by Jaime Grijalba.
You have to give it to Woody Allen, he is an infatigable director, he always manages to have one movie a year, most of the time decent, some times great, very rarely bad, and that’s something we should admire in him, even if he doesn’t think much of himself, as he has always repeated in interviews and his own writing, that he has never done any masterpiece and that he will always be forgotten when looking at the history of cinema on the light of filmmakers like Fellini or Bergman (two of his favorites), that also happen to be two of the most revered directors of all time… so, Woody, you don’t think you’ll ever be put side to side next to those two directors… well, I don’t think anyone would ever imagine to put Woody Allen on a list of the best 10 directors of the history of filmmaking, I mean, as much as you love him, you must admit that it’s always his screenwriting labor that takes place above all in his films. But I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to put him in a list of the best comedy directors of all time alongside Charles Chaplin or Buster Keaton, and it is with those two that he found his biggest inspiration for this particular film, that was always planned and envisioned (in its initial stages) as a silent film that took place in the future (he was going to say that people weren’t allowed to talk due to an oppresive regime, and so giving it a reason for it to be a silent comedy), and even if that idea didn’t actually realize, the spirit of both is present in many ways that you can feel as the biggest and most beautiful tribute, as well as one of the most visually attractive films from the entire career of Woody Allen.
Rewatching the film recently I realized really how much of the performance from Woody Allen as the criogenized Miles Monroe is silent. You have to think about all the time he is on a slab, waiting to be reanimated, then all the time he spends with his brain a bit frozen due to its inactivity after 200 years of hibernation (due to a minor operation that started to go wrong, he was put in the freezer until they could find a solution to the problem… they seem to have forgotten him after a while), and then all the time that he is spending fleeing those who hunt him down (because he was illegally defrosted) is practically silent most of the time, there are funny gags and sequences that feature no dialogue, and then there’s the funniest parts of the whole film, when he passes himself as one of the robots, and to become one of them he must put a metal ball inside of his mouth, so he is unable to talk (he just utters his name once he gets into the house of Luna, played by Diane Keaton) for a long stretch of the film. During the time that he is unable to speak, most of the time the acting reminizes that of Buster Keaton in the way of the faces he is making (specially in the robot sections) and to Charles Chaplin in the actual movements that he is making, being flexible, falling down and standing up, moving and even acting as Chaplin always did when he was in love, but this time applied to Miles when he was completely brain dead, running over guard’s feet with a mini-car that he finds inside the lab in which he was defrosted just recently. There are also some gags that remind you of specific films from these silent comedy geniuses, like when Woody Allen’s character is finding some food and he comes across a transgenic farm with giant vegetables and fruits, and when he looks into the distance he comes across the farmer and a giant chicken… his only reaction is saying:
‘That’s a big chicken!’
Obviously, the giant chicken is a visual quote to ‘The Gold Rush’ and the scene in which Chaplin’s companion starts to envision our poor fella as a giant chicken, including maybe the most incredible depiction of ‘doing the chicken’ by the favorite silent comedian of many people from around the globe. The nods of the head, winks of the eye and tips of the hat towards those two comedians don’t stop there, but actually mentioning them one by one would be a demeaning factor of a review, as I would just spend time praising these already highly praised directors and performers, when I’m trying to write a piece about how great this particular movie is incredibly funny and important on its own, without the need of you actually knowing the source of the references (even though, for some, it might get funnier when you know them). But here comes the last thing I’ll say about the subject, I think… Woody Allen had never worked so hard in a movie than in this one, and this is just an estimate that I’m giving just by myself, not guiding me by actual interviews or experiences of Woody Allen made into a book, or confessions from the hairdresser, it’s not at all like that, but it is to say that this is the Woody Allen film with most credits to Woody Allen himself in his entire film career to this day, including his latest film with a starring role. In this he was director, screenwriter, main performer and score composer, and he also played the clarinet in the actual recordings of it. That is impressive and reminds you of the later films of Charles Chaplin, in which he played all those roles, composing one of the most beautiful scores on film even though he was also giving us the most welcomed and heart-warming comedies from those years. And the score for ‘Sleeper’ is not bad at all, it’s actually pretty good to be the only work he ever did in this department so far.
