WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.080 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Our goal here 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:05.299 is always to dig into these really complex careers, 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:09.220 these legacies, sift through, you know, mountains 00:00:09.220 --> 00:00:11.240 of information and pull out what you actually 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:16.019 need to know. And today we are tackling one of 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:18.859 the most, I think it's fair to say, polarizing 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:21.239 and prolific figures in modern cinema, Woody 00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:23.480 Allen. Yeah, it's a huge undertaking. We're talking 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:26.339 about, what, an eight decade career? Yeah. 50 00:00:26.339 --> 00:00:29.420 feature films, plays, albums. I mean, it's just. 00:00:29.769 --> 00:00:32.329 constant creation. Right. But it's also defined 00:00:32.329 --> 00:00:35.750 by these huge artistic shifts and what you can't 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:37.829 ignore the massive public focus on his private 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:40.850 life. So our aim here is to be really strict, 00:00:40.909 --> 00:00:42.850 just trace the path of Alan Stewart Konigsberg 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:45.149 based purely on the facts, the timeline, the 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:47.109 official record we've got in front of us. Exactly. 00:00:47.109 --> 00:00:48.689 And what strikes you right away looking at the 00:00:48.689 --> 00:00:51.229 early stuff is how that image we all know, the 00:00:51.229 --> 00:00:54.329 insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish, that 00:00:54.329 --> 00:00:57.299 was something he had to kind of build. Consciously? 00:00:57.299 --> 00:00:59.240 Almost from day one? Yeah. So let's dig into 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:01.299 that. Where did the Woody Allen persona actually 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:03.460 come from? Okay, so we start back in the Bronx. 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:06.359 He was born Alan Stewart Konigsberg, November 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:10.239 30th, 1935. Although there's a little note in 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:12.040 the sources, sometimes he'd say December 1st. 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:14.239 Apparently his parents might have fudged it a 00:01:14.239 --> 00:01:16.260 bit because he was born close to midnight. Huh, 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:18.920 okay. He grew up mostly in Brooklyn though, Midwood 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:21.700 neighborhood, with his younger sister, Lettie 00:01:21.700 --> 00:01:24.650 Aronson. And she becomes important later, produces 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:27.530 a lot of his films. Right. Right. And his parents, 00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:31.870 Nettie and Martin, bookkeeper and jewelry engraver 00:01:31.870 --> 00:01:35.609 slash waiter. Grandparents were Jewish immigrants, 00:01:35.909 --> 00:01:39.430 Austria, Lithuania. So a pretty typical, you 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.329 know, New York immigrant background in some ways. 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:43.450 Absolutely. But what's interesting, going back 00:01:43.450 --> 00:01:46.170 to that intellectual persona, it really wasn't 00:01:46.170 --> 00:01:48.890 built on like. academic achievement in the usual 00:01:48.890 --> 00:01:51.269 sense. No, not at all. He dropped out of NYU 00:01:51.269 --> 00:01:53.549 -failed motion picture production, ironically 00:01:53.549 --> 00:01:56.030 enough. Right. And City College, too. He always 00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:58.750 described himself as self -taught, which really 00:01:58.750 --> 00:02:00.650 kind of sets the tone for his whole career, right? 00:02:00.829 --> 00:02:02.829 Always a bit of an outsider doing his own thing. 00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:05.090 Yeah, priding himself on it, almost. And that 00:02:05.090 --> 00:02:07.810 name change, Alan Stewart Konigsberg to Woody 00:02:07.810 --> 00:02:10.229 Allen, that happened back in high school. It 00:02:10.229 --> 00:02:12.370 was all about music. Ah, the jazz connection 00:02:12.370 --> 00:02:14.650 already. Yeah, he named himself after Woody Herman, 00:02:14.810 --> 00:02:17.419 the clarinetist. Which, you know, foreshadows 00:02:17.419 --> 00:02:19.800 just how central music, especially that New Orleans 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.439 jazz sound, would be for him. But before the 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:24.340 performing, before the directing, it was just 00:02:24.340 --> 00:02:29.060 work. Hard graft. Writing jokes. Relentless work. 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:32.560 Started at 15, selling gags to agents, newspaper 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:36.360 columnists. By 1955, he's 19, and he gets into 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:38.900 the NBC Writers Development Program, making like 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:41.539 25 bucks a week writing for Herb Schreiner. $25. