***Very Special Thanks to THATguy for Dictating This Film For Me in This 13-Film Cannes Film Festival Marathon***

To moviegoers all over the world, cinema has always been a place to escape to for a few hours. It's something Woody Allen has understood since he always finds the films as a place to escape to. Whether it's the antics of the Marx Brothers, the seriousness of Ingmar Bergman, or the raunchiness of Federico Fellini. In the 1980s, Allen was clearly becoming one of cinema's beloved directors whether its in comedy or drama. In 1985, Allen made a film that is considered one of his most heartfelt about the power of cinema as a movie character comes to life for a women during the Great Depression entitled The Purple Rose of Cairo.

Written and directed by Woody Allen, The Purple Rose of Cairo tells the story of a woman during the Depression of the 1930s struggling to get by including a loveless marriage. When a character from a film she's watching leaves the screen to comfort her, her life starts to go into an upswing until the actor who plays the character starts to arrive complicating all matters. A comedy-drama that bends all sorts of genres, it is considered to be one Allen's finest films of his career. Starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Glenne Headley, Edward Herrmann, Van Johnson, and in her first of many films for Woody Allen, Dianne Weist. The Purple Rose of Cairo is an extraordinary, magical film from Woody Allen and company.

It's the 1930s during the era of the Great Depression as things are tough all over. For Cecilia (Mia Farrow), she's a dreamer who finds escapes through the movies that she frequents to after days of work and such as a waitress in New Jersey. Even at the job with her sister (Stephanie Farrow), she isn't a good waitress since she's always getting people the wrong orders and always talk to her sister about the film she had just seen. At home, she lives with her brutish husband Monk (Danny Aiello) who is unemployed and spends most of his time pinching pennies and gambling. Though he loves her, the marriage is often filled with trouble as she threatens to leave him all the time. Then one day, a new movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo is playing about a group of socialites who are bored and go on a trip to Cairo where they meet an explorer named Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels).

Transfixed by the film, Cecilia sees it again and again but her conversations to her sister at the job gets her fired. The day gets worse when she comes home early where Monk is entertaining another woman as Cecilia is distraught. Going to see The Purple Rose of Cairo for the fifth time, something happens when the character of Tom Baxter notices Cecilia sad as he suddenly walks out of the screen and into the real world with all of the other actors stuck in the film. Tom and Cecilia leave the theater as he wants to get a chance to explore the real world in all of delight. Back in the theater, all of the characters are upset that Tom is gone forcing the plot to not move forward as they're all stuck.

With audiences wondering what movie they're watching, things go wrong as it captures the attention of the film's producer Raoul Hirsch and the actor who plays Tom Baxter in Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels), who feels that his career is threatened. Even as the movie in other places found itself in trouble with Tom not saying his lines or trying to walk out of the screen. With Cecilia spending her time with Tom, they go to a fancy restaurant where Tom tries to pay the bill with money which turned out to be fake as news of what happened reached Monk. With the movie theater in chaos and the actors in the film observing humans, Gil has arrived in New Jersey where he meets Cecilia as she takes him to Tom where he tries to tell his character to get back in the film. It doesn't work as Gil and Cecilia spend time with each other while Tom attracts the attention of a hooker named Emma (Dianne Weist) who takes him to a brothel which he's amazed by.

After some time with Gil, Cecilia realizes she's falling for him as he wants to take her to Hollywood as she goes see Tom where they return to the theater. Suddenly, she finds herself in the film as everything goes into chaos once again where the waiter in a scene does an impromptu tap dance. When Gil suddenly appears in the theater, Cecilia becomes confused of whether to choose the movie world that is fun or the real world to Hollywood with Gil as some tough decisions are made.

The film is essentially a period piece about a loopy woman who finds escape through the films. Yet, when a character of that film suddenly walks out of the screen and appear to her wanting some adventure, thus comes a bizarre love triangle when the actor who plays the character appears to her. What Woody Allen creates is a genre-bending film that is part-romance, part-comedy, part-period piece in which, everything works. It's about fantasy and reality where the character of Tom is transfixed by the real world as he's the most innocent character in the film unaware of things that go on in the real world. There's no fade-outs during kissing scenes, due to the Hayes production code of the time in films, which Tom wonders after he kisses Cecilia. Even Tom's encounter with hookers is innocent as he has no idea what a brothel is or any sexual reference speech means.

Then there's Gil who is an actor on the verge of a career breakthrough finds his character threatening the chance for him to play Charles Lindbergh in an upcoming film. Gil isn't as innocent but more complex as, like Cecilia, is a dreamer who is transfixed by her innocent, loopy persona as they talk about his movies and such. Yet, there's something about Gil who is desperate to have Tom back in the film for the sake of his career where he seems selfish on whether he's acting or being himself. Holding it all together is Cecilia, a dreamer who is trying to find escape in a loveless marriage. Yet, she's flawed because she's loopy and stammers when she lies while couldn't really hold a job despite working hard to pay the rent and such. Finding some form of adventure in both Tom and Gil gives her life meaning but when a decision is made about what happens next. The film ends ambiguously with a variety of emotions. There's sadness in some part but also a bit of happiness about what's going on at the same time.

