Shadows and Fog

Starring:Victor Argo, Kathy Bates, Andy Berman, Katy Dierlam, Mia Farrow, Jodie Foster, Michael Kirby, Anne Lange, Tim Loomis, Madonna, John Malkovich, Donald Pleasence, James Rebhorn, Camille Saviola, Paul Anthony Stewart, David Ogden Stiers, Lily Tomlin, Dennis Vestunis, Daniel von Bargen
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
No other Woody Allen film has ever been hustled into oblivion faster than this black-and-white mélange of Mittel-European nightmare, absurdist farce, and homage to German expressionism--sort of Woody Allen meets Franz Kafka in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, set to Kurt Weill's score for The Threepenny Opera. Yet the daft experiment is not without charm and, as the title suggests, oodles of atmosphere.

In a murky, seriously deranged cityscape only a studio art department could create, a giant bald strangler (Michael Kirby) is going around killing people with piano wire. The authorities are powerless (though he stomps about freely, occasionally declaiming speeches), so vigilante posses start roving the streets. For some reason, they dragoon a noisy nebbish named Kleinman (Allen) to assist them. So Kleinman goes into the fog, kvetching, and meets Irmy (Mia Farrow), a circus sword swallower (no double-entendres, please) whose clown of a husband (John Malkovich) is two-timing her with the strongman's wife (Madonna). Add an "et cetera" here, because the big, mostly wasted cast also includes Kenneth Mars as the strongman, Donald Pleasence as a philosophical coroner, John Cusack as a student who mistakes Irmy for a prostitute, and Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, and Lily Tomlin as the real prostitutes in whose company she happens to be at the time. None of this adds up, and the whole thing moves and feels less like a film than one of Allen's oddball New Yorker sketches. Still, as the fever dream of an art-house addict, it has its moments. --Richard T. Jameson

Average customer rating:

THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION, SET 2

PRODUCT DETAILS: WHAT PRODUCT DETAILS?

Great selection of movies!

What can I say?

Quit complaining.

The Woody Allen Collection, Set 2 (Shadows and Fog / September / Crimes and Misdemeanors / Another Woman / Alice)
Starring: Woody Allen
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
All MGM Titles | MGM Home Entertainment | Studio Specials | Stores | DVD | Video
Comedy | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Woody Allen Collection, Set 3

Play It Again, Sam

Manhattan Murder Mystery

New York Stories

Don't Drink the Water

ASIN: B00005AUJE
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Customer Reviews:

THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION, SET 2.......2005-07-27

The second Woody dvd collection includes five films:
"Alice"
"Another Woman"
"Crimes And Misdemeanors"
"September"
"Shadows And Fog"

PRODUCT DETAILS: WHAT PRODUCT DETAILS?.......2004-05-15

How about including the names of the movies contained in this boxed set in your so-called "product details" ?

We all know that Woody Allan is virtually always "vaux le voyage", but the merest hint of the actual content would be useful here.

Bless you and may you have many children.

Great selection of movies!.......2002-06-15

This box is a good collection of some of the most beautifull films of W. Allen. This features some of the best directions of melodramatic films of W. Allen.

If you are a fan of Woody A. buy it now. If you are one of those very few who never saw a film of Woody Allen, buy one of the films not on this box. You will be back later to buy the box. Trust me.

What can I say?.......2002-03-02

The whole idea behind a Box Set, is to attract fans. So if you're not a Woody Allen sucker, you'll probably never come to this point of the navigation, specially reading reviews. The fact is, this Box Set comes with more "noire" films from Mr. Allen, not the best comedy, but some very good drama though. The Sets 1 and 3 are better. But what can I say? The worst Woody Allen movie deserves 4 stars and a half, but I could't figure out how to give them. So I gave it a five. You're his fan too, you understand me.

Quit complaining........2001-10-22

I can't believe all the bad reviews this has gotten. This box doesn't hold a bad film, yet there's so many complaints about it not holding any comedy or being to serious or something. First off, "Another Woman" and "September" aren't really funny at all, but hey, they excellent anyways. And the other three, "Crimes and Misdemeanors", "Alice", and "Shadows and Fog", are essentially comedies! Sure, "Crimes..." has a deathly serious side, but really... does that matter? "Alice" is one of those movies you can't really have any complaints about. It's really fun to watch. The weakest film here is, true, "Shadows and Fog", but that does not by any circumstances mean it is a bad film. It has excellent cinematography and it is really funny at times. Definitely worth seeing, even if it is one of Woody's weakest films. All in all, you pretty much get the best of Woody Allen here. Really funny, funny and whimsical, funny and sad, deathly serious, and more deathly serious. A fine box set. -Randy

Average customer rating:

Little Man's Night Out
Massively Underrated
A Personal Favorite
Too Many Stars...Not Enough Story
refreshing

Shadows and Fog
Starring: Victor Argo , Kathy Bates , Andy Berman , Katy Dierlam , and Mia Farrow
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Alice
Deconstructing Harry
Stardust Memories
Bullets Over Broadway
Zelig

ASIN: B00005AUJO
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Amazon.com

No other Woody Allen film has ever been hustled into oblivion faster than this black-and-white mélange of Mittel-European nightmare, absurdist farce, and homage to German expressionism--sort of Woody Allen meets Franz Kafka in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, set to Kurt Weill's score for The Threepenny Opera. Yet the daft experiment is not without charm and, as the title suggests, oodles of atmosphere.

