THE WONDER WHEEL: WOODY ALLEN BETS ON KATE WINSLET AND WINS - THE REVIEW
The new film by the New York director tells a past that we know, but it does well, warms and conquers.
At the ripe old age of 82, Woody Allen seems to have become an integral part of our past, present and cinema. But above all of his city, which returns to pay homage from time to time. As in the last The Wheel of Wonders , a literal but superfluous translation of the imaginative and evocative Wonder Wheel , set in one of the most naturally magical locations of the Big Apple, she is a true legend of New York and for all those who were lucky enough to enjoy: Coney Island .
At the most extreme and deepest edges of Brooklyn , and of the local society, it would be worth considering how much the historic Luna Park and the famous Boardwalkcontinue to be populated with unique and magnificent characters, from home among the freaks and sirens that characterize the area. In this case Kate Winslet , Justin Timberlake , James Belushi and Juno Temple : a double pair of desperate, dreamers and disillusioned, with whom the little newyorker could win the hand, this time.
We are used to waiting for his films with a kind of presumption, which has become negative over time, but Allen always shows that he has something in store . Especially when, as in this case, takes refuge in what he knows best, without being crushed. No copies of the neurotic and anxious demiurge, this timedistributes his souls among the characters : the classic narrative to a splendid Timberlake in his role and perfect hinge around which everything revolves and the anxious and nihilistic to the splendid and magnetic Winslet in one of his best recent 'apparitions', with the gift graciously self-deprecating of the sessions of psychoanalysis bestowed upon the very young and incredible Jack Gore, a cinephile with the taste of fire, to whom we entrust a sort of cathartic revenge.
After Blue Jasmine (with which there can be similarities, but without being deceived), then, another strong and beautiful female character, independent and aware, at the limit of self-destruction , not necessarily positive and so close to us that it will hardly remain in history. Also for the interpretation of the actress, here eternal by a photograph that alone is worth half of the plaudits to the film . The confirmation of Vittorio Storaro , after the experience of Café Society , makes the difference and its lights, now gray, now cold, now warm, now golden, cover the small space of the shots which give a further, deeper and more grasp in an instinctual way.
A theatrical system , declared from the very beginning of the narrator, fond of melodrama and excesses, and fateto dominate our lives, "more than we like to admit" are perhaps known elements, but if it is true that Allen was too little original too often, we do not really feel the need to be if the result is kissed by such a blessing . Perhaps taking advantage of Coney Island, his Cyclone , Nathan's and 'Bay' various was really the winning move , for what he was able to transmit to the masks on stage and give the camera (in some movements, especially vertical and nonchalant of the classic fourth wall, such as to mesmerize us fascinated).