說起小老頭，從《安妮·霍爾》（Annie Hall，1977）完成電影藝術(shù)上的飛躍之后，整個(gè)80-90年代佳作頻出，每隔幾年就要出一部影史經(jīng)典。小老頭拍的電影太多，所以也有不少慢慢被人遺忘，沒有獲得應(yīng)有的重視，比如1984年的《丹尼玫瑰》（Broadway Danny Rose），又譯《百老匯的丹尼羅斯》，就是被低估的伍迪·艾倫影片之一。

影片很難歸類，可以當(dāng)做普通的情節(jié)喜劇，或偽人物傳記片，或愛情片。講的是一個(gè)演藝經(jīng)紀(jì)人的往事。開頭和結(jié)尾是不同時(shí)間的同一場(chǎng)景。開頭，幾個(gè)中年人在餐廳里談?wù)撨@位經(jīng)紀(jì)人丹尼·羅斯（自然是由伍迪·艾倫扮演）的趣事，所以影片的主體部分由數(shù)個(gè)大段閃回構(gòu)成，旁白則來源于其中一人的講述。

丹尼原先是搞笑藝人，后來當(dāng)了經(jīng)紀(jì)人，影片講的是給一個(gè)叫盧·卡諾瓦的歌手當(dāng)經(jīng)紀(jì)人的故事。但看著看著你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，要講的其實(shí)是他的愛情故事。

整部影片洋溢著歡樂的意大利風(fēng)情，卡諾瓦紅過，丹尼要把他再次捧紅，把他介紹給業(yè)界大牛一個(gè)叫米爾頓的人，安排了一場(chǎng)演出讓米爾頓來聽。這場(chǎng)表演至關(guān)重要，能不能紅全靠它了，因此卡諾瓦非常緊張。他有一個(gè)情人叫蒂娜，米婭·法羅（Mia Farrow）飾演，剛開始一直帶著墨鏡，打扮很古怪，幾乎認(rèn)不出來?？ㄖZ瓦一定要讓蒂娜來看演出，給他精神上的鼓勵(lì)。為了瞞住妻子，讓丹尼假裝是她的男伴。

然而當(dāng)?shù)つ崛ソ铀龝r(shí)卻發(fā)現(xiàn)他倆正在電話中吵架，這就尷尬了。蒂娜絕塵而去，跑去參加一場(chǎng)意大利人的婚禮，丹尼也追去了。高潮來了，這里有個(gè)意大利人正在追求蒂娜，得知蒂娜還另有戀人后打算自殺，并且把丹尼當(dāng)做了她的戀人。當(dāng)然是沒死成，他的兩個(gè)黑手黨弟弟打算殺掉丹尼，為兄報(bào)仇！從這往后高潮一輪又一輪。先是在餐廳外發(fā)現(xiàn)了追殺者，兩人跑路。丹尼表示自己是陸上希伯來人，無法坐船。在船上蒂娜回憶起她給卡諾瓦另外找了個(gè)經(jīng)紀(jì)人的事，這個(gè)人也會(huì)來看當(dāng)晚的演出。

在短暫的安全過后，倆人還是被黑手黨抓到了，逼丹尼說出蒂娜真正的情人是誰，于是丹尼說出了一個(gè)名字……但是他說的是一個(gè)口吃的喜劇藝人的名字！他以為這人正在巡回演出，不在本地。但丹尼和蒂娜還被綁在那里，以一種滑稽的方式……丹尼突發(fā)奇想，模仿逃脫大師，以“扭扭”的方式掙脫繩索。到底他們是如何扭的，想象一下便能體會(huì)……果然成功逃脫！后來還有一場(chǎng)華麗的歷險(xiǎn)，就不多說了，太可笑。

總之，他們趕到了演出現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，卡諾瓦演唱大成功，丹尼也得知蒂娜和卡諾瓦計(jì)劃要把自己換掉。失落的丹尼去看望了那位代替自己被暴揍的口吃藝人。

整部影片高潮迭起，笑料不斷，只可惜小老頭給自己安了個(gè)差強(qiáng)人意的美滿結(jié)尾。蒂娜整日失魂落魄，意識(shí)到自己愛上了丹尼，而丹尼也對(duì)蒂娜念念不忘，于是她們?cè)谝黄鹆??？纯此麄冊(cè)诮稚险f話的那一幕，像不像《安妮·霍爾》的結(jié)尾？

