Love and Death (1975)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

10 June 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | War

Tagline:

The Comedy Sensation of the Year!

Plot:

In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.

Plot Keywords:

Russia | Army | Slapstick | Philosophy | Stadium Vendor

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Boris Grushenko
Diane Keaton	...	Sonja
Georges Adet	...	Old Nehamkin
Frank Adu	...	Drill sergeant
Edmond Ardisson	...	Priest (as Edward Ardisson)
Féodor Atkine	...	Mikhail Grushenko (as Feodor Atkine)
Albert Augier	...	Waiter
Yves Barsacq	...	Rimsky (as Yves Barsaco)
Lloyd Battista	...	Don Francisco
Jack Berard	...	Gen. Lecoq
Eva Betrand	...	Woman hygiene class
George Birt	...	Doctor
Yves Brainville	...	Andre
Gérard Buhr	...	Servant (as Gerard Buhr)
Brian Coburn	...	Dimitri

Also Known As:

Guerre et amour (France)
Die letzte Nacht des Boris Gruschenko (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
La última noche de Boris Grushenko (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
A Última Noite de Bóris Grushenko (Brazil) [pt]
Ahava Oo'Mavet (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
Amor y muerte: La última noche de Boris Grushenko (Mexico) [es]
Amore e guerra (Italy) [it]
Död och pina (Sweden) [sv]
Kærlighed og død (Denmark) [da]
L'última nit de Boris Grushenko (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Milosc i smierc (Poland) [pl]
O eirinopoios (Greece) [el]
Sota ja rakkaus eli älkää ampuko Napoleonia (Finland) [fi]
Szerelem és halál (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:6 | Brazil:12 | USA:PG (certificate #24301) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Trivia:

The soundtrack was originally scored with the music of Igor Stravinsky, but Woody Allen thought it made the scenes "unfunny". He discovered Sergei Prokofiev's lighthearted music worked far better.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the scene where Sonja accompanies Beethoven's "Spring" violin sonata, the music on the piano is visibly an orchestral score, whereas the piece they are playing is a duo. Besides, the "violinist" never moves his left hand's fingers.

Quotes:

Napoleon: I'll go to your room.
Sonja: Good, I'll go to yours.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Parts: The Clonus Horror (#9.11)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Love for 3 Oranges

A great woody flick, one of his better ones

This Woody Allen flick is by far the funniest of his that I have seen thus far, although i don't think its as good as a film as Annie Hall or The Purple Rose of Cairo, both which I consider masterpieces of Woody's, Love and death is still a brilliant film. The story of Boris Grushenko (Allen), a Russian who is caught up in the invasion of the french lead by Napoleon (Tolkan). Meanwhile he also loves Sonja (Keaton), a girl who has confusions of her own. The film is written brilliantly, great dialogues and wit, its truly offbeat humor, the funniest from Woody. Although his direction here is a bit weird, and at times the plot is not believable at all and obviously satirical, the performances and great dialogues make it work. It was a bit redundant and had a bit too much slapstick at times but still enjoyable. Watching this film, truly had me laughing throughout. Woody was perfect in his role, probably my favorite acting from him along with his acting in Annie Hall. Diane Keaton was also great here, not as good as her other work in this decade (GF, GF2 and Annie Hall), however still great here. James Tolkan was also great as Napoleon. 9/10 #91 on list of all time favorite films