Love and Death

This Woody Allen flick is by far the funniest of his that I have seen thus far, although i don't think its as good as a film as Annie Hall or The Purple Rose of Cairo, both which I consider masterpieces of Woody's, Love and death is still a brilliant film. The story of Boris Grushenko (Allen), a Russian who is caught up in the invasion of the french lead by Napoleon (Tolkan). Meanwhile he also loves Sonja (Keaton), a girl who has confusions of her own. The film is written brilliantly, great dialogues and wit, its truly offbeat humor, the funniest from Woody. Although his direction here is a bit weird, and at times the plot is not believable at all and obviously satirical, the performances and great dialogues make it work. It was a bit redundant and had a bit too much slapstick at times but still enjoyable. Watching this film, truly had me laughing throughout. Woody was perfect in his role, probably my favorite acting from him along with his acting in Annie Hall. Diane Keaton was also great here, not as good as her other work in this decade (GF, GF2 and Annie Hall), however still great here. James Tolkan was also great as Napoleon. 9/10 #91 on list of all time favorite films

source: Love and Death

Love and Death

Boris Grushenko (Woody Allen) is facing execution as he recounts his story. In Czarist Russia, Boris is in love with his intellectual cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton). She is jilted by Boris' handsome brother Ivan and marries a rich herring merchant instead. Despite being a coward, Boris is drafted to fight in the Napoleonic Wars. Sonja becomes a widow. Ivan is killed in the war but Boris becomes an accidental hero. The two reunite to marry and try to save the world by assassinating Napoleon. This is a parody of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy novels in a spoof. As such, this may not be to everyone's taste. One has to have a wide-ranging literary and art film knowledge to appreciate a lot of the jokes. Diane Keaton does get to do more in this one. She has some darker sides and is almost equal to Woody. The literary crowd may have some laughs although they may be too stuffy to relax about the skewering.

Love and Death marks a very distinct transitional phase for Woody Allen, being the very last of his oddball comedies and the most sophisticated of them. It combines, essentially for the last time for Allen, incredibly silly puns and one liners that would fit in a Mel Brooks movie ("I think we should divide his letters... do you want the vowels or the consonants?") with clever satire and parody on Bergman and Dostoevsky. It's probably my ignorance in Russian classic literature that prevented me from enjoying it more, but I loved the loving Bergman spoofs and young Woody's quirky, neurotic humor. I can't name it as one of my favorite Allen films but it certainly holds its own as a fresh, hilarious piece.

Honestly, It took me 24 years to truly appreciate the work of Woody Allen. But those were 24 years well spent and by that I mean... -it could be that you have to grow up and be a student of life and really see what the world is about. or -it could just be that you need to be cynical ...in order to achieve the mindset to understand the genius of it all, there's something about Woody Allen that is just incredibly fantastic. I must say that this film is incredibly well thought, acted, and directed....Diane Keaton is the best shes ever been in my opinion and Woody...man you gotta love him! Just watch it! You'll be in tears-too funny!

Although the critics loved Annie Hall and some of Allen's other films more than this one, I think this is his best combination of comedy and philosophy. I would strongly recommend this to any fan of Russian history, comedy, philosophy, or Woody Allen.

Which movie of Woody's was it in which he talked to aliens who expressed a liking for his "early, funny" movies? In any case this is perhaps his funniest. His lampooning of the great Russian dramas are hilarious to those who have even a passing familiarity with them, and even if you don't, the jokes come so fast and furious that it literally is a laugh a minute--at least! Woody and Diane Keaton were a great comedy team. They were really at the top of their game when they made this one. I'll resist the urge to repeat laugh lines here and just recommend that fans of good comedy see it.

MR.Cinema aka Woody Allen, is simply THE BEST. 'Love and Death', Written, Directed & Acted by Allen himself, is amongst his finest works to date. A Fantastic Comedy! 'Love and Death' Synopsis: In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon. Like always, Allen pitches in a lot of humor in 'Love and Death'. The premise is terrific & the overall storytelling, is a pure genius. Allen's Screenplay is terrific & his Direction, as always, is flawless. Allen's performance as a neurotic soldier, is mind-blowing. Diane Keaton as his distant cousin, is flattering. James Tolkan as Napoleon Bonaparte, deserves a special mention. On the whole, 'Love and Death' is a must see film by MR.Cinema!

One of the funniest movies of all time. The War & Peace and Chekov slant gives it a great feel. Allen and Keaton are at their best, and funnier than Grace & Burns, Hepburn & Tracey, etc.. One of the better lines, "To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love, but then one suffers from not loving. Therefore, to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer, to suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love, to be happy then is to suffer but suffering makes one unhappy, therefore to be unhappy one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down." This classic comedy is very rarely known, and worth watching it over and over.