Rating: 3 out of 5
By far his most audience-splitting release, Woody Allen's Stardust Memories is certainly one of his more puzzling. Allen plays Sandy Bates, a renowned director who has lost his comedic inspiration and sees only the suffering in the world. He is constantly harassed by legions of adoring fans, often commenting that they prefer his "early, funny" films. The main storyline focuses on Sandy's conflicting attractions to two very dissimilar women: the intellectual Daisy (Jessica Harper), and the maternal, caring Isobel (Marie-Christine Barrault). At the same time, he is beset by memories of his ex, the vivacious but demanding Dorrie (Charlotte Rampling).
It sounds, at least partially, about Allen's own life, doesn't it? True, it is very much inspired by Federico Fellini's autobiographical 8 1/2, but Allen has vehemently denied that Stardust Memories is autobiographical as well. It turns out to be a deciding factor in the film's quality. The comedy here is human and real, but not in a way that makes a statement about humanity. When Sandy is approached by obsessive fans, we don't know whether to laugh or cry for him, so we do neither. If we knew that it was supposed to be Allen, that he was showing us his own struggles and his own artistic crises, we would happily do both. We aren't given a reason to care about Sandy, whose situation could be entirely fabricated by Allen and completely unrealistic. Scenes are disconnected from each other and surreal in a way that could be perfectly explained as fleeting memories and projections of a wild imagination, but the idea isn't made believable. The film is such an intense and personal character study that to be told it isn't real makes us feel lied to.
Honestly, Stardust Memories is a more or less well-made film. A bit messy perhaps, but there are even moments that reach a sort of self-sufficient beauty. It is well-directed, well-acted, and to some extent well-written, but ultimately empty. It seems to be a technical exercise for Allen more than anything. Thematically, a mere set of laps compared to the marathon-effort vision of some of his other productions, not to mention his inspirations.
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