Allen's script is filled with witty dialogue, commentaries of the film world at the time, as well as a true description of the Depression era. Allen's direction is truly spectacular in its intimacy and his approach to bending genres. Not utilizing the tricks of the old 1930s film, he only does that for the actual film of The Purple Rose of Cairo with some amazing visual effects. The way he uses stock footage of cities for some of the fantasy sequences are dazzling as Allen is proving himself to be a director that knows to use an old style while create something that is magical. At the same time, Allen is aware of the message of how powerful a film can be where he mixes realism and fantasy to the point that this film is a great escape in itself. Allen understands how much an audience can be transfixed by a film and he does so in creating a film and a film-within-a-film where the overall message is to sit back, relax, and watch a good movie. In the end, Allen just doesn't succeed in that approach. He does a lot more than that in creating a unique, touching cinematic experience.

Helping Allen in the visual department is his then-regular cinematographer Gordon Willis, who creates a wonderful look with its use of dark colors and low-lights for some nighttime, interior sequence to a film that is dream like. For the film version of The Purple Rose of Cairo, it's shot in grainy black-and-white like the old 1930s film style with some bright lights and dabbles of gray in the background. At the same time, that film is cropped in an old full-screen ratio like it was before the invention of the widescreen format. Willis work is immensely superb in its richness and devotion to the period of 1930s New Jersey. Longtime Allen collaborator Susan E. Morse does great work with the film's editing as it's mostly straightforward with smooth cuts and transitions while the film-within-a-film has more style with the use of dissolves, fade-outs, and other stylistic transitions to give it an old time feel.

Production designer Stuart Wurtzel, set decorator Carol Joffe, and art director Edward Pisoni do spectacular work with the look of the film from the decaying buildings of New Jersey to the old cars that are used. Even the brothel in its interior setting has a fascinating look. The look of The Purple Rose of Cairo film in its posh setting has something amazing which included a white telephone that Cecilia is amazed by. Costume designer Jeffrey Kurland does some fantastic work with the costumes, notably the explorer suit with the big hat that Tom Baxter wears along with some of the fancy clothing the actors in the Cairo film including some glamorous dresses and such. Sound editor Dan Lieberstein and recording mixer Rick Dior do some very good work with the sound, notably the way the Cairo film has a unique sound with scratches heard in the film and such. Music composer Dick Hyman brings a smooth, melodic score filled with old-time, 1930s ragtime piano while the soundtrack is mostly dominated by ragtime music and pieces from Fred Astaire in the film Top Hat as it opens and closes the film with style.

The casting by Juliet Taylor is phenomenal with some notable small roles from Michael Tucker as Gil's agent, Alexander Cohen as producer Raoul Hirsch, Juliana Donald as a film usher, Irving Metzman as the theater manager, Mia Farrow's real-life sister Stephanie as her sister and fellow waitress, and Glenne Headley as a hooker in the brothel. In the role of the actors in the film version of The Purple Rose of Cairo, there's Deborah Rush as the glamorous Rita, Zoe Caldwell as the Countess, Van Johnson as the Countess' date Larry, Milo O'Shea as a priest, Karen Akers as a nightclub singer, John Wood as a composer, and Edward Herrmann as the main actor as they all have some funny lines. Notably Caldwell who says a boorish comment towards an audience member's wife. One very memorable minor role that really stands out is Dianne Weist in her first of many films for Woody Allen as a hooker named Emma. Weist's stylish, no-nonsense performance is filled with charm and wit as she really stands out in every scene she's in.

Danny Aiello is very good as Monk, Cecilia's selfish, gambling husband who couldn't find work as he is a brute of a man but does love Cecilia. Aiello's performance is definitely fun to watch as he and Jeff Daniels, as Tom Baxter, is great displaying the fighting style of the times as Aiello really stands out. Jeff Daniels delivers a tour-de-force performance in the dual role of Tom Baxter and Gil Shepherd. Daniels exudes all of the innocence and exuberance of Tom Baxter with such energy and charm while in Shepherd, there's a bit of a smugness and realism as well as a side of him that is a dreamer. It's a great role from Daniels, who is one of the more underrated working today, as this role reminds audiences into why he is one of the best in the business.

Finally, there's longtime Allen staple Mia Farrow in a wonderful role as Cecilia. Farrow's performance is definitely wonderful as her character is a dreamer who loves to talk about the film she had just seen yet has a hard time paying attention. Even as she puts out the wrong orders, forgets something, and drops plates. Cecilia is innocent but also a bit clueless as she is dealing with a troubled marriage and always threatens to leave him. In Tom and Gil, she finds a sort of escape and adventure along with the idea of a new life. There's a lot of exuberance Farrow puts into the role as it's clearly one of the best performances she put in her career.

Released in March of 1985 in the U.S., the film drew rave reviews from critics while box office wise, it received a decent reception. Two months later at the Cannes Film Festival where it screened out of competition, it was a huge hit as it helped Allen's popularity in Europe. Several years later after the film's release where it is considered to be one of his finest films ever. Woody Allen stated that it's one of his favorite films that he ever made.

The Purple Rose of Cairo is a majestic, whimsical, and heartwarming film from Woody Allen and company. Featuring great performances from Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels with notable standout supporting roles from Danny Aiello and Dianne Weist. It's a film that is funny, it's entertaining, has a great sense of drama, and has something that audiences can relate to about the power of films. While it may not rank high with more regarded masterpieces like Annie Hall, Hannah & Her Sisters, and Crimes & Misdemeanors. It's a film that is still Allen at its finest and certainly one that is worth re-watching over and over again for all of its charm. In the end, The Purple Rose of Cairo is a dazzling film from Woody Allen.

Woody Allen Reviews: Bananas - Annie Hall - Hannah & Her Sisters - Crimes & Misdemeanors - Deconstructing Harry - Match Point - Scoop - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - (Whatever Works)

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age