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:43.819 But that didn't last long, did it? His stuff 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:46.860 was just too good. Apparently so. Abe Burroughs, 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.539 big -name writer -director, saw his early stuff 00:02:49.539 --> 00:02:52.120 and just called it dazzling. And he lands right 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.020 in the middle of this incredible scene, the golden 00:02:54.020 --> 00:02:57.419 age of TV comedy, writing for Ed Sullivan, The 00:02:57.419 --> 00:02:59.139 Tonight Show. And look who he's rubbing shoulders 00:02:59.139 --> 00:03:03.020 with. Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, 00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:06.400 Neil Simon. I mean, legends. It's an incredible 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:09.580 cohort. Mel Brooks said even back then, as a 00:03:09.580 --> 00:03:13.460 teenager, Alan was so wise, so smart. He had 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:16.000 this tricky little mind. That must have been 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.740 some education in comedy. No kidding. And the 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.099 money followed the talent. By the time he's writing 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:24.159 for Sid Caesar, he's pulling in $1 ,500 a week. 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.259 And the sheer volume is just staggering. Sources 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:30.580 estimate that in one year, 1962, he wrote something 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:34.000 like 20 ,000 jokes for other comics. 20 ,000? 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:36.740 How is that even possible? Big Cabot apparently 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:38.819 said he'd just see Alan at the typewriter from 00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:40.960 morning till night, just pounding them out, maybe 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:43.360 a quick walk for coffee, then back at it. That 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:45.800 kind of discipline. That's where the 50 films 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:47.939 come from later, you know. Totally. But it wasn't 00:03:47.939 --> 00:03:50.120 just gag writing, was it? He was already aiming 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.939 higher, writing those humor pieces for places 00:03:52.939 --> 00:03:55.259 like The New Yorker. Right. Trying to be like 00:03:55.259 --> 00:03:58.060 S .J. Perelman or George S. Kaufman. So you have 00:03:58.060 --> 00:04:00.840 this kind of dual track, the high volume jokes 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:04.580 for TV and then this more polished literary satire 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:07.520 for print. That's the foundation. And that foundation 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:09.460 lets him make the leap to stand up in the early 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:13.039 60s. Exactly. Down in Greenwich Village, the 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:17.509 bitter end. Cafe Ogogo. Legendary spots. Sharing 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.310 stages with Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Mort Sahl. 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:22.670 Mort Sahl, who Alan said was his favorite. Yeah. 00:04:22.730 --> 00:04:24.870 But Alan's style was completely different from 00:04:24.870 --> 00:04:26.709 those guys. He wasn't doing set -up punchline 00:04:26.709 --> 00:04:29.790 jokes. He was doing monologues. Creed. Creed 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:32.629 -ing this character. The character. The insecure, 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:35.529 intellectual, fretful nebbish. And what's really 00:04:35.529 --> 00:04:38.290 key is, at first it wasn't improv. It was all 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:40.829 carefully scripted based on his life, but delivered 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:44.189 with this totally deadpan, serious face. Someone 00:04:44.189 --> 00:04:46.910 called it, like, the best schtick because it 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:49.970 had no schtick. Yeah. The utter absence of showbiz 00:04:49.970 --> 00:04:52.310 veneer and schtick was the best schtick any comedian 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:54.870 had ever devised. That tension between the smart 00:04:54.870 --> 00:04:56.899 jokes and the nervous delivery. That was the 00:04:56.899 --> 00:04:59.980 hook. And it worked. Big time. 17 times hosting 00:04:59.980 --> 00:05:01.959 The Tonight Show for Carson. That's mainstream 00:05:01.959 --> 00:05:05.139 success. Huge. Plus three hit comedy albums between 00:05:05.139 --> 00:05:07.959 64 and 68. Gets a Life magazine cover in 69. 00:05:08.220 --> 00:05:10.459 So by then the persona is set. The audience is 00:05:10.459 --> 00:05:13.519 there. Yeah. The next logical step. Film. Okay. 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:15.899 So the move into film wasn't initially smooth 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:18.060 sailing, right? His first script that got made. 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.920 What's new, Pussycat? 1965. Huge hit commercially. 