Review of Love and Death (2013) by Marko R — 22 Oct 2007

"Love and Death" is Woody Allen's film that parodies epic Russian novels set in the time of the Tsars. Specifically, this film is set prior to and during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The sweeping cinematography and score are well-done and consistent with the epics that this film seeks to parody.

Woody Allen is clever as usual as Boris Grushenko, a man not at all swept up in the fervor of defending Russia and quite ready to not fight at all. Diane Keaton is again the perfect complement for Allen as Sonja, a woman of infinite amusing facial expressions that Boris wishes to marry.

The film has a lot of clever dialogue and amusing send-ups of the long-winded narrative style of epic Russian novels. The humor of this film touches on such topics as pacifism, warfare and mock highbrow philosophical debates. Battle scenes in the film are shot with the finesse of more serious war films of the 1970s, but are cast in a comical fashion. There is also Allen's final monologue, which is utterly hilarious, particularly his comment about God. "Love and Death" isn't as funny as some of Woody Allen's other efforts, but it is worth seeing are highly amusing none the less.