Deconstructing Harry
Directed by Woody Allen
- comedy
- drama
The story
Writer Harry Block draws inspiration from people he knows, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result.
What it’s like
Jittery handheld camerawork and a restless, cluttered Manhattan: sunlit apartments, dim hotel corridors, and the sickly glow of a Hollywood-style hell where characters step out of Harry's pages and into the room. Woody Allen's 1997 film is saturated with hard, bright daylight in its real-world scenes and a warm, saturated fantasy palette that bleeds into its interior sequences, while jazz standards and snippets of period pop keep the rhythm snapping along. Cutting is quick, with many short scenes, sudden jumps between past and present, and rapid-fire dialogue that tumbles over itself. The mood is brittle and often frantic: a wry, self-lacerating neurosis that turns creative block and romantic wreckage into farce. Sex and profanity appear openly, and there is some crude humor, a car crash, and a brief, cartoonish violent streak, but nothing lingers. It suits a late-night laugh, a rainy evening of sharp talk, or anyone who likes their comedy bitter and self-aware. It is for people who enjoy neurotic urban wit, meta-fiction games, and the anxious cynicism of writers who can't stop writing about their own lives.
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