Woody Allen had a press conference for the release of “Rifkin’s Festival” in Europe. The event was a light affair with Allen tackling an assortment of topics, including his love for European cinema, the importance of moviegoing, his dislike for TV shows and, most intriguingly, his plan to shoot a new film in Paris this year.
"I already have a screenplay ready to shoot in Paris, but the pandemic has halted our plans. As soon as productions start again, I hope to be able to shoot it. It’s a film that I can only say it looks a little bit like “Match Point”.
Wearing a light blue shirt and speaking from his Manhattan home, the 85-year-old director of such classics as “Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” and “Crimes & Misdemeanors,” spoke to press via Zoom. The controversy involving his adopted daughter Dylan was not mentioned.
Allen did take the time to profess his love for Europe, a continent which has become a second home to him over the years, and, not to mention, the place where his last 3 films have been shot and funded due to his being blacklisted in the U.S.
During the press junket, Allen pointed out the differences between American and European cinema: "I think the main difference is the innovation in European films, the type of artistic realization. From this point of view, cinema in the States has remained immature, mainly driven by profit. European films are ahead of American ones, both in cinematographic technique and in subject matter, and this is the big difference. So when I was young I wanted to see all the European films while the American ones seemed childish to me. They still are.”
As for the future of moviegoing in a post-pandemic world, Allen showed concern for what may transpire, “People are probably asking themselves, ‘why should I go to the movie theater when I can just watch a movie at just click of a button at home on my big screen, with clear images and excellent acoustics?’ But my answer to that is that there is a difference in seeing “The Godfather” or “The Blues Brothers” with 500 people in a dark room, rather than being at home on the couch with the phone ringing and interrupting your experience".
As for his personal experience during the lockdown, he explained: "For me, life didn’t change much. In the morning I get up and do the same things: I write in my room and walk on the treadmill. When the pandemic arrived, many people were wondering if I was going crazy being confined inside my home, but it didn't bother me. I'm a creature of habit: I play my clarinet, do some exercises and write in the evening.”
Finally, Allen spoke words of appreciation for the new president of the United States: "I think Biden is a good president and is doing good things. I just hope he gets some kind of cooperation from the Republicans so that it can benefit the whole country.”
SS Rajamouli’s upcoming “magnum opus” is called “Varanasi,” starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran — a massive movie, which just got more massive.