Stardust Memories is the 9th film written and directed by Woody Allen, first released in 1980.
Woody Allen plays Sandy Bates – a renowned director looking for a change. He is invited and attends a retrospective of his own films, where he is faced with fans and critics all wanting his time. During all this, he reflects on a past relationship that’s gone wrong but still haunts him, and tries to find happiness with a new partner.
STARDUST MEMORIES sees Allen tackle fame and celebrity with jet black humour. But it was seen by more than a few that Allen was ungrateful and bitter. Worst of all – it wasn’t that funny. It was Allen’s first big backlash since he started – but does this film deserve it?
Welcome to the Woody Allen Pages Podcast, by me, the creator of the Woody Allen Pages website. This week, episode 10, we look at 1980’s STARDUST MEMORIES. How it was conceived, how it was made, and how it was hated. Spoilers are everywhere so watch the film first, then come back.
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1 Comment
“Too much reality is not what the people want” – great words from The Maestro. When considering Woody’s complete oeuvre to date, to me Stardust Memories is placed right beside Interiors at the very apex tip top. The opening prologue section at the beginning of the film with Sandy getting stuck on the train of gloom and misery as he frantically tries to escape with the sands of time running out only to discover that the happy pretty people end up in the same junkyard as everyone else is epic. Everything about this picture is a ten out of ten in my opinion. The Frank’s Deli & Restaurant scene at the 54th minute that Sandy and Isobel take her kids to eat at socks me in the gut every time with a fistful of nostalgia. With the music playing under the dialogue and the look of the room with the old time soda fountain bar the camera dollies left as the actors come closer into the shot to sit up against the windows with a view of the ocean, man it gets me every time. It’s pure beauty. I can’t help but smile. Even Woody’s Converse Jack Purcell’s make an appearance during the “I don’t want a winged thing in my house” scene. Is anyone else out there a cesarean?
“The town is really jammed, is The Pope in town or some other show business figure?!!!”
GO WOODY!!!!