Love and Death (1975)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

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 | Unrequited Love | Napoleon I | Extramarital Affair

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:

Filmed mainly in Hungary, with some scenes done in Paris. It wouldn't be until 1996 and Everyone Says I Love You (1996) that Woody Allen would make another film outside of the New York area.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The credits state that the music is all by Prokofiev. However, you can distinctly hear Boccherini at one point. Also, the sonata for violin and piano that Sonja plays with her extra-marital lover is Beethoven's Spring sonata, Op. 24. When Boris is at the opera, it is the Magic Flute, which was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Quotes:

Napoleon: I wonder if you would be more difficult to conquer than Russia?
Sonja: Well, I weigh less.

Movie Connections:

References A Night at the Opera (1935)

Soundtrack:

The Magic Flute Overture

Underrated Woody Gem

As a huge Woody Allen fan, I was delighted and surprised by this film. I have scarcely heard anyone mention it, but for my money it is the single most comically dense of all of Woody's films. There are so many truly impressive/hilarious/memorable one-liners that I'm amazed people don't quote this movie left and right. The setting, costumes, accents all add to the hilarity of the film--truly reminiscent of a Marx Brothers romp. Really outstanding among his pre-Annie Hall films. Only rivaled by Bananas in my opinion for simple laugh value.

Unlike any other of his films, this deals with his "deep" questions of death/metaphysics in an unflaggingly light and comical fashion. For instance:

Sonja: But judgment of any system or a priori relation of phenomena exists in any rational or metaphysical or at least epistemological contradiction to an abstracted empirical concept such as being or to be or to occur in the thing itself or of the thing itself.

Boris: Yeah, I've said that many times.

Not Woody's "best" film (see Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors), but perhaps his most laugh-filled. Satisfying throughout. I give it a 9/10.