Rifkin's Festival

Entertaining with the beautiful city of San Sebastián as a backdrop.

I enjoyed this film. Allen speaks through Wallace Shaun whose character says he was happiest at being a film teacher. His respect and love of classical European film directors come face to face with today's and he finds today's lacking. One of my favorite scenes from Breathless is shown. Some scenes are hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud. Something I haven't done in a while. In particular, Louis Garrel character as a contemporary film director finds himself being interviewed at the festival by journalists and then the bongo drum scene. The San Sebastián location is magnificent. Lot of references to Paris and New York. When he says there's nothing like walking down Boulevard Saint-Michel in the rain - you know what he means.

It isn't a great film, but I enjoyed spending time watching Wallace Shawn reciting Woody Allen's genius words about the meaning of life, the pretentiousness of art and the adrenaline of new love. Allen rarely disappoints... and this late-life crisis hits most of the classic notes.

As we get older and love doesn't seem to be enough and life is actually - quite simply inbalanced and almost artificial - watching Woody Allen movies brings life to the relatable and makes you laugh at the ridiculous of human behavior. Especially the fantasies of grandeur, - the intimacy between professor and the student or plumber and plumbers assistant, what have you, Rifkins Festival still plays at the comedy of the desperation and the fear to become stagnant.

Well shot. Good speed. Bold choice in actor, but the chemistry between authenticity and subtly feels balanced throughout.

Don't watch it expecting an Oscar. Watch it to enjoy cinema again. The movie also tells you that.

One of Woody's better artistic achievements after a few disturbingly disappointing movies he made over the last years.

Wallace Shawn might not be the perfect actor in the lead, and as a fan of Allen's work it's easy to recognize all his repetitive motifs, but somehow the beauty of the locations and the camera work, the charming aspects of the story worked out for me here. I can totally see how much Allen loves the European Cinema of the last century, it's clear he mourns that this kind of cinematic art is slowly getting lost in our times of ignorance and stupidity, and his parodistic sequences of citing Fellini, Bergman, Lelouch, Godard, Bunuel and Truffaut are funny and a bit melancholic to watch at. But of course to fully enjoy it you need to know the artists and films he's referring to.