Sleeper (1973)
Neurotic Woody Allen And His Take On Science Fiction.
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The thought of Woody Allen in a science fiction film might sound like an oxymoron for fans of the genre nowadays but that is exactly what happened in 1973 with "Sleeper". The fact that he wrote, directed, acted and composed music for this sci-fi comedy is a pretty impressive feat. The film was made by Allen when he was making lightweight slapstick comedies like "Bananas"(1971), "Play It Again, Sam"(1972) and "Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex* But Were Afraid To Ask"(1972).
The H.G. Wells novel, "When The Sleeper Wakes" serves loosely as its main inspiration. However, Allen brilliantly parodies and satirizes classic sci-fi offerings like Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"(1968) and "A Clockwork Orange"(1971), "THX 1138"(1971) by George Lucas while also taking aim at George Orwell's futuristic novel "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".
Even as he skewers the dystopian society in this film, the viewer can clearly see that Allen has been heavily influenced by slapstick comedy geniuses like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. He also pays homage to comic masterpieces like Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times"(1936) and the Marx Brother's "Duck Soup"(1933).
The plot basically revolves around Miles Monroe (Allen), a Jazz clarinet musician and owner of a Greenwich Village health food store who finds himself two hundred years into the future in the year 2173 when he gets cryogenically frozen after a botched peptic ulcer operation. Awakened by the rebels to be their savior, Monroe is hunted and finally brainwashed by the totalitarian government as they view him to be a threat to their so-called harmonius existence.
In this hijinks, Allen is ably supported by Diane Keaton as Luna Schlosser, a rich, clueless and talentless pseudo-intellectual poetess. Keaton in one of her earliest collaborations with Allen shows off her comic flair and timing which would soon make her a household name with the likes of "Annie Hall"(1977) and "Manhattan"(1979), both directed by and starring Allen himself.
The film has quite a few enduring images along with its upbeat silent movie type music. The domination of technology over every aspect of human life including having orgasms in an "Orgasmatron" or using "The Orb", a large ball to get high along with the sequence where Allen pretends to be a robotic servant are absolutely hilarious. He also probably has the funniest line in the film when towards the end, Monroe tells Schlosser that he only believes in sex and death as they are the only two things that come once in a lifetime.
Allen was also thought to have discussed his ideas with the sci-fi master Isaac Asimov and employed noted sci-fi writer Ben Bova in the film. This probably shows in the wit and intelligence of the film despite its zany and surrealistic look. The film was highly regarded by the sci-fi community as it received the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards, given only to the finest works in the genre.
Neurotic Woody Allen And His Take On Science Fiction.
________________________________________
The thought of Woody Allen in a science fiction film might sound like an oxymoron for fans of the genre nowadays but that is exactly what happened in 1973 with "Sleeper". The fact that he wrote, directed, acted and composed music for this sci-fi comedy is a pretty impressive feat. The film was made by Allen when he was making lightweight slapstick comedies like "Bananas"(1971), "Play It Again, Sam"(1972) and "Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex* But Were Afraid To Ask"(1972).
The H.G. Wells novel, "When The Sleeper Wakes" serves loosely as its main inspiration. However, Allen brilliantly parodies and satirizes classic sci-fi offerings like Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey"(1968) and "A Clockwork Orange"(1971), "THX 1138"(1971) by George Lucas while also taking aim at George Orwell's futuristic novel "1984" and Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".
Even as he skewers the dystopian society in this film, the viewer can clearly see that Allen has been heavily influenced by slapstick comedy geniuses like Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. He also pays homage to comic masterpieces like Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times"(1936) and the Marx Brother's "Duck Soup"(1933).
The plot basically revolves around Miles Monroe (Allen), a Jazz clarinet musician and owner of a Greenwich Village health food store who finds himself two hundred years into the future in the year 2173 when he gets cryogenically frozen after a botched peptic ulcer operation. Awakened by the rebels to be their savior, Monroe is hunted and finally brainwashed by the totalitarian government as they view him to be a threat to their so-called harmonius existence.
In this hijinks, Allen is ably supported by Diane Keaton as Luna Schlosser, a rich, clueless and talentless pseudo-intellectual poetess. Keaton in one of her earliest collaborations with Allen shows off her comic flair and timing which would soon make her a household name with the likes of "Annie Hall"(1977) and "Manhattan"(1979), both directed by and starring Allen himself.
The film has quite a few enduring images along with its upbeat silent movie type music. The domination of technology over every aspect of human life including having orgasms in an "Orgasmatron" or using "The Orb", a large ball to get high along with the sequence where Allen pretends to be a robotic servant are absolutely hilarious. He also probably has the funniest line in the film when towards the end, Monroe tells Schlosser that he only believes in sex and death as they are the only two things that come once in a lifetime.
Allen was also thought to have discussed his ideas with the sci-fi master Isaac Asimov and employed noted sci-fi writer Ben Bova in the film. This probably shows in the wit and intelligence of the film despite its zany and surrealistic look. The film was highly regarded by the sci-fi community as it received the prestigious Hugo and Nebula Awards, given only to the finest works in the genre.
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