Wednesday 15 January 2014

150W: Radio Days

Short reviews for clear and concise verdicts on a broad range of films...


Radio Days (Dir. Woody Allen/1987)

Though Woody narrates Radio Days, unconventionally, he doesn’t appear. The charm in Joe’s (Seth Green) family – comfortably married family members – defies Allen’s usual unfaithful couples who cannot help but stray and play-away. Flitting from this childhood, we see the rise in stardom of Sally White (Mia Farrow) - a waitress who, undergoing elocution lessons becomes a radio celebrity. Steeped in nostalgia, amid mahogany furniture and detailed, delicate lamps, is a thinly-disguised reflection on Allen’s childhood in the early 1940’s. Ending in 1944, the characters hope the war comes to an end. A family gathering around a radio to hear news of trapped child breaks your heart, while a sequence describing specific songs that are inextricably linked to his memory is relatable and personal. Rather than a clear, concise story, Radio Days is a warm series of romanticised vignettes harking back to an innocent time in America when ignorance was bliss.

Rating: 7/10

No comments:

Post a Comment

Copyright 2008-2015. All posts & reviews are property of www.simoncolumb.wordpress.com/Simon Columb and should not be reproduced in whole, or in part, without express permission from the author.