Woody Conjures Sex Magick!
Author: Son of Cathode from New England
25 January 2001

Bergman meets Shakespeare meets Kafka in this wonderful, perplexing and mystical film, not a hit when originally released but definitely one of Allen's most accomplished works, and a prototype for mature later films such as HUSBANDS AND WIVES.

Everyone in this film is great at being full of themselves, tripping over their egos and neuroses and trying like hell to escape their lives by running away, into the woods or each others' arms. Allen gets a chance to air his beloved ad-nauseum philosophizing, which tends towards nihilism but has elements of naive mysticism as well.

There is, indeed, a sense of deep magic in this film, of supernatural forces being an unseen dynamic partner in human affairs. For Allen, a lifelong atheist, this is virtually a religious confession! A very, very interesting film that holds up real well.