
writing and casting.
Helen Sinclair (“In the last couple of years
better known as an adulteress and a drunk”) gave an Oscar to Dianne Wiest, on a
role that reminds Norma Desmond on Sunset Boulevard. Her “Don’t speak! Don’t
speak...” is masterful. It’s an ingenious way to express how she neglects him,
as an artist and as a man. The lower she spells it, stronger the impact.
Chazz Pagalimiani made a remarkable work as the
brutal hitman with a natural talent for words, and an unexpected knowledge
about human behavior.
John Cusack assumes quite reasonably the
neurotic figure of the film, the role that Allen would usually play himself, but
Allen's onscreen presence is crucial to his work. Even in the presence of
better performers than himself the physical presence of Allen hangs like a
ghost around the screen, we can’t help to imagine his weird faces and
unconventional body language, we almost hear him talking to us thru the 4th
wall. Allen never wanted us to be able to distinguish the man, the artist, and
the character.
Personally I find Woddy Allen the most engaging
comedy director, certainly one of the most prolific and perhaps the most appreciated
by the critic since cinema has voices. We can criticize him for putting all his
energy on the dialogs, plot and acting, and I have to agree that Bullets lacks
of some cinematography ambition. Allen is egocentric, spent too much time at
New York, many times gets too cerebral, but surprisingly, thru his self-depreciation,
thru his confessional verbalization, he’s able to uncover our own dark secrets,
and he reveals them without delicacy. Allen’s comedies are subtle on the
surface but they deliver sharp and meaningful humor.
Every Allen movie has uncountable wonderful punch
lines, emerging from the most unlikely sources. In unexpected ways they become powerful
resources to deal with life. Personally I feel a strange intimacy with his
hypochondriac, selfish, coward and neurotic persona. He helps us to get laughs
from ourselves, from our instincts, inabilities, and mistakes. New perspectives open up thru Allen’s movies, and when
someone says about a new Woody’s film that it’s more of the same old jokes and the same inner world, I run to the theatre.
“I’m an artist.” Is the first sentence in the
film, just before the fade out David states that “I’m not an artist”. He throw
away is obsession, redeem himself, and redefined his path.