Allen’s cinematic therapy
Woody Allen keeps making films in order to keep his sanity.
Woody Allen keeps making films in order to keep his sanity, said Charles McGrath in The Wall Street Journal. “You know in a mental institution they sometimes give a person some clay or some basket weaving?” says the 77-year-old director, whose 48th feature, Blue Jasmine, came out this week. “It’s the therapy of movie-making that has been good in my life. If you don’t work, it’s unhealthy. I could sit here suffering from morbid introspection, ruing my mortality. But it’s very therapeutic to get up and think, ‘Can I get this actor; does my third act work?’ All these solvable problems that are delightful puzzles, as opposed to the great puzzles of life that are unsolvable. So I get pleasure from doing this. It’s my version of basket weaving.” Allen says he’ll keep making a new movie every year as long as he’s physically able. He just wishes he could still indulge his wish to play the romantic lead. “It’s an inevitable disaster of aging, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t play the scenes where I’m sitting opposite Diane Keaton or Judy Davis. If I think of parts for myself now, all I can be is Pop, the lovable doorman backstage at the theater who takes phone numbers for the guys, or the psychiatrist, or the amiable dad at the wedding.” He sighs. “I like to be the lover.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'Congress could help by providing federal protections'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Musk vows DOGE pullback as Tesla profits plunge
Speed Read The Tesla SEO says he will soon step back from government matters to devote more time to the company
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Dozens dead in Kashmir as terrorists target tourists
Speed Read Visitors were taking pictures and riding ponies in a popular mountain town when assailants open fired, killing at least 26
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US