I said that this is one of the most visually impressive films of his career, and while Allen was just starting his road as a film director, I think that there are few films that top this very early effort (this one is in my actual top 10 of the films he has directed, and it’s one of my 100 favorite comedies… in that case, it just fell short of 60 in the list, hence it won’t show up in the final rundown) as it is one of the best examples of whenever he is told that his ‘early funny ones’ where one of the best work he put out, I mean, personally, this one and ‘Love and Death’ are better than… let’s say… ‘Annie Hall’ or ‘Hannah and her Sisters’, but that just may be me, because I’m a bit brainless in the inside part of the head. It just takes a look at the cost-effective and low budget art direction to see how much visual invention was had at the hands of the craftsmen that had the task of making a future world with a budget under 2 million dollars, it is also thanks to the script that explained much of the cleanliness of the world by certain characters that signifie the future experience as one where the social experience and touch is very limited when it’s regarding the sexual life, and also how the ordinate and white state of the interiors of the houses, government buildings, and other installations due to the orwellian characteristics of the government that looks for a vigilant reign over the ones that are under it, with the glorification of a leader, including into the plot the existence of a resistence towards the state of how things are, one that can easily relate to our confused criogenized main character, due to the simmilarities in their goals and views for the society, opposed to the lack of touch in the sexual act or many other elements that will come into place once the resistance forms a plan to attack the leader in a singular way.
The film does go into silly places sometimes, but it is understandable into the logic of a film that most of its humour is divided between the usual funny dialogue and acting performance from Woody Allen, as well as the slapstick elements taken from the silent comedies (oh crap, I mentioned them again, did I?), and even though we don’t actually believe that the nose of someone would be enough to make someone live, or that a flying japanese contraption like the one in which Allen flies… would, you know, actually fly him away from danger… or that a car from the 1950′s would still have some gasoline inside of it to make it work through the countryside, but we actually have no problems with it, we just marvel and admire Allen for getting away with things like that, because he is very intelligent and he has made a science fiction comedy, where anything can happen, and the jokes regarding our present time can be really date the film, but also manages to give it some kind of vision of the future and actually surprise us with some accurate predictions, for example there’s a scene in which Nixon is shown and told that he made something really horrific so no record of his presidency is to be found… but he resigned just in August 1974, and this film was released in 1973, so there’s a bit of hindsight in there, and a chuckle to be had by us, the future viewers. There are many scenes that stand out in this film, so I’ll give you my two favorites in video form, two that actually show the two ways in which the humour of the film is achieved:
How Sleeper made the Top 100:
No. 23 Peter M.
No. 32 Samuel Wilson
No. 48 Pierre de Plume
No. 56 Jon Warner
((No. 71 Jaime Grijalba, but this doesn’t count since it’s below no. 60, but I wanted to say that it just fell out at a last moment shift))
Yes, this visually inventive film that relegates the verbal salvos to the sidelines in favor of slapstick and visual gags narrowly trumps Bananas as the Woodman’s best early comment on the strength of a more cohesive narrative and more focused barbs. The film is a no-holds-barred assault on 70′s culture and politics, science-fiction and cryogenics is Orwellian is scope and patterned as you fabulously delineate after the silents clowns Chaplin and Keaton in spirited movement and a plethora of physical gags. The fruit and vegetables sequence wisely offered up her on you tube is one of the all-time Woody Allen classics. I love the conceit that everything that is now known to be bad for you is good, including smoking. But ironically enough there has been nutritional re-appraisals now of foods like eggs that bring an even further irony. The “orgasmetron” is another all-time Woody Allen on-going gag that fuels a great part of the film. Love the satiric swipe of McDonald’s too!
