SIEVES' CARPET CLEANING
Let Us Get the Schmutz Out!
—senior discount—
FREE ESTIMATES
Steve Helfman
Steve Herskovits
547-2254
Best Job for the Best Price
TESTING SERVICES
Legal
Educational
School Readiness
IQ/Achievement
Learning Disabilities/
Neurological Impairment
School Behavior Problems
Workers Comp.
Drunk Driving
Personal Injury
Disability Evaluation
Custody/ Divorce
Personality
Depression/Anxiety/Stress
PMS
Relationship Issues
Sexual Dysfunction
Marital Conflict
Family Issues
Substance Abuse
Work Concerns
ADMINISTERED BY QUALIFIED LICENSED PSYCHOLOGISTS
ONLY VALIDATED TESTS USED
MOST INSURANCE ACEPTED
Directing a scene from his 1987 film, "Radio Days;' Woody Allen tells cinematographer Carlo Di Palma (sec-
ond from right) how he wants a shot set up.
both kinds of films, serious films and comic
films," he says. "Interiors was my first at-
tempt at a serious film, and I plunged right
in there. I think I made a number of
mistakes in it, as I did, though they're less
apparent, in my comic films. A serious film
won't tolerate mistakes so easily, whereas
with a comic film you can get away with
a rougher kind of situation. I hope the film
I'm working on now is better.
"I feel the comedies grow richer because
of that. When I first started making films,
I was concentrating on getting laughs ex-
clusively and trying to make laugh-
machine films. And then over the years —
well, Annie Hall was the first one where I
said to my manager, 'I'm not going to go
for one crazy laugh after another, but
modify it, and see if I can get the audience
interested in the people.' And to the degree
that I've been able to do that, I think the
audiences have enjoyed the films more. I
think more people really enjoyed Annie
Hall and Manhattan and Hannah for
example. There's a greater enjoyment, even
a greater popularity, than for my first
films.
"Interiors helped Manhattan. I don't
think I would have been in good shape if,
instead of Annie Hall, I had made another
film like Sleeper and then another film like
Bananas and then another film like
Sleeper. I don't dislike comedy. People
think that because you don't want to do
it all the time, you have contempt for it.
But it can be an artistic dead end for a per-
son. Take the Marx Brothers, where they
make the same film all the time and the au-
dience loves them, but then they stop lov-
ing it. Whereas a guy like Chaplin will take
chances and experiment, and some of his
films are just absolutely awful but there's
more growth and more interest to them.
"It's a very safe thing to get into that
relationship with an audience where they
depend on you for something and you
fulfill it all the time. If you get into a situa-
tion where you're turning out hits, you're
on a bad treadmill, I feel. You want your
films to be successful, but every now and
then, when one doesn't work at all, it's a
sign of life. I mean, of course, if they all
don't work, then it's brutal.
"Maybe I'll get lucky and come up with
a Bicycle Thief or something one day, and
then they'll have that, too. And if not —
so they'll pay their six dollars and it'll stink
and they'll go home. It's not the end of the
world."
If making serious films is a way Allen
challenges himself, much else about the
way he works seems designed to keep
things safe and simple. Though he says he
grew up in Long Beach, he shot his semi-
autobiographical Radio Days in Rockaway
because Long Beach is too long a drive
from Manhattan; "I didn't want to travel
out there every day. It's too arduous." His
insistence on using current real-life leading
ladies in his films seems a little lazy, as
does his insistence on casting friends like
Ibny Roberts in parts for which they are
not suited, like the turn-of-the-century doc-
tor in Allen's clunky romp A Midsummer
Night's Sex Comedy. It all gets to be a lit-
tle too chummy, a little coy, like an Our
Gang comedy that Our Gang wrote and
directed. Sort of an Our Crowd comedy,
actually.
From some of the things he says, it ap-
pears Allen is not all that familiar with the
world outside his film-making circle. Ask-
ed for his feelings on the state of American
humor in the Eighties, Allen says, "I don't
keep up with it. It's nothing that really in-
WOODCREEK COUNSELING
31275 Northwestern Hwy.
Suite 243
Farmington Hills, MI 48018
(313) 8514737
THE BRIGHT IDEA
said
THE JEWISH NEWS
354 6060
as a gift
-
ate)n -Atir tf ue Watch •
Mote than Aitalyia
a Statement oa Eeauty and It
alie
An added touch of class of lasting value
Fully restored and guaranteed
WEINIUMJII3 JEWELERS
"Sunset Strip" 29536 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield, MI 48034
SUMMER HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 10:00 - 5:45, Sat. 10 - 5
PHONE: 357- 4000
VISA
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
29