WILD MAN BLUES
Woody Allen finally gets to show his ‘real’ self in "Wild Man Blues", a documentary that follows him on a European tour with his New Orleans Jazz band and Soon Yi Previn(not yet Soon Yi Allen). I’ll take the ‘reel’ Woody who explores, exploits and magnifies his own quirks and peccadilloes in his narrative films. They seem a lot more honest than the ‘real’ ones played out for the camera crew and the director of "Wild Man Blues", Barbara Kopple. His fear of water and need to have an adjoining room so he could have a bathroom to himself are just a few examples. These moments are amusing but not revealing. They are for the stargazers like the fans who went to see the American film director who plays the clarinet, rather than hear the music played by his jazz band. That was just a bonus.
"Wild Man Blues" is equal parts Architectural Digest, travelogue, exculpation, and concert film. I’d rather see Europe’s architectural wonders and great cities first hand than have them delivered piecemeal as part of someone else’s experience. The only relevance they have is when Woody realizes a few of the sights are in some of his favorite foreign films. As for Woody and Soon Yi, their presence as a normal couple has its own voyeuristic subtext for anyone curious enough to want to catch a glimpse of them at what is supposed to be their private moments. "Wild Man Blues" is not a great concert film, but the Wood Man’s love for New Orleans Jazz music is unquestionable. There is a wonderful scene in a clarinet factory where Woody tries different antique clarinets to demonstrate the tonality he wished he had for his own instrument. He could just as easily have been talking about the texture he hoped to achieve in one of his films.
Except for the music itself, the best part of "Wild Man Blues" is the last ten minutes. Woody Allen’s parents get a chance to dote, reminisce, speculate and speak their mind. His mother talks about his childhood love for music and his father, a former engraver, obsesses over the superior craftsmanship found on some of the plaques collected by Woody from Europe’s officialdom. Woody is their son, and even at age 60 plus, he’ll always be their little boy. Unfortunately, these last few moments say as much about where Woody gets his love for quality than the whole of "Wild Man Blues".