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:25.279 But Alan hated it. felt they butchered his script. 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:27.480 And that experience basically set the rule for 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:30.300 the rest of his career. Pretty much. From then 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:33.220 on, if he wrote it, he directed it. The only 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:36.660 exception was Play It Again, Sam in 72, which 00:05:36.660 --> 00:05:38.620 is based on his play anyway. His actual first 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:40.339 directing gig was pretty weird though, wasn't 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:43.709 it? What's up, Tiger Lily? Yeah, 1966. Took an 00:05:43.709 --> 00:05:46.449 existing Japanese spy movie and just dubbed completely 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:49.290 new funny dialogue over it. Yeah. Very off the 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:51.389 wall. But then came the films where he was front 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:53.829 and center, basically translating that stand 00:05:53.829 --> 00:05:56.329 -up persona to the screen. Right, the early slapstick 00:05:56.329 --> 00:05:58.930 stuff. Take the Money and Run in 69, that mockumentary 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:01.709 style. And Bananas in 71, the political satire. 00:06:01.810 --> 00:06:04.129 Still very much gag -driven. But you start seeing 00:06:04.129 --> 00:06:06.910 a shift, more ambition maybe, with Love and Death. 00:06:07.209 --> 00:06:12.439 Definitely. 1975. It's this big, sprawling satire 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.759 of Russian literature set during the Napoleonic 00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:17.560 Wars. Vincent Camby, the critic, called it his 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:20.079 grandest work so far. It wasn't just jokes anymore. 00:06:20.259 --> 00:06:22.379 He was juggling bigger themes. OK, so that sets 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:24.860 the stage. But the moment everything changes. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:28.399 The moment he goes from funny director to, like, 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:31.819 major auteur has to be Annie Hall. Oh, 1977. 00:06:32.560 --> 00:06:34.879 Yeah. Absolutely pivotal. It felt so personal, 00:06:34.920 --> 00:06:38.259 so different. And it just cleaned up at the Oscars. 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:41.540 Best picture, director, screenplay, best actress 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:43.720 for Diane Keaton. It wasn't just the awards, 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:46.740 though. It was how it was made. Totally. Stylistically, 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:48.689 it was a breakthrough. breaking the fourth wall, 00:06:48.829 --> 00:06:50.949 talking to the audience, split screens, animation. 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:53.129 The subtitle showing what they were really thinking. 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:55.709 Yeah. All that stuff felt incredibly fresh. It 00:06:55.709 --> 00:06:58.329 blended a relatable story with these really modernist 00:06:58.329 --> 00:07:00.470 experimental techniques. That's what put him 00:07:00.470 --> 00:07:02.490 right in the conversation with that new Hollywood 00:07:02.490 --> 00:07:04.990 group, filmmakers getting more control, influenced 00:07:04.990 --> 00:07:07.170 by European cinema. And speaking of European 00:07:07.170 --> 00:07:10.069 influence, the very next year, he does interiors. 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:12.470 Which must have just thrown audiences for a loop. 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:16.829 Because they had no jokes. Right. It was pure 00:07:16.829 --> 00:07:19.389 Ingmar Bergman territory. Totally Bergman -esque. 00:07:19.449 --> 00:07:22.490 The look, the themes, family dysfunction, artistic 00:07:22.490 --> 00:07:26.129 angst, existential dread, lots of long takes, 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:29.129 heavy dialogue. It was a huge risk showing he 00:07:29.129 --> 00:07:30.930 wouldn't just stick to comedy. And that confidence 00:07:30.930 --> 00:07:33.470 leads into this amazing run through the late 00:07:33.470 --> 00:07:37.300 70s and 80s. His classic New York period. Absolutely. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:40.339 You get Manhattan in 79, gorgeous black and white, 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:43.040 that iconic Gershwin score. Then later films 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:45.259 like Hannah and Her Sisters in 86. Which felt 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:47.680 so intricate, weaving those storylines together 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.819 over years. Yeah, brilliant structure. And Crimes 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:53.839 and Misdemeanors in 89, which is maybe his darkest, 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:56.180 most philosophical film. A lot of critics think 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:57.959 that's his peak in terms of maturity. But he 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:00.300 wasn't just doing those dramas. He kept experimenting. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:04.800 Like Stardust Memories. 