A Shade of Purple

Don't you wish you were in a movie?

Cecelia did. And she almost found true love too.

Who would have thought a work of Woody Allen within these blogs regarding science fiction movies? And yet here it is. The film called Purple Rose of Cairo which was made in 1985.

It's a beautiful movie. But it's got a checkered history with me since it's taken me nearly a quarter of a century to finally get around to watching it. And it is a pure delight from start to finish.

I wish I would have seen it sooner.

However, there might be some films I would not have enjoyed as a teenager. I have been a long time fan of Allan and his works since I was thirteen years old. When I was a teenager, I would have gone for his funnier films such as the Sleeper.

But Purple Rose of Cairo might have a maturity about it not appealing to me when I was younger. Now I'm older, wiser, maybe a little more cranky, but I'm seeing movies in a different light. For me, Purple Rose really hits it on the head.

Allan wrote and directed the film. But it's one of the few movies at the time that he wasn't in front of the camera. I can see why. You'll need a younger, more handsome man that Allan wouldn’t be capable of doing. So the role of the dashing hero was given to Jeff Daniels who did a very nice job bringing the part to life.

The story revolves a Cecilia played by Mia Farrow who works as a waitress in New Jersey during the depression era in the nineteen thirties. She has a hard time with work as her boss hassles her, and lives in a very abusive marriage where she is the constant victim of her husband's rages. So she goes to a place where she could leave reality for a short while.

So where do people go during the depression era to get away for a short while? The movies. And this is what Cecilia did.

With rather funny results.

The so called minor character Tom Baxter is an archaeologist in Egypt in a film within a film called Purple Rose of Cairo. But after repeated viewings, Cecilia sees Tom Baxter split off from the actual movie and steps into her life as a true romantic, a lively hero type who falls in love with her. So he is a character in a story who becomes part of the real world. Our own world. Marred, ugly, confused. Not light and dark as Baxter’s world would be.

There are a lot of very funny scenes in the movie. Not an outrageous comedy. But the funny material really works well here. And so we are introduced to an unusual love triangle involving Cecilia, her husband and the fictional character who wants to steal her heart to his world of make-believe.

There are a lot of nice touches in the film.

I really love the one line when someone says regarding the fictional character coming to life: “Well, anything can happen in New Jersey!”

So now we have established the science fiction elements of the story with this throwaway line. It works very well.

You can clearly see the black and white movie was produced by RKO Radio Pictures which was known for making many, many movies during this period including the famous original King Kong classic. (Which would have come out a few years earlier). In a way, Purple Rose gives a historical flavor to the movie by bringing RKO Pictures into this.

Allen is the master as writing many characters conversing at once. It is like going to a family reunion and getting involved with a heated debate over nothing. Maybe you might get into a fight with an aunt you hate. Or a cousin. Same thing here. The first scene where Baxter leaves the film and steps into the real world is very funny. The characters in the movie starts to argue with themselves. And then they start to argue with the real people in the audience!

The fight scene between Baxter and Cecelia’s husband is priceless.

So is the tap dancing scene when the one guy tossed aside his role as the restaurant greeter in the black and white film and did his little shtick.

But the real heart of the story is the main characters who makes a lot of tough choices. Most particularly Cecilia. You want for her to leave the real world and live in the fantasy with her movie idol. The ending is very heartbreaking because of the choice she makes. And that she forced herself to live in misery of the real world instead of living a sham that would be fantasy.

It is just wishful thinking to be whisked away into a different world where you would have no problems or hardships.

But she chose reality over illusion.

Yet she still goes to the movies in the very ending hoping to find that piece of perfection in her life while she watches a Fred Astaire movie dancing the night away in a seemingly impossible perfect world. And she slips deeper into her own private misery that you could only feel sorry for her. And for many other lovers who find themselves trapped in a relationship they do not want to be in.

Why did it take me so long to see this movie?

I don't know why.

But I'm glad I saw it.