There’s Woody Allen movies, and then there’s classic Woody Allen comedies. Sleeper is one of the finest of the latter category, and a very fine choice for the Top 100.
You certainly do know your Woody Jaimie! Terrific essay!
Thanks for the kind words Sam! There are so many gags that I wish that I could’ve discussed in the piece, but then, some I forgot, and others, well, I wish people to discuss them, just like you do! Thanks for the opportunity to write on a few films, Sam.
It’s many years since I saw this early Woody Allen film, but you certainly put across how inventive it is – I should give it another look. Enjoyed reading this, Jaime!
Thanks Judy! I’m glad if you want to check it out thanks to this.
In any assessment of Woody Allen as a film-maker – leaving aside his personal life which in any event is less than relevant – I think he must be given full autuer stature. I don’t really like the idea of rankings, and Allen’s ouvre stands in the same arena as the great 20th century auteurs. Woody Allen is up there with Sturges. Films like Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, and Crimes and Misdemeanors, are great films. Also, I don’t like Jaime implying that screenwriting is a lesser craft. He seems to have accepted uncritically the Anglo idea that the director is king. In continental Europe, great screenwriters are rightly as revered as directors. One example is sufficient: Bicycle Thieves is equally the achievement of director Vittorio De Sica and scenarist Cesare Zavattini.
I would never imply such thing, since I’m planning to be a screenwriter and think that the script is maybe the most important part of a movie alongside a good sense of framing the picture right to make the words come alive. If I come across as giving screenwriting shit, well, it wasn’t my intention, but I think that in this film Woody Allen really stands out as a director, as opposed to standing out as a screenwriter, as he usually does.
Great write-up, Jaime. As much as I love this film, I hadn’t known until now that Allen had originally envisioned this as a silent picture. I’m glad he changed his mind because the script adds to the action; I especially like the scenes that depict Luna, her friends and their lifestyle.
Speaking of screenwriting, I didn’t infer from your comments any notion that screenwriting is somehow less important than directing. You neither state nor imply that.
Woody Allen had never worked so hard in a movie than in this one. . . .
What I do know about this film is that Allen has been quoted as saying how difficult it was to make, primarily because of all the problematic technical issues involving all the gadgets and such.
I’m in love with this film and always have been. I tend to agree with you that, although Allen may not be among the best 10 directors of all time, he certainly ranks among the best of the comedy directors. Thanks!
Glad that we are on the same page Pierre on some of the subjects regarding this film. And it’s glad to know that Allen did actually have a hard time with this film, I hope to read more books on Allen or interviews, biographies to know about this. Thanks for the comment!
Woody looks so young in this clip, but no wonder as it is nearly 40 years ago the film released. The ‘banana skin’ is as Sam says a ‘classic’ segment, and great move to post the you tube. Howard Cosell and Woody were close friends, and the bedroom tryst in Bananas is another well remembered where the sportscaster appeared. It’s clear you have high regard for the director, and appreciate the comedy from his richest period.
Thanks, Frank. The addition of the clips, I think, it’s the best way to comment on a film so visually rich in its gags as this one.
…well, I don’t think anyone would ever imagine to put Woody Allen on a list of the best 10 directors of the history of filmmaking, I mean, as much as you love him, you must admit that it’s always his screenwriting labor that takes place above all in his films. But I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to put him in a list of the best comedy directors of all time alongside Charles Chaplin or Buster Keaton, and it is with those two that he found his biggest inspiration for this particular film,…
I had trouble following this train of thought, in one estimation Allen isn’t in the Top 10 (or whatever) then in the next he’s alongside Chaplin and Keaton, two directors that no one would have trouble placing in the top 10 of the form. As for Allen, I don’t know where I’d personally place him, but placing him near the top isn’t nearly as outlandish as you state here. Martin Scorsese as been quoted as saying that when all is said and done you could make an argument that Woody Allen is the greatest American filmmaker of them all…
I don’t think that it’s that hard to understand my almost namesake. Of course the lists of best directors and best comedy directors could overlap, as well as a list of best living directors and so on. It’s just that I don’t think that he has made that many true masterpieces to be alongside the likes of… let’s say one american director that is hard to argue with… Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick could make the list of the best 10 directors of all time, but not the best comedy directors. Chaplin can easily make the list for the best 10 directors of all time, but for me Allen doesn’t.
