1992 SHADOWS AND FOG - Woody Allen makes a UFA film

Woody Allen's tribute, or spoof or whatever film that attempts to invoke the feeling of a German Expressionist film kind of like something Fritz Lang would have directed for the famous German film studio UFA GmbH, usually called UFA.  

The film has a rich atmosphere of a European 1930's film which Allen further emphasizes by shooting in black and white with lots of movie fog floating around on his sets.  The plot is about the hunt for a serial killer which a mob is on the trail of.  Allen is recruited by the mob and after one thing or another everyone thinks he is the killer.

 The film is full of Woody's usual one liners which kind of makes it a modern counterpoint to what is going on in the 30's setting.  However a lot of the dialog spoken by the actors seems rather stilted and forced.  Allen keeps a very tight grasp on the line readings of cast which comes off as very stagey.  Naturally Woody gets all the best lines after all he wrote it, and he delivers them  in his usual funny way.

 

At this point in his career just about every actor wanted to work with Woody Allen, so we have a string of grade A actors who show up in small bits.  Mia Farrow is also in the film she was still involved with Woody Allen when this film was made.

 

The film courted and achieved a status as one of his worse films.  The critics for the most part hated it and audiences stayed away, another major flop for Woody Allen.

The film has it's moments the production design and cinematography are excellent and nobody can put across a funny line like Woody Allen.

The running time is a brief 85 minutes