To Rome With Love was released more than 2 weeks ago, but what made me writing this post was watching the trailer of Woody Allen: A Documentary - it made me realise how often he works with fantastic actors and actresses, directing them (mostly a female "them") in almost iconic performances.
Woody Allen has such a estrogen-full filmography...During decades of moviemaking, "his women" have set the bar high for other actresses and being cast in a Allen movie became a synonym of true acting talent (and beauty) for both media and audiences. Some women appeared more than once in a Woody flick and he wrote parts with a specific actress in his mind - I know he says he doesn't have a muse, but the fact is that some women influenced his movies since the moment he starts constructing a plot in his brain, which means, he gets inspired by them, which means he always had muses.
Well, Woody worked with a lot of great female acting names since the beginning of his career, but only a couple of names teamed-up with him 3 or more times... Here's my list of Woody Allen's muses (I considered 5), with the best movie they starred:
Diane Keaton
Annie Hall (1977)
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His four romantic comedies with Diane Keaton strike a chord of believability that makes them nearly the only contemporary equivalent of the Tracy-Hepburn films. The latest, United Artists' "Annie Hall," is by far the best, a touching and hilarious love story that is Allen's most three-dimensional film to date.
by Joseph McBride in Variety
The first Woody Allen movie I saw in my whole life and, by far, one of the most honest and "down-to-Earth" portrays of a romance. Annie Hall (the name of both the movie and Diane Keaton's character) is one of the defining movies of Allen's career, a true classic, with two of the best characters this brilliant writer and director has ever created: Alvy Singer (portrayed by Allen himself) & Annie Hall (Keaton).
Mia Farrow
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Though Mr. Allen does not actually appear in ''The Purple Rose of Cairo,'' his work as the film's writer and director is so strong and sure that one is aware of his presence in every frame of film. It doesn't overwhelm the contributions of the others, but illuminates them, particularly the glowing, funny performance of Miss Farrow.
by Vincent Canby in The New York Times
The Purple Rose of Cairo is all about the magic of movies. This comedy-fantasy-romance with Woody's signature was meant to be one of the most underrated movies he has ever made, but it will be one of his best, by far! The battle Real Vs Unreal gives this movie its essence, making the audiences dreaming and working as a showcase for Mia Farrow (Woody's most prolific muse). It's Woody's most charming love letter to cinema...
Dianne Wiest
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters," the best movie he has ever made, is organized like an episodic novel, with acute little self-contained vignettes adding up to the big picture.
by Roger Ebert in Chicago Sun-Times
Three sisters, relationships, love, comedy, drama and tragedy... Hannah and Her Sisters has it all and it also includes exquisite performances by all the ensemble cast, specially from Dianne Wiest and Michael Caine (both Oscar winners for their performances in this flick). This is one of the greatest movies in Woody's curriculum and (maybe) the best familiar drama I've ever seen.
Judy Davis
Husbands and Wives (1992)
Husbands and Wives is a defining film for these emotionally embattled times; it's classic Woody Allen.
by Peter Travers in Rolling Stone
More than the portray of two marriages on the rocks, Husbands and Wives is THAT SPECIAL because of acting performances that are simply remarkable (specially Judy Davis as Sally). It's a relationships study that leaves a mark in the audiences minds and one of the most raw, yet funny, Woody Allen movies.
Scarlett Johansson
Match Point (2005)
"Match Point" is Woody Allen's best picture in more than a decade — an excellent character piece/social study that evolves into a suspense thriller with an O. Henry twist.
by Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Allen reinvented himself and presented one of the most thrilling movies of the last decade: Match Point. Never two leads had such an explosive chemistry like Rhys-Meyers and Johansson have in this one and Allen never used an actress sensuality as well as he does here. A tale about unperfect human beings, ambition, seduction and the twists and turns of life - this one is both phylosophical and Hitchcock-thriller-like.
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