The real question at stake here, does Woody Allen’s work transcend comedy….? Does Chaplin or Keaton? I have never really thought of it in these terms.
Well, considering DR. STRANGELOVE is one of the 10 best comedies of all time, the argument can be made that Kubrick could make both lists. After-all, he did direct DR. STRANGELOVE. Did he not?????
I think Allen easily is in the discussion for 10 greatest American directors, maybe top 5. I think usually though comedy directors (outside of the silent era) are usually given short shrift from the critical elite. It’s the genre that Allen works in that may not give him as much cache. I think that’s hogwash….it actually seems harder to do great comedy than anything else at times.
Nice post, Jaime.
I’d never realized that so much of Woody’s acting in this one is silent, but that observation makes me want to go back and see it again.
I agree that SLEEPER was a big step forward, in terms of visual style, from his earlier, even sillier films like BANANAS and TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN. For me, it’s not one of his best films, but it is a thoroughly delightful, enjoyably silly film. I’d never flip past it if I encountered it while channel-surfing. (And I especially love the scene with Keaton’s Brando-as-Stanley-Kowalski impersonation played off Woody’s Blanche DuBois!)
It is one of his best and one that brings more and more delight with repeat viewings. Thanks for the comment!
Two impressive reviews in a row. I like both films moderately and can see why enough people would include them on a comedy listing. The Orgasmetron is inspired the banana peel is zany Woody at his best. It’s been years since I’ve seen this.
Thanks Peter!
Jaime, your suggestion that Sleeper is Allen’s synthesis of Chaplin and Keaton, with the chicken scene as a defining moment, gets to the heart of this sci-fi homage to silent comedy. Unfortunately, for all that I love the film, I think it won’t date as well as its older models because in one way Sleeper has fulfilled its own prophecy. Allen has become an interpreter to posterity of a culture that has grown rather alien in much less time than 200 years. His fascination with Howard Cosell in this film and Bananas may date those movies more than anything else, and Sleeper more so since Cosell is the butt of a joke that fewer people will get over time rather than a figure (as in Bananas) the future can accept as a mere performer on screen. Sleeper may not be Allen’s best film but for me it’s his funniest.
Of course it’s dated, and I think that’s what shies it away from modern audiences like myself, but I think that it still holds a charm as an example of proto-futurism, or future as imagined by people in the past. It has many gags that could be unknown for many people today, but I guess that’s one of the charms of the film for me, it’s dated-ness.
I saw Sleeper quite recently and feel it holds up very well in terms of whether or not it’s dated. Little bits like the Cosell thing may slip by younger viewers, non-sports fans or people with dotty memories. These sorts of blips, however, happen all the time in, for example, old vs. new films, English vs. foreign films, and even American vs. English films. Fortunately, we have many ways in which dedicated cineastes can learn many of these details. Bottom line, though, is whether enough of the film’s elements resonate with its audience to remain eminent.
I believe this was one of the first Allen films I saw and it remains my favourite of his pure “comedy” pictures. Skillfully combining slapstick physical comedy with satiric verbal comedy, this was an absolute riot; I agree with Sam’s comments above and I still love the line that when Nixon left the whitehouse, the secret service used to count the silverware…
This may well be the film that best showcases Allen (and Marshall Brickman) as comedic scriptwriter(s) along with Allen as comedic director, but I do think you give short shrift to Allen as director in general. As prolific as he is and with his best films standing alongside the best ever made, I absolutely would place him as one the greatest living film directors.