Description

"Lovely, poignant" (The Wall Street Journal) and laugh-out-loud funny, Shadows and Fog confirms Woody Allen's genius with its brilliant portrait of the hopelessbut hilarioustragicomedy of human existence. Boasting a dazzling "galaxy of stars" (Leonard Maltin), including Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, Madonna, Donald Pleasence, Lily Tomlin, Jodie Foster, Kathy Bates, John Cusack and Julie Kavner, Shadows and Fog delights with "all the fantasy and seriousness,mysterious construction and burlesque complications of a Shakespeare comedy" (Le Monde). Recruited by an inept mob of vigilantes, Kleinman (Allen), a cowardly clerk, is forced to search for a notorious murdereronly to stumble upon a feisty sword-swallower, Irmy (Farrow), runningaway from the circus and her 'clownish' boyfriend (Malkovich). Determined to help Irmy, and eager to escape the vigilantes, Kleinman abandons his search for the killer or so he thinks. Rushing headlong into the odious night, Kleinman and Irmy are launched into a mysterious world of shadows and fog from which they may never emerge.

Customer Reviews:

Little Man's Night Out.......2007-06-03

I like Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" and I think it is seriously underrated. Shot in a beautiful B/W this surreal Comedy / Mystery / Drama / Thriller takes place in a small town somewhere in the Eastern Europe between two World Wars where a mysterious maniac stranglers the people all over the town. Since the local police proved to be helpless, the citizens form vigilance committees and a small timid insignificant bookkeeper Kleinman (his name is translated as "Little Man") is recruited to search for a murderer in the dark night full of shadows and fog. Allen parodies German Expressionists (Fritz Lang), Franz Kafka, and Ingmar Bergman ("Magician") in this funny, scary, warm, dark, surreal, and dramatic film that he saw as a metaphor for humanity, as we all muddle through the murk and attempt to find meaning. The cast is all brilliant and includes Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, Madonna, David Ogden Stiers, Michael Kirby, John Cusack, John C. Reilly. Lily Tomlin, Jodie Foster, and Kathy Bates appeared in the cameos playing prostitutes in the local brothel. I was especially impressed by John Malkovich - never expected him be as tender as in the final scene.

Massively Underrated.......2006-12-17

Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" has been called a "misfire" and is, in a sense, a forgotten film by Allen. It's hardly mentioned in conversations about his work. I consider myself a pretty big fan of Woody Allen, but the only reason I rented the movie was because John Malkovich was in it. Turns out, this is one of my favorite Woody Allen movies (I've seen 13). It's funny, well acted, has a huge array of stars, has perfect black & white cinematography, and is a pretty damn good movie. Allen plays Max Kleinman, a man who has fallen into a deep sleep only to be rudely awakened by his neighbors. They want his help in finding a serial strangler and Max, apparently, has a part in helping find him. Problem is, Max doesn't know what his part in it is. As Max walks around the gloomy, foggy area fearing the strangler will strike he encounters a bunch of quirky characters. One is Irmy (Mia Farrow), a circus sword-swallower who has ran away after catching her lover, Clown (Malkovich) cheating on her (with Madonna, no less). Before Max and Irmy actually run into each other, Irmy runs into a brothel that is occupied by such familiar faces as Jodie Foster, Lily Tomlin, and Kathy Bates. After she makes $700 for a one-night stand with John Cusack, she finally runs into Max. The movie's got a huge cast, with some actors' only turning up for a few moments. Some of the players include William H. Macy, Donald Pleasence, John C. Reilly, and many others. The movie has a gloomy, shadowy, and foggy (fitting, I guess) atmosphere which might be paying homage to early film-noir movies. The movie, like many Allen films, is fueled almost entire by dialogue and all of it's good and almost all of it's interesting. There are a few quotable lines in here. Since I've noticed most fans of Allen's don't like this film, I'll give you a general idea of what my taste in Allen is like. My favorite Allen movie is Annie Hall, my second favorite is Crimes & Misdemeanors, and my least favorite is Melinda & Melinda. All the performances (even though most of them are very brief) are good. Malkovich, as usual, steals most of his scenes and seems very comfortable reciting Allen's dialogue. Shadows and Fog is a great movie, for Woody Allen and just as a movie.

GRADE: A

A Personal Favorite.......2006-11-14

Much of the plot has been outlined above, as well as the cast and I am, in large part, in complete agreement with the positive reveiws recorded.

I want to add that, for anyone raised on the old Universal horror pictures, or the films directed by James Whale or Val Lewton, where the suspense is the important part of the film; this picture, Shadows and Fog, has this quality absolutely dripping from every frame! Despite the comedic elements (and there are many funny things happening) the tension rises perceptibly throughout the narrative. The climax is dissapointing for many, but if you follow the subtext of this extremely philosophical script it is nearly a perfect resolution in all ways.

I have had philosophy students who were struggling with concepts of 19th and 20th century writers watch this movie and instantly gain insight into the point of the often times obtuse & oblique writings of Hegel, Kant and the like. I beleive that the unpopularity of the this film is based on people thinking that they were about to see Bananas or Sleeper.

Love him or hate him, you have to admit, Woody Allen is DEEP.

A personal favorite film of mine, but definetly not everybodies cup of philosophicallly comedic tea.

Too Many Stars...Not Enough Story.......2006-07-08

I gave it four stars because I laughed at the jokes. Shadows & Fog is practically an encyclopedia of film stars. I dare you to watch this without playing "spot the star". Everyone from Jodie Foster to Wallace Shawn to John Malkovich to Madonna to Donald Pleasance is in this thing. When a director of Allen's stature packs his movie full of stars, be very wary. It usually means he lacks faith in his material and is compensating by name-dropping. Little good can be gained from wasting small roles on recognizable faces. Allen tries for Kafka and ends up with rolecall.

refreshing.......2006-04-24

certainly an odd movie - it had a very surrealist feel throughout, I could never quite tell if it was an old, clich? mystery, a comedy, or an art film. it had strong philosophical undertones, and all and all I think was very well done. it was beautiful, without taking itself too seriously.