AT HOME: Love and Death (1975) / Zelig (1983) Woody Allen @ Ren's Place, VB

This is a gathering at cinephile Ren's place. Attendance is limited.

Popcorn will be served along with water and tea. Bring your preferred beverage. The building contains a ping-pong / pool room for after-show entertainment.

WHO CAN ATTEND: People who have previously attended one of our watch parties, meaning we know and have met you.

WHERE: I live on Cape Henry, near the Chick's Beach area of Virginia Beach. RSVP and I'll send the address.

Movie info:

RUNTIME: 85 minutes / 79 minutes

RATED: PG / PG

SYNOPSIS: Love and Death - In Woody Allen's comic take on 19th-century Russian philosophical novels and the Soviet-era epic films made from them, Boris (Woody Allen) is a simple Russian villager who pines from afar for his beautiful cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton). Forced against his will into joining the Russian army during the Napoleonic Wars, the cowardly Boris accidentally becomes a military hero. But when his beloved Sonja comes to him with a dangerous patriotic scheme, Boris debates his desires and beliefs.

Zelig - In this fictional documentary, a man achieves notoriety for his ability to look and act like anyone he meets. With his unique talent for mimicry, Zelig (Woody Allen) ingratiates himself with people from every sector of society. His chameleon-like skill catches the eye of Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow), a doctor who thinks Zelig is in need of serious cognitive analysis. Their relationship moves in a direction that's not often covered in medical textbooks.

BLURBS:
Love and Death -
"Love and Death strikes me as majestically funny: the most shapely piece of cinema that Woody Allen has yet made, and one of comedy's hardiest ripostes to extinction." - Penelope Gilliat, The New Yorker

"Perhaps I should just point to the acting skill that Allen and Miss Keaton exhibit. There are dozens of little moments when their looks have to be exactly right, and they almost always are. There are shadings of comic meaning that could have gotten lost if all we had were the words, and there are whole scenes that play off facial expressions. It’s a good movie to watch just for that reason, because it’s been done with such care, love and lunacy." - Roger Ebert

Zelig -
"[Zelig] is thoroughly charming. It’s quick and deft and it races along. I admired the delicate care with which it was made... But when I see comparisons with Citizen Kane in the papers, I don’t know what the writers are talking about."

"A masterpiece: a brilliant, even passionate historical pastiche, a superbly pregnant meditation on American society and individuality, and an eerie fantasy that will live in your dreams." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian