(Trailer below) - A movie that really is like the black sheep or one of the black sheep in his catalog. And perhaps the most underappreciated film of his, one based funny enough on a one-act play that Allen wrote called Death. Knowing this is a bit of a key to opening up the movie as it's pace and tone is meandering and yet expansive but lives and stays in it's own world without coming to any conclusion.
This world basically consists of a shadowy town made up of narrow brick streets, run-down buildings, tents, circus performers and even a local brothel, which, plays a unusual but perfect centerpiece for a lot of the film's characters. This is a big cast with some incredible names. John Cusack is perhaps as best as I've ever seen him. A scene between John Malkovich and Madonna is simply exquisite.
Less heavy on comedic lines and more heavy on philosophy. There are undertones of book of Job from the Bible.. Shadows & Fog is certainly not without it's laughs but Allen is looking more to immerse us in this shadowy world he has created. It's one of the only black-and-white films I know of that I couldn't imagine in anything else but black-and-white. Filmed on a 26,000 sq ft soundstage, the biggest in New York at the time.
This one also has one of my all-time favorite closing lines in an Allen movie. Armsted The Magician (played by the brilliant Kenneth Mars in one of his last outings) is asked by another character if people love his illusions and the magician responds, "Love them? They need them, like they need the air," he says with a flourish.
Shadows & Fog is currently streaming free on Tubi. 3.25 stars/5
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