丹尼·羅斯顯然有小老頭自己的影子。伍迪·艾倫自小就有搞笑天才，15歲時(shí)就開始在一些報(bào)紙專欄上寫段子，后來給廣播電臺(tái)寫段子。中學(xué)畢業(yè)后，為電視節(jié)目編寫腳本。1961年，正式成為一名喜劇演員，在格林威治村的小酒館、夜總會(huì)和小劇場(chǎng)里演出，一時(shí)名聲鵲起。后來開始編寫舞臺(tái)劇，在百老匯大獲成功，之后正式走向電影，直至今日。

《丹尼玫瑰》獲得奧卡斯最佳導(dǎo)演和最佳原創(chuàng)劇本兩項(xiàng)提名，米婭·法羅憑此片獲得金球獎(jiǎng)音樂喜劇類最佳女主角提名。之后此片就再?zèng)]掀起什么波瀾，成為伍迪·艾倫眾多優(yōu)秀影片的點(diǎn)綴。

公眾號(hào)：電影套盒（laodianyinghualang）

Allen’s ‘80s black-and-white features x 2, ZELIG is a gimmick film, a mockumentary germinated from the inventive idea of a “human chameleon”, but the real star is DP Gordon Willis’ Promethean genius of inserting characters into archival footage and the application of rendering the newly shot footage a ’20’s archival veneer, to the astonishing effect of total harmony and verisimilitude (although the one with Hitler is a bust, the actor’s resemblance is wide of the mark), and to that purpose, ZELIG is an exceptional specimen of cinematic alchemy.

Structure-wise, the whole pseudo-documentary format is devised with the full treatment, like Bob Fosse’s raw and edgy biopic LENNY (1974). Apart from punctiliously coaxed archival footage, retro-style home videos, Allen also uses real-life personages and actors (who play the fictional characters) to give their candid interviews of the subject, you almost believe what they say if the words are spoken from Susan Sontag or Saul Bellow, among other authority figures.

That said, ZELIG’s technical extraordinariness (include half a dozen coined Zelig-themed songs penned by Dick Hyman, that can surely widen your smile) cannot belie the script’s prevailing plainness and archness, it is a missed opportunity for Allen not to fully satirize and assess Zelig’s rise-and-fall in relation to the American society at large and elicit more heady reverberations.

Allen plays Leonard Zelig, a mousy, anonymous guy who can transform his appearance according to his surroundings (Allen is not equipped to show you an actual transformation process, what you get is the simple outcome, he can be black, oriental, Hebrew or corpulent, in correspondent with those who are near him), and becomes a national sensation for his inexplicable “super power”, a cash cow for his instant family, but as an individual, he is miserable and neglect, eventually Zelig’s psychological condition is cured by psychiatrist Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher (Farrow), through quite a lot psychobabble and mesmerism.

When the story heads to a romantic direction, it betrays Allen’s own limits, not everything ought to be nailed down with a man making a conquest of a woman’s heart. Plus the final trans-Atlantic aviation exploit is so far-fetched that he doesn’t even care to arrange any visual stunt to validate that cockamamie bilge. With its succinct length (79 minutes), ZELIG soars high but crash-lands with a whimper.

BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, released one year after, is about another Allenesque character, Danny Rose (Allen), a talent agent touts unpopular entertainers (balloon formers, a musician working with glasses, a stuttering ventriloquist, just to name a few). When one of his clients, a washed-up lounge singer Lou Canova (Forte, a hearty fellow) has a career revival due to the nostalgic fad, Danny needs to act as a beard of Lou’s mistress Tina Vitale (Farrow), so he can bring her to attend Lou’s big gig in the presence of Milton Berle (as himself), it could be a real breakthrough.

But Tina is not a meek kitten, and this innocuous act backfires, after unwisely go to a party of her ex-Italian lover, Tina and Danny soon are on the run from mafia hitmen. As a self-proclaimed landlocked Jew, Danny is foisted to go aboard a ship (how atrocious!), and later, he and Tina must wiggle their way out of being tied up together (who can stand the torture of upward-and-downward close movements?). But there is another hammer blow awaits Danny when they're out of harm's way, does anyone wonder why he always scrapes the barrel?

