पर्पल रोस ऑफ़ काइरो

This was a unique storyline - a character comes right out of the movie screen to join the "real" world - at the time. I've seen several others copy this sort of thing, although it also was done in some silent comedies, too, if memory serves. Nonetheless, it was done well here and I got a kick out of watching it back in the '80s. It's part fantasy, romance, drama, comedy. Woody Allen, who made this movie, is not on screen.

I have found (with one or two exceptions) that I like the best when he only narrated, such as in "Radio Days" and "Sweet And Lowdown." I like it when he leaves the acting to others.

Mia Farrow as "Cecilia" Jeff Daniels does a terrific job in a dual role, playing Tom Baxter and Gil Shepherd. One an actor, the other a "real-life" guy. Mia Farrow is appealing, as she usually was, as "Cecilia." Danny Aiello is another usually-interesting actor who gets your attention no matter who he is playing.

An inventive film that still holds up today.

Woody's stories are often derivative, but he's forgiven that, usually, because the results are good and ultimately do deserve his signature. For PURPLE ROSE, he swipes Buster Keaton's gimmick in SHERLOCK, JR., then lets his imagination run free as he did in the best of his NEW YORKER stories. We wind up with the most fascinating and realistic meditation regarding what it is to be an audience, a viewer's relationship to art, art's relationship to reality. The triumph is amazing, because, despite the depth of the symbolism, PURPLE ROSE can also be seen as sheer entertainment; on its surface, it is still one of the most entertaining pictures Woody has ever made.

Farrow and Aiello are marvelous here; Mia, who is quite underrated, has only been as good once -- in BROADWAY DANNY ROSE. The photography is superb, influenced perhaps by Edward Hopper with generally less obvious light sources.

Splendid, splendid work.

Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" is a film that speaks to the heart of anyone who has been mad about the movies. In a now-legendary scene, intrepid explorer Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) steps off a movie screen and into the life of Cecilia (Mia Farrow), an unhappily married, unemployed, movie-lover. Together, Tom and Cecilia brave the complications of the real world, including the arrival of Gil Shepard, the actor who plays Tom.

Farrow is sweet as Cecilia and Daniels is wonderful in his dual role. Brimming with quotable dialogue, "The Purple Rose of Cairo" toys with reality while maintaining a feather-light touch. This is a valentine to the movies, and more so, to movie-lovers.

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO is a lovely, funny, and heartbreaking entry from Woody Allen that still remains one of my favorites. This romantic fantasy tickles your funny bone and tugs at your heartstrings at the same time and I go through a myriad of emotions whenever I watch it. Mia Farrow stars as Celia, a depression era housewife, trapped in a dead end marriage to a pig (Danny Aiello) whose only escape comes from going to the movies. She goes to see the movie of the title several times and then at one show, the main character in the movie (played by Jeff Daniels)speaks to Celia directly from the screen saying, "You must really love this movie, don't you?" The character then walks off the screen and into Celia's life, claiming that he loves her and wants to be with her forever. Meanwhile, the actors in the movie on the screen are stuck and don't know what to do because they can't finish the movie without Daniels' character and they are seen conversing with each other about what to do and to the audience in the theater, who for some reason, sit and watch the actors on the screen trying to figure out what to do. Further complications arrive when the character starts walking off the screen in other theaters around the country and the actor who played the character (also Daniels) arrives in town to try to convince his character to go back in the movie. Woody doesn't delve into the territory of fantasy too much, but this one totally works with one of his most intelligent screenplays and winning performances from Farrow and Daniels and the ending is a heartbreaker. A must-see.

THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO has got to be one of the most original and inventive of all the films Woody Allen has done--and all the more enjoyable because we're not subjected to the Allen character in the film itself. Instead, we get MIA FARROW (one of her very best performances) and JEFF DANIELS in what has to be the most original role of his career, as the man who walks off the movie screen and into Farrow's humdrum life.

Farrow is the Depression-era movie fan whose film idol walks right off the screen and interjects himself into her life--brightening it, at least for awhile, until the rather downbeat ending. DANNY AIELLO, as Mia's abusive husband and DIANNE WIEST have good supporting roles, but the story really depends on the wonderful chemistry between Farrow and Daniels--and they truly bring the bittersweet comedy and fantasy to credible life.

Furthermore, the script is not only very clever, but the film is technically brilliant in the way it has the film within a film characters on the screen interacting with the movie audience.

Summing up: Stylish mixture of comedy and fantasy, fully deserving the many nominations and awards it won that year.