1980. Very surreal, very 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:06.759 self -reflexive about being a famous director. 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:08.920 It's basically his version of Fellini's Eight 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:11.860 and a Half. And Zellig in 83. That mockumentary 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:13.740 about the human chameleon was technically amazing. 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:17.199 Flawless execution, using old newsreels, integrating 00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:19.819 himself. And then there's the Purple Rose of 00:08:19.819 --> 00:08:22.779 Cairo in 85. Ah, the one where the movie character 00:08:22.779 --> 00:08:25.370 walks off the screen. Yeah. Such a beautiful 00:08:25.370 --> 00:08:27.509 film about escapism and the power of movies. 00:08:27.730 --> 00:08:29.850 And it's interesting, Allen himself puts that 00:08:29.850 --> 00:08:32.429 one, along with Stardust Memories and later Match 00:08:32.429 --> 00:08:35.889 Point, as his personal top three. Really? Even 00:08:35.889 --> 00:08:38.230 though it wasn't a huge box office hit like Annie 00:08:38.230 --> 00:08:40.190 Hall? Yeah, seems like the ones that explore 00:08:40.190 --> 00:08:43.049 those themes about art and reality really resonate 00:08:43.049 --> 00:08:45.870 with him personally. So into the 90s, the pace 00:08:45.870 --> 00:08:48.450 just doesn't let up. Still pretty much a film 00:08:48.450 --> 00:08:51.240 a year. Relentless. And he keeps switching it 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.500 up. You get Shadows in Fog in 91, that black 00:08:54.500 --> 00:08:57.220 and white homage to German expressionism. Husbands 00:08:57.220 --> 00:09:00.120 and Wives in 92, which felt incredibly raw and 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.379 almost documentary -like. Shot right around the 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:04.059 time his relationship with Pharaoh was ending, 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.940 too. Very tense. Yeah. Then lighter stuff like 00:09:06.940 --> 00:09:09.700 Bullets Over Broadway in 94, a great showbiz 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.259 comedy. He even did a full -on musical, Everyone 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:15.080 Says I Love You, in 96. Singing and dancing, 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.159 the whole thing. Right. and Mighty Aphrodite 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:19.779 in 95, bringing in elements of Greek chorus and 00:09:19.779 --> 00:09:22.720 tragedy, always mixing things up. Now, you can't 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.539 talk about this era without mentioning the key 00:09:24.539 --> 00:09:27.320 collaborators, Diane Keaton, obviously. Absolutely. 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.240 Started on stage together in 69 with, play it 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:33.299 again, Sam, eight films together. Alan called 00:09:33.299 --> 00:09:35.759 her a natural, a great, great inspiration, said 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.100 Annie Hall wouldn't have been the same without 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:40.519 her. And then the other huge figure, Mia Farrow. 00:09:40.659 --> 00:09:43.019 Yeah, their relationship, personal and professional, 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:45.639 defined that whole period from 1980 to 1992, 00:09:46.019 --> 00:09:50.120 13 films together. Radio Days, a Midsummer Night's 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.639 Sex Comedy, Hannah and Her Sisters. She was central 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:55.980 to his work throughout the 80s. But then, around 00:09:55.980 --> 00:09:58.080 the turn of the century, things started to wobble 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.500 a bit, critically and commercially. Yeah, the 00:10:00.500 --> 00:10:03.220 sources definitely point to a downturn. Films 00:10:03.220 --> 00:10:06.139 like Hollywood Ending or Melinda. Melinda just 00:10:06.139 --> 00:10:08.799 didn't connect in the same way. Box office wasn't 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.639 great. Reviews were more mixed. Some people felt 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:13.399 the formula was getting maybe a little tired. 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:16.980 And that dip, that perceived slump actually forces 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:19.019 his hand and leads to the next major chapter. 00:10:19.629 --> 00:10:22.250 Exactly. It pushed him out of his New York comfort 00:10:22.250 --> 00:10:24.649 zone and forced him to look elsewhere. So the 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:27.789 perceived decline in the early 2000s really prompts 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:30.169 a change in how he makes movies. Yeah. He basically 00:10:30.169 --> 00:10:32.230 said the American studios were only interested 00:10:32.230 --> 00:10:35.149 in making $100 million blockbusters. And that 00:10:35.149 --> 00:10:37.210 just wasn't his kind of film. So he had to look 00:10:37.210 --> 00:10:39.809 overseas for money. Which leads to the London 00:10:39.809 --> 00:10:42.350 shift. Right. Starts with Match Point in 2005. 00:10:43.289 --> 00:10:47.149 And this was a real gamble. Shot in London. Totally 00:10:47.149 --> 00:10:49.649 different vibe. It's this dark, twisty thriller 00:10:49.649 --> 00:10:53.690 about class and morality. Very Hitchcockian. 