Love and Death (1975)

Which movie of Woody's was it in which he talked to aliens who expressed a liking for his "early, funny" movies? In any case this is perhaps his funniest. His lampooning of the great Russian dramas are hilarious to those who have even a passing familiarity with them, and even if you don't, the jokes come so fast and furious that it literally is a laugh a minute--at least! Woody and Diane Keaton were a great comedy team. They were really at the top of their game when they made this one. I'll resist the urge to repeat laugh lines here and just recommend that fans of good comedy see it.

Fmovies: Like Mother Russia itself the themes are sweeping from death to herring - but unlike Sleeper and Bananas this is a masterwork because it leaves you wiser and wise-cracking. Beneath the wonderful silly seriousness and a veneer of intellectual mimicry is the feeling that watching Love and Death extends your life by ten years and increases your IQ by 40 points - a favourite Woody Allen, and without a doubt one of the smartest, and funniest comedies ever made.

In Love and Death you get the best and fullest exposition of what Allen really did best before the the comedy of manners, or the New York settings : witty, fast, furious, hilarious, clever writing: here he proved beyond a doubt that the one-liner could be smart, and poignant.

Every comedy writer (And comedy actor) should watch and learn - the timing, and the way your brain dances when watching is marvellous.

A total triumph and a writer's paradise.

Although the critics loved Annie Hall and some of Allen's other films more than this one, I think this is his best combination of comedy and philosophy. I would strongly recommend this to any fan of Russian history, comedy, philosophy, or Woody Allen.

Love and Death fmovies. Honestly, It took me 24 years to truly appreciate the work of Woody Allen. But those were 24 years well spent and by that I mean... -it could be that you have to grow up and be a student of life and really see what the world is about. or -it could just be that you need to be cynical ...in order to achieve the mindset to understand the genius of it all, there's something about Woody Allen that is just incredibly fantastic. I must say that this film is incredibly well thought, acted, and directed....Diane Keaton is the best shes ever been in my opinion and Woody...man you gotta love him!

Just watch it! You'll be in tears-too funny!

Watching Love And Death today I had the feeling that back when Woody Allen was going to Midwood High School in Brooklyn, a few years before I did, he was forced to do a book report on War And Peace and hated it. He vowed to get even with Tolstoy and all the rest of those heavy Russian dramatists and in Love And Death I do believe he succeeded.

And if you ever were forced to sit through all that turgid prose and heavy dramatics than Love And Death is the film you've longed for. The time is the Napoleonic Wars and the flower of Russian manhood is answering the colors. But Woody comes from a different patch than the other flowers bloomed in and he's not that crazy about sacrificing for old mother Russia.

The overall tone of Love And Death is a homage to Groucho Marx and years earlier I could have seen the Marx Brothers doing something like Love And Death with a bit more creative control, just like what Woody Allen has with his movies. But the military scenes were out of the Bob Hope school of cowardice playbook.

Lest anyone think that only Russian literature got a good satire, Allen includes a take off on Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude as Allen and Diane Keaton both go into those stage soliloquys about what the future holds for them as a couple.

Love And Death a must for Woody Allen and a missionary film for those looking to convert someone to being a Woody Allen fan.

Woody Allen films fall into different categories-his early films verge on slapstick while still being bitingly satirical (Sleeper, Bananas, Play It Again, Sam, among others) while his later works generally fall into one of two categories: contemporary social satire or nostalgic period pieces, generally set in the 1930s or 1940s. Love and Death is probably the most cerebral of the slapstick films and what I suspect a collaboration between Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman and the Marx Brothers would have looked like had one ever taken place. Sight gags abound along with the philosophical discussions Woody Allen films have as a matter of course. It's a hilarious film that spoofs Bergman, the military, patriotism and, of course, love and death. Most highly recommended.