Jaimie–
I am thrilled to announce that our very good friend Birmingham UK educator David Lawrence here has launched his own blog “Musings and Meanderings” and has referenced the great Hammer film series with a splendid observation on the poster color of DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE. David is obviously a Hammer fan (which is music to these ears) and I know to yours as well Jaimie. I will now hastily add David’s promising new site to the sidebar and wish him the very best with it!!! I strongly urge all WitD readers to check out David’s site as soon as you get a chance! I entered a comment that is presently in moderation by I’m sure David will be attending to the site soon enough. Really fantastic development for film and culture fans!
http://1mouth2ears.wordpress.com/
Now, we must carry on with SLEEPER……….
Sam you are one of the most kind and generous people I have ever met. Thank you for the unexpected promotion here and for adding my blog to the sidebar; this is very much a new project and I am still playing around with the WordPress settings and layout. I am not quite sure how much I will post there and I anticipate that most of my writing about film will be done here in comments but now that I have made the overdue decision to offer my own thoughts along with reading those of others I decided a page was necessary for any more lengthy pieces that I wish to write. There is such great writing on display by your contributors here and in the outside works you link to that it does make me wonder what extra I can add but I will do my best to occasionally string two sentences together!
Thank you again Sam!!
Best living directors? Maybe, he could make the short list of the top 10, now… placing? I’d have to think about it, specially given his recent features. Now, my favorite of his pure comedies is ‘Love and Death’ (that I won’t say if placed in the list or not), but this one is a close second.
Like Tony earlier in this thread I struggle with rankings however I wonder if I could name ten living directors that have Allen’s body of work and as many films which I consider classics. This may be an unfair measure for assessment however, as this would rule out more recent filmmakers who have the potential to achieve as much as Allen in the decades ahead.
Jaimie, I’d pose that at the very least he must be considered one of the greatest American directors still living with the likes of Malick, Spielberg, Scorsese, Lynch, and Coppola. Yes there are a few others, but Allen is one of the best half-dozen by way of career accomplishment, and I’d absolutely include him among the greatest living directors worldwide. No question.
Yes I agree Sam, I think Allen is in the discussion for 10 best American directors of all time. In the discussion.
Oh, and one more thing Jaimie–I must say I agree with you lock, stock and barrel on this statement here:
as well as one of the most visually attractive films from the entire career of Woody Allen.
Some will rightly note Gordon Willis’s exquisite cinematography in Manhattan, and others will point to the lovely look of Annie Hall, but Sleeper is so inventive and colorful that it does match them. Yes, Midnight in Paris fans, that is another that looks great, whatever other issues exist.
cough, er, cough Stardust Memories cough….
Or at least Celebrity.
Yep I came very close to including the lovely Stardust Memories in the visual pantheon, but resisted, wanting to name only the two choices. But yes, Stardust would be an excellent choice. I never really gave any thought to Celebrity though. Fair enough.
Celebrity is rather gorgeous, as is Shadows in Fog (but that one is a very poor film). Celebrity is too, to a degree, but damn a little W. Ryder in her prime (see 2:45 in clip) goes a very, very long way.
Pretty stuff. OK film.
Jamie, nice addition here to the thread and point well taken. The fact that overall Celebrity is a lackluster film had me overlooking it’s visual qualities.
On the fly I’ll toss in a few other titles that are visually accomplished: Interiors, Match Point, Vicky Cristina Barcelona…….
Pierre–you are again dead-on with that statement! INTERIORS is an austere and clinical piece that encores Bergman and Sven Nykvist; MATCH POINT compellingly captures picturesque London suburb settings, and VCB’s ravishing Mediterranean settings are perhaps it’s most impressive element. So yes, agreed completely!
Good read and your love of Woody shines through, but am I the only pervert on this thread who thinks that ‘Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex’ with Gene Wilder and Daisy the Sheep may be the funniest thing Allen ever did?
They are saving that one for the romance poll.
Oh I should have known.
In all seriousness, I always thought that film didn’t receive its fair shake. Certainly one of my favourites of his comedies.