00:10:53.789 --> 00:10:56.230 Nothing like the neurotic comedies people expected. 00:10:56.490 --> 00:10:58.750 Not at all. And it completely paid off. It was 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:00.730 his biggest hit in almost 20 years, made over 00:11:00.730 --> 00:11:03.889 $60 million internationally. And crucially, Allen 00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:06.970 himself called it his best film ever. Wow. So 00:11:06.970 --> 00:11:09.149 that freedom, maybe being away from New York, 00:11:09.309 --> 00:11:11.330 it really clicked for him. Seemed to rejuvenate 00:11:11.330 --> 00:11:13.590 him. And it opened the door to this whole European 00:11:13.590 --> 00:11:17.000 phase. Basically... Using local funding, often 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.759 tied to tourism, to shoot in these amazing cities. 00:11:19.899 --> 00:11:22.220 Like Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Yeah, shot in 00:11:22.220 --> 00:11:24.879 Spain in 2008. Another big hit. Won the Golden 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.940 Globe for Best Musical or Comedy. Just beautiful 00:11:26.940 --> 00:11:30.139 scenery. Great cast. It worked. But the absolute 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.779 peak of this European run has to be Midnight 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:36.679 in Paris. Oh, 2011. Huge. He talked about wanting 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:39.620 to capture Paris emotionally, not just geographically. 00:11:39.700 --> 00:11:43.100 And audiences loved it. Made over $150 million 00:11:43.100 --> 00:11:45.720 worldwide his biggest gross ever. And won him 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:47.980 another Oscar for screenplay, his third one. 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.620 Right. So this period really proved he could 00:11:50.620 --> 00:11:52.919 still deliver critically and commercially, just 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:55.240 in a different context. And he didn't abandon 00:11:55.240 --> 00:11:57.980 American stories either. Blue Jasmine came soon 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:01.399 after. 2013. Set in San Francisco and New York. 00:12:01.769 --> 00:12:03.789 Critics hailed it as a major return to form, 00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:06.529 maybe his most substantial film in years. And 00:12:06.529 --> 00:12:08.429 Cate Blanchett won the Oscar for Best Actress 00:12:08.429 --> 00:12:11.090 for it. So he's back on top, in a way, which 00:12:11.090 --> 00:12:13.490 leads him into the streaming world. Yeah, Amazon 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:16.110 Studios came calling around 2015 big deal for 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:18.990 films in a TV series. But the sources say Allen 00:12:18.990 --> 00:12:21.309 was incredibly nervous about it. Really? About 00:12:21.309 --> 00:12:23.870 doing TV? Yeah. He apparently called the whole 00:12:23.870 --> 00:12:26.929 streaming series idea a catastrophic mistake. 00:12:27.350 --> 00:12:29.570 Before he even started, predicted it would be 00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:33.279 a cosmic embarrassment. That series became Crisis 00:12:33.279 --> 00:12:36.460 in six scenes in 2016. Okay. And that relationship 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:38.960 with Amazon didn't exactly end smoothly? No. 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.360 Things got very tense later. Amazon decided not 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:44.779 to release his next film, A Rainy Day in New 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:48.799 York, in 2019. They specifically cited the resurfacing 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:51.279 of that 25 -year -old allegation we'll get into 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.539 later. Right. And Allen sued them? Yeah. For 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.379 $68 million, breach of contract. Said they were 00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:58.860 damaging his reputation unfairly. It was eventually 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.399 settled. or dismissed, the details aren't totally 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:03.659 clear. But the film did eventually get released 00:13:03.659 --> 00:13:05.700 elsewhere. Despite all that turbulence, he just 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:08.919 keeps working. It's kind of amazing. 2023, he 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:11.879 releases film number 50, Coup de Chance, his 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:14.320 first movie entirely in French. And the reviews 00:13:14.320 --> 00:13:15.500 were pretty good for that one, weren't they? 00:13:15.639 --> 00:13:17.639 Yeah, quite positive. Some critics called it 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:19.799 his best since Blue Jasmine, even Match Point. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.779 So even when he hinted at maybe retiring in 2022. 