Often looked at as the turning point in Woody Allen's career when he moved from a comedy/drama to creating some pure dramas, 1978's INTERIORS is a well made, beautifully acted but very, very dark film.
Mary Beth Hurt, Diane Keaton and Kristin Griffith star as adult sisters who play very different roles in the lives of their parents.
When their very successful father Arthur (EG Marshall) announces at a family dinner that he would like a trial separation from their mother Eve (Geraldine Page) their lives all take a tumble to varying degrees.
Sam Waterston and Richard Jordan round out the cast as two of the sister's husbands less effected by the announcement but dealing daily with the fallout.
Page is excellent as Eve, completely dependent on the identity of her marriage, but trying to exert her independence while emotionally collapsing.
This is a Woody Allen movie with virtually NO humor. INTERIORS is dark, darker, darkest. It's perfectly shot by the legendary Gordon Willis in NYC and the Hamptons.
Is it possible to enjoy a film this bleak? Can you enjoy spending 93 minutes with a woman whose critical attitude and demanding influence over every part of the lives around her drives everyone away?
I can't say it's enjoyable, but I can certainly say I appreciate great acting and great writing, and INTERIORS delivers both in nearly every moment.
We'll give it a morose, introspective, Bergmanesque B.
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