Allen is his usual gabby alter ego, you might feel amused or scream “shut up” for his persistent quotes of his Jewish relatives and his penchant for “asking permission to interject”. Against her type, Farrow smartly plays this superstitious Italian broad with forcefulness and ambivalence, plus a layer of her uncharacteristic va-va-voom. Tina is a shallow woman, in the same sense that Lou is a shallow man, but after encountering Danny, she is transformed, even sublimed by his immanent kindness and sophistication (and being the high priest of sapio-sexuality, Allen actually put the exact words into Tina’s mouth), her guilt conscience overcomes the temptation of life on easy street, she becomes a fuller human and Danny’s equal.

Here, the frame device is a gathering of several comedians (Jackie Gayle, Morty Gunty, Corbett Monica, among others) lunching at New York's Carnegie Deli, and Danny’s story is recounted as an anecdotal divertissement, Allen always has a knack of such trimmings (remember the Greek chorus in MIGHT APHRODITE, 1995), and both ZELIG and BROADWAY DANNY ROSE has style, scale, wit and profuse amity and gags in offer, they are among Allen’s most innovative works and can put you under a nostalgic spell of the halcyon days.

referential entries: Allen’s THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985, 8.2/10); BULLETS OVER BROADWAY (1994, 8.1/10); Bob Fosse’s LENNY (1974, 8.6/10).

Title: Zelig

Year: 1983

Country: USA

Language: English, German

Genre: Comedy

Director/Screenwriter: Woody Allen

Music: Dick Hyman

Cinematography: Gordon Willis

Editing: Susan E. Morse

Cast:

Woody Allen

Mia Farrow

Deborah Rush

Mary Louise Wilson

John Rothman

Susan Sontag

Saul Bellow

Peter McRobbie

Rating: 7.4/10

Title: Broadway Danny Rose

Year: 1984

Country: USA

Language: English

Genre: Comedy

Director/Screenwriter: Woody Allen

Music: Dick Hyman

Cinematography: Gordon Willis

Editing: Susan E. Morse

Cast:

Woody Allen

Mia Farrow

Nick Apollo Forte

Edwin Bordo

Paul Greco

Frank Renzulli

Gina DeAngeles

Herb Reynolds

Sandy Richman

Gerald Schoenfeld

Olga Barbato

David Kieserman

Sandy Baron

Corbett Monica

Jackie Gayle

Morty Gunty

Will Jordan

Howard Storm

Jack Rollins

Milton Berle

Rating: 7.5/10

這幾天在讀《和奧遜威爾斯一起午餐》，奧遜說他不喜歡Woody?Allen這個(gè)人，原因很簡(jiǎn)單，說他拍的每部片子都是為了治自己的病。

然而奧遜算是那種靈光一現(xiàn)的天才，因?yàn)榭v觀他人生為數(shù)不多的作品，拿得出手的只有《公民凱恩》和《上海小姐》，除了拉不來投資，晚年的他也直言自己寫不出來東西，知道自己能力如此，他的病無藥可救，Woody?allen拍電影除了治自己還能治別人，為什么會(huì)不被喜歡呢？

這片子由一群社會(huì)的上流分子談?wù)摰つ崃_斯開始，用了兩個(gè)引子，再由其中一人開始主要故事的敘述，接下來羅列一下老伍迪使用的套路。

1.整潔明了：直到主要故事開始，鏡頭才開始向講述者拉近，這種鏡頭運(yùn)用給觀眾一種十分工整的感覺，什么是主，什么是次，一目了然。

2.旁白的清晰度：許多片子經(jīng)常會(huì)面臨旁白無力，旁白尷尬，甚至旁白多余，類似《紐約提喻法》里，用收音機(jī)里的節(jié)目來做旁白，旁白是一定要有一個(gè)合理的出處的，這里故事講述者即那群社會(huì)的上流分子們則是旁白。

3.畫外鏡頭：逃脫繩索以及盧告訴丹尼要炒他魷魚的時(shí)候使用了畫外鏡頭，前者是留給觀眾想象空間以及營(yíng)造喜劇感；后者則是一種無力感，因?yàn)榭臻g中說話的只有丹尼自己，這樣比正反打之類的更能體現(xiàn)孤獨(dú)。