00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:25.320 His publicist quickly walked that back, said, 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:29.200 nope, no plans to retire. But you do see the 00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:31.580 struggle now. The sources talk about challenges 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:34.379 finding funding, especially in the U .S. Plans 00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:37.659 for a film in Italy fell through. Now he's apparently 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:41.100 planning his next one, untitled for 2025, to 00:13:41.100 --> 00:13:44.100 be shot in Barcelona. So the drive is still there, 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.679 that one film a year habit, but the logistics 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:48.960 are getting tougher. Seems that way. It's a constant 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:51.179 search for financing now. It's easy to just focus 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:53.139 on the 50 films, but that's not the whole picture, 00:13:53.179 --> 00:13:56.070 is it? His work in theater, for instance, started 00:13:56.070 --> 00:13:58.610 really early and was pretty successful. Oh, yeah. 00:13:58.750 --> 00:14:00.950 Right alongside the stand -up and early film 00:14:00.950 --> 00:14:04.009 work. His first Broadway play, Don't Drink the 00:14:04.009 --> 00:14:07.710 Water, back in 66, ran for almost 600 performances. 00:14:07.809 --> 00:14:10.350 That's a solid hit. And then play it again, Sam, 00:14:10.549 --> 00:14:13.230 in 69, with him and Diane Keaton starring. That 00:14:13.230 --> 00:14:15.789 also did really well. Over 450 performances. 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:19.570 Got Keaton a Tony nomination. So the stage was 00:14:19.570 --> 00:14:21.590 definitely a place where he honed that voice, 00:14:21.710 --> 00:14:23.909 those characters, before they fully translated 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:25.750 to film. He kept writing for the stage later 00:14:25.750 --> 00:14:28.629 too, right? More serious stuff sometimes. Yeah, 00:14:28.649 --> 00:14:31.230 things like The Floating Lightbulb in 1981. Didn't 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:33.110 run as long, but still got a couple of Tony nominations. 00:14:33.570 --> 00:14:35.850 And then later he did collections of one -act 00:14:35.850 --> 00:14:38.669 plays like Central Park West, or that evening 00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:41.070 called Writer's Block Off -Broadway in 2003, 00:14:41.389 --> 00:14:44.429 which had Old Saybrook and Riverside Drive. That 00:14:44.429 --> 00:14:46.669 sold out instantly. And he even directed plays 00:14:46.669 --> 00:14:49.559 he didn't write. And opera. Yeah, dipped his 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.360 toe into directing opera in 2008. Puccini's Gianni 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:55.059 Scicchi for the L .A. Opera. He joked about having 00:14:55.059 --> 00:14:56.919 no idea what he was doing, that typical self 00:14:56.919 --> 00:14:58.759 -deprecation. It just shows the breadth, though. 00:14:58.860 --> 00:15:02.159 He wasn't just a filmmaker. Not at all. And then 00:15:02.159 --> 00:15:04.139 there's the stage adaptation of his own movie, 00:15:04.299 --> 00:15:07.200 Bullets Over Broadway. That got him a Tony nomination 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:10.240 for Best Book of a Musical in 2014. Okay, let's 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:12.539 talk about the music, the jazz, the whole reason 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.399 for the name Woody. This is clearly not just 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.720 a side hobby. It's deep. He's a passionate clarinet 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.399 player, focuses specifically on that early New 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:23.620 Orleans style, honoring guys like Louis Armstrong, 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:25.860 Sidney Burchette. And he actually performs regularly. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:29.500 For decades. Every Monday night, pretty much 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.840 without fail, he'd be playing with his New Orleans 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.120 jazz band at the Carlisle Hotel in Manhattan. 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:36.879 Kind of the ultimate Woody Allen thing, right? 00:15:37.299 --> 00:15:41.320 This world -famous filmmaker having this regular, 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:44.399 low -key, weekly gig playing very traditional 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:47.220 jazz. That commitment is amazing. And wasn't 00:15:47.220 --> 00:15:49.639 there a documentary about his band? Yeah, Wild 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:52.549 Man Blues from 1997. It followed them on a European 00:15:52.549 --> 00:15:56.149 tour in 96. Reviews were mixed on his technical 00:15:56.149 --> 00:15:58.549 skill, maybe, but people noted his obvious love 00:15:58.549 --> 00:16:00.690 and respect for the music. It really felt authentic. 00:16:00.970 --> 00:16:03.049 And you hear that love in his film soundtracks 00:16:03.049 --> 00:16:05.090 all the time. That jazz score is almost another 00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:07.049 character in his New York films. Absolutely. 