Interiors (1978)
Directed by Woody Allen
Considered an about-face upon release, this Bergman-esque chamber drama from the celebrated comedic filmmaker portended a nascent artistic interest in the psychological framework of the female persona. A methodical account of divorce and the resultant fallout between a father (E.G. Marshall), his three grown daughters (Diane Keaton, Kristin Griffith, and Mary Beth Hurt), and their emotionally unstable mother (Geraldine Page), the film sagely depicts the traumas incurred when established roles forcibly change and familial dependence unexpectedly shifts. Later, when the newly remarried father invites the splintered family to convene at a coastal chateau, buried resentments resurface with tragic results. Shot by Gordon Willis in stately, overcast hues, the film—with an aesthetic palette consciously suggestive of the internal storms its characters are ill-equipped to weather—fully anticipates the ongoing influence of the European arthouse on the best of Allen’s subsequent work. Jordan Cronk (Feb 28, 2pm at the Museum of the Moving Image’s “See It Big!: Gordon Willis”)