Mark, I have a question for you. What is white and black, white and black and white and black?
Mark S. I’ve long know that you know what you’re talking about, but today in an email thread I said that was his second funniest film, with ‘Play it Again, Sam’ being tops for me. Both are hilarious, but I like ‘Sam’ more because I think it’s the birth of the Woody Allen character persona that he’s still adding too. It’s like seeing Charlie Chaplin do the tramp for the first time.
That and it’s a wonderful script.
Jamie are you saying funniest with Woody as an actor? I know that you know that he didn’t direct Play it Again, Sam.
If you are going with Allen only on a performance level….
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE is his best performance. Hands down.
I was not a fan at all of that movie. There are some good bits, like the giant tit horror movie or the final sequence of the orgasm, but the rest… I can live without. Gene Wilder short was ok, but not great for me.
Hmmmm. Could it be a sheep in a garter belt???
Interesting statement regarding this being one of the more visually attractive of his films; it has been too long since I have seen it but it would not have made my shortlist – Sam you have correctly anticipated that I would name Manhattan and I am sure I am far from alone in that regard!
Woody Allen is my absolute favorite director, and I love this movie. The “Orgasmatron” was hilarious lol. Good review.
Jaime great insights here on the silent film aspect that I hadn’t thought of. This is one of my favorite Woody Allen films and one of his outright funniest pictures. It also of course is the first pairing in a Woody Allen directed film with Diane Keaton! They made such a great team! I always have preferred the Woody Allen films with Keaton in it because they made such a great team….actually one of my favorite comedy “teams” if you will, especially with regards to romantic comedies like Annie Hall and Manhattan. This films is really really funny and maybe the funniest of his career as far as belly laughs are concerned, but yes it is rather silly. Love it though!
His films with Diane Keaton make up for the greatest scenes of comedic duo, I specially like their relation in ‘Love and Death’ as one of the best examples of their comedic timing.
Oh yes they are great in Love and Death another film I find hilarious and probably the last downright “funny” film that he made. Of course Annie Hall is funny but is on a different level too.
Jaime, a great post on a film I’m pleased to see made the top 100. I came late to an appreciation of Woody Allen and haven’t seen many of his pre-”Annie Hall” films. But this is one I have seen–and not all that long ago–and liked a great deal. It compares quite favorably with his best later films and is a more likable movie than many–maybe even most–of them. I liked your observations about the resemblance between “Sleeper” and silent comedy, something I too noticed while watching it. I thought it particularly resembled Buster Keaton. As the product of a comedy writer and stand-up comedian, the humor in Allen’s films tends to be verbal more than physical. I would say that is not particularly the case here. One thing that impressed me was that although the film was clearly made on a limited budget, its minimalist physical decor and costuming were precisely targeted to make their points. You can see that as a devotee of nostalgia, Allen didn’t like the way he saw the world was heading, but he chose to make this point with a comic light touch. Certain of his later films may rank higher than “Sleeper” on an artistic scale, but there is something fresh, airy, and innocent about this film that makes it irresistible.
Love this movie.
Gotta say, however, that of his earlier slapstick work, it’s the least of my favorites. I don’t know, I always found this one a bit forced and prefer the flow of LOVE AND DEATH, EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX and TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN far better. BANANAS, for me, is the one slapstick by Allen that I feel hits all the nails on the head with it’s absurdist humor and off-the-wall narrative structure (I also think it’s got Woody’s best slapstick moment-the “take-out restaurant” sequence… “Gimme 3000 grilled cheese sandwiches, one on roll”).
Still, even the worst comedies by Allen far outweigh, both in substance and laughs, the best by other comedy scribes and directors and I could watch this one any day of the week whereas I’d have to brace for most of the work of Mel Brooks (save THE PRODUCERS, THE TWELVE CHAIRS and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN) or the Saturday Night Live alumnai…
In my mind, Allen is the King Royal of comedy post 1969 and few aspire to come close…