00:16:07.110 --> 00:16:09.289 It's woven into the fabric of his work. And one 00:16:09.289 --> 00:16:11.370 more area is advocacy, particularly around film 00:16:11.370 --> 00:16:13.750 itself. Right. He was actually a co -founder 00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:17.110 of the Film Foundation back in 1990 with Scorsese, 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:20.080 Spielberg, Coppola. dedicated to preserving and 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:22.200 restoring old movies. That's significant. And 00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.940 he spoke out publicly, too. He did. Fantasy testified 00:16:24.940 --> 00:16:28.340 before Congress in 1987, alongside Ginger Rogers, 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:30.700 fighting against the colorization of black and 00:16:30.700 --> 00:16:33.480 white films without the director's consent. Wow. 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:35.940 What did he say? Called it mutilation of art 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:39.139 for a few extra dollars. Really passionate defense 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:42.340 of artistic integrity. Which makes sense, coming 00:16:42.340 --> 00:16:44.220 from someone who chose to shoot masterpieces 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.460 like Manhattan in black and white. Okay, so we've 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:48.879 covered... The output, the shifts, the other 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:50.580 creative work. Let's talk about the recognition. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:53.460 The awards are just staggering. They really are. 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:56.980 Especially for writing. He holds the all -time 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.899 record for Academy Award nominations for Best 00:16:59.899 --> 00:17:03.779 Original Screenplay. 16 nominations. 16! That's 00:17:03.779 --> 00:17:06.480 insane consistency. And he won three of those. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:09.200 Three wins, yeah. For Annie Hall, Hannah and 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.519 Her Sisters. and Midnight in Paris. That record 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:14.880 alone tells you something about his stature as 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.680 a writer. Cotton Tarantino called him one of 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:18.519 the greatest screenwriters of all time. And a 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:20.259 lot of people would agree, beyond the screenplay 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:23.400 nods, he's got four Oscars total, ten BAFTAs, 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.440 two Golden Globes, even a Grammy. Plus all the 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:28.960 Lifetime Achievement stuff. Alright, the Honorary 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.240 Golden Lion in Venice, the BAFTA Fellowship, 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:34.099 Honorary Palme d 'Or at Cannes, the Golden Globe 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.880 Cecil B. DeMille Award, and Annie Hall in Manhattan 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:40.240 are in the National Film Registry. culturally 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:41.740 significant. It's kind of funny, though, for 00:17:41.740 --> 00:17:45.160 someone with so many awards, he famously hates 00:17:45.160 --> 00:17:48.460 award shows. Hates them. Never shows up. The 00:17:48.460 --> 00:17:50.579 only time he ever went to the Oscars was in 2002. 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:53.019 Not even to pick up an award, right? No, it was 00:17:53.019 --> 00:17:55.480 right after 9 -11. He came out to introduce a 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:57.960 tribute montage to New York City in film. Got 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.859 this huge, really emotional standing ovation. 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:03.609 But that was it. One appearance. So who influenced 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:05.269 him? We mentioned Bergman, obviously. Bergman's 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:07.230 huge for him, especially for the serious dramas. 00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:10.410 Ernst Lubitsch for sophisticated comedy, but 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:12.450 also comedians. He always cited Bob Hope and 00:18:12.450 --> 00:18:15.509 Groucho Marx. That mix again, eyebrow and lowbrow. 00:18:15.549 --> 00:18:17.769 And his own influence is just undeniable, right? 00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:20.230 Especially on comedy and independent film. Massive. 00:18:20.230 --> 00:18:22.450 You look at modern standups like Louis C .K., 00:18:22.450 --> 00:18:25.309 Larry David, Chris Rock, John Mulaney. They all 00:18:25.309 --> 00:18:28.500 owe something to his persona or style. And filmmakers, 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:32.160 Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.359 even Martin Scorsese. Scorsese? Their style seems 00:18:35.359 --> 00:18:37.660 so different. Scorsese actually said something 00:18:37.660 --> 00:18:39.740 interesting about that. He said Alan's version 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:42.279 of New York felt like another planet to him. 