There seems to be only one definite thing you can say about Woody Allen movies - either you like them or you don't. I like them; consequently this review is unashamedly partisan. So if, by chance, you think Woody Allen is a pathetic little turd whose insights are banal and trivial and who is moreover (sin of sins), completely unfunny, then Stardust Memories is not for you.

Who is it for? Well Stardust Memories is kind of a combination of Annie Hall and Manhattan with a completely new filmic format and Woody Allen self image thrown in, along with a return to his 'earlier funny films'. If that doesn't throw you, nothing will. The story is about Sandy Bates (Woody Allen) as guest of honour at a film festival. The film however, has little to do with this and concentrates on a series of fantasies and memories concerning a relationship with a person called Doreen.

A problem arises here. Woody Allen seems to be playing himself- American celebrity director dragged out to another boring film festival, but whether Charlotte Rampling as Doreen is in fact playing Diane Keaton is debatable. She acts like Diane Keaton (Woody's ex who has appeared in every one of his films except this and a few very early ones) but whether her script is true to real life is contentious. Indeed the problem of what exactly is real to life or to the story or both is questioned as part o the film.

Looking for an Ending

The film is itself both intro and retro-spective. It looks at itself, it looks back at itself and wonders where it is headed. From the very beginning the question is on the screen - 'how will we end this?' All the way through we are given the opportunity to end it but never do, in fact the film ends more than once in order to provide a proper resolution. Some may find that this technique is the most important part of the film, and if you are a film buff it is well worth seeing for that very reason.

Stardust Memories combines a number of threads from his last three films. Once again we see supurb use of black and white photography capturing forms without the confusion of colour -a style he first used in Manhattan. Again from that film, Diane Keaton's quest for the ultimate mate in Manhattan becomes that of Sandy Bates in Stardust Memories. But the rather sarcastic humour of Manhattan has been replaced with that of Annie Hall and his earlier films. The only contributin from Interiors (Woody Allen's best film if you don't like Woody Allen) seems to be in the concentration of the camera through the duration of the shot.

Woody Allen is once again approaching the problem of Love and Death. His thoughts on those matters are barely philosophical. But his experience of those problems is significant because it is an experience common to us all; an experience that is clarified by the film. How can we resolve the two vast paradoxical forces of Love and Death (if there is no God?) What are we doing here? Woody Allen has only the meagrest suggestion of an answer.

Peter King