4.拉來投資：眾所周知，喜劇比悲劇更容易拉到投資，原因很簡(jiǎn)單，人生已經(jīng)夠悲慘了，觀眾走入電影院都想看一個(gè)給自己人生以希望的故事，老伍迪很少拍悲劇，開始嘗試悲劇應(yīng)該是“倫敦三部曲”。如果說這部像《卡比利亞之夜》，那么費(fèi)里尼只在最后讓主人公不那么悲痛，這本身就很讓觀眾絕望；而在這部里面，老伍迪卻給了一個(gè)喜劇的結(jié)局，丹尼成名了，飯店里還有用他名字做的菜肴。

5.跳切麥格芬：丹尼被混混架槍了，跳切，丹尼在車上（暗示觀眾她逃出來了，怎么逃出來的，不知道。）丹尼去拿配方來喚醒喝醉的盧，跳切，盧好好的在舞臺(tái)上唱他的成名作（暗示觀眾丹尼的獨(dú)家配方管用，配方為何管用，不知道。）

丹尼成名了，怎么成名的，不知道。

6.安吉麗娜這種超自然元素

7.最后的感恩節(jié)聚會(huì)，那些只是打醬油的藝人并不只是打醬油的，他們?nèi)霈F(xiàn)了，無比溫馨。最后街上追回米亞法羅的那個(gè)鏡頭甚至有點(diǎn)像二維的安哲。

說到底，老伍迪的病，不過是原配總是好的，別想著去見一個(gè)愛一個(gè)，沒有好結(jié)果。（但沒人管得住自己）

1.You know what my philosophy of life is? That it's important to have some laughs, no question about it, but you gotta suffer a little too' because, otherwise you miss the whole point to life. And that's how I feel.

2. Just let me say one thing. My uncle Sidney - lovely uncle, dead, completely - used to say three things. He used to say: Acceptance, forgiveness and love. And *that* is a philosophy of life: Acceptance, forgiveness and love.

一個(gè)好故事，還需要一個(gè)合適的講述方式。本片的結(jié)構(gòu)有點(diǎn)意思，以幾個(gè)成功人士閑聊的方式，一通鋪墊，鏡頭推上去，一位成功人士開講，重點(diǎn)正片開始了。丹尼是一個(gè)表演經(jīng)紀(jì)，嘮叨、積極、熱情、單身老男人，活雷鋒般的挖掘培養(yǎng)人才，可是只要培養(yǎng)成功，就通通飛走了。這故事講述的是一個(gè)歌手從挖掘到飛走的過程。為了這個(gè)歌手，丹尼操碎了心，聯(lián)系業(yè)務(wù)，培養(yǎng)好習(xí)慣，專業(yè)培訓(xùn)，還要為他代管情人蒂娜，被黑社會(huì)追殺，差點(diǎn)丟了性命。當(dāng)歌手功成名就，愉快的離開了他，只留下他在那里無奈、沮喪和無言的憤怒。蒂娜很內(nèi)疚，一直希望能道歉，獲得丹尼的原諒。結(jié)尾還是蠻溫馨的，寒冷的大雪天里，丹尼追出來，接受了蒂娜的道歉。幾個(gè)講故事的總結(jié)陳詞，一致對(duì)丹尼表示出贊美之情。講故事者不僅起到了話外音的作用，還以第三者的角度直接暗示了丹尼的善良和熱誠(chéng)，一個(gè)插敘方式的小故事，結(jié)構(gòu)不錯(cuò)。

伍迪艾倫的電影一如既往的嘮叨，對(duì)白極其精彩，如脫口秀段子手一樣，讓觀眾一直沉浸在“有意思”的感覺中。“我的叔叔，著名的糖尿病患者，告訴我人生一定要接受、寬恕和愛。”艾倫總能以俏皮的方式說教、自嘲、說服、講述，真稱得上是臺(tái)詞大師。歌手宣布離開的固定機(jī)位長(zhǎng)鏡頭，落幅是歌手與蒂娜走出畫框，特寫丹尼的無奈、沮喪、憤怒的表情，精彩極了。電影故事的反轉(zhuǎn)技巧，恰到好處，為故事添彩不少。更有意思的反轉(zhuǎn)是最后丹尼同蒂娜一起走在大雪中，庸俗的我更喜歡導(dǎo)演這是暗示丹尼同蒂娜的生活走到了一起，呵呵，雖然庸俗了點(diǎn)，但好人有好報(bào)，那多好啊。

音樂真好，營(yíng)造輕松俏皮的輕喜劇氛圍，出大力了。那首“胃”的歌，真想找來聽一聽。