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:44.039 Totally different from his own experience, but 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:47.039 he loved it. Alan basically created a specific 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:50.140 cinematic New York that everyone else now reacts 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:52.180 to or plays off of. Okay, and what about his 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:54.740 own favorites? We mentioned the three he considers 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:57.740 his best. Stardust Memories. The Purple Rose 00:18:57.740 --> 00:19:00.640 of Cairo, and Match Point. Interesting choices, 00:19:00.740 --> 00:19:02.579 not necessarily the biggest hits. And his favorite 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:05.039 films by other people, that sight and sound poll 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.140 list. Yeah, heavily European arthouse. Fellini's 00:19:08.140 --> 00:19:10.779 Eight and a Half, Bergman's Seventh Seal, Truffaut's 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:14.220 400 Blows, Bicycle Thieves. Tells you where his 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:16.839 artistic heart lies. Did he single out any American 00:19:16.839 --> 00:19:20.619 films? He raved about Kazan's A Streetcar Named 00:19:20.619 --> 00:19:22.940 Desire in his autobiography, called it total 00:19:22.940 --> 00:19:26.200 artistic perfection. Script, acting, direction. 00:19:26.970 --> 00:19:29.089 Just perfect in his eyes. All right. Now we have 00:19:29.089 --> 00:19:30.789 to turn to the part of the story that has become 00:19:30.789 --> 00:19:33.609 inseparable from the art, the part that dominates 00:19:33.609 --> 00:19:35.490 so much of the conversation around him today. 00:19:35.910 --> 00:19:39.309 And just to reiterate, our job here is just to 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:41.410 lay out the timeline, the relationships, the 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:43.569 official findings as reported in our sources 00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:47.589 with complete impartiality. Exactly. It's crucial 00:19:47.589 --> 00:19:50.579 to stick to the documented record here. Looking 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.500 at his early life, there were two brief marriages 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:56.599 before Mia Farrow. First to Harleen Rosen from 00:19:56.599 --> 00:19:59.960 56 to 59. Interestingly, she actually sued him 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:02.019 later over a joke he told about their divorce 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:04.420 in his act. Wow, okay. Then he married Louise 00:20:04.420 --> 00:20:08.079 Lasser. Yes, from 1966 to 1970. She was an actress, 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:10.230 appeared in four of his early films. Before the 00:20:10.230 --> 00:20:11.849 Farrow relationship started, there were other 00:20:11.849 --> 00:20:13.789 relationships mentioned in the sources that drew 00:20:13.789 --> 00:20:16.650 attention later, particularly around age differences. 00:20:17.029 --> 00:20:20.109 Yes. There was a relationship with Stacey Nelken, 00:20:20.269 --> 00:20:23.269 reportedly starting when she was 17. And another 00:20:23.269 --> 00:20:25.690 woman, Bobbi Kristina Englehart, came forward 00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:27.609 saying she had an eight -year affair with him 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:31.329 starting in 1976, also when she was 17. Englehart 00:20:31.329 --> 00:20:33.569 suggested that the character Tracy, the 17 -year 00:20:33.569 --> 00:20:35.390 -old girlfriend in Manhattan, might have been 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:37.670 based on her or others from that time. Okay. 00:20:37.829 --> 00:20:40.210 Then comes the relationship with Mia Farrow starting 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:43.829 in 1980, which was, by all accounts, quite unconventional. 00:20:44.109 --> 00:20:46.750 Very. Thirteen films together over 12 years, 00:20:46.849 --> 00:20:48.829 but they famously lived in separate apartments 00:20:48.829 --> 00:20:52.029 across Central Park. During that time, Farrow 00:20:52.029 --> 00:20:55.470 adopted Dylan, then Moses. Allen took on a fatherly 00:20:55.470 --> 00:20:57.809 role and later legally adopted both Dylan and 00:20:57.809 --> 00:21:01.299 Moses in December 1991. And they had one biological 00:21:01.299 --> 00:21:05.000 child together. Ronan Farrow, born in 1987. Now, 00:21:05.019 --> 00:21:07.440 a key point noted in the sources is Allen's claim 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:09.619 that his intimate relationship with Mia Farrow 00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:11.759 ended completely after Ronan was born. Okay. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:15.319 Which brings us to Sunye Previn. Right. Sunye 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:17.900 was adopted by Mia Farrow and her previous husband, 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:21.160 Andre Previn, back in 1977. Her birth year is 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.380 presumed to be 1970. Allen and Sunye started 00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:26.740 being seen together publicly. like at Knicks 00:21:26.740 --> 00:21:29.200 games around 1990. The romantic relationship 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:32.380 began around 1991. At which point Soon -Yi was 00:21:32.380 --> 00:21:35.720 21. Correct. The relationship became public knowledge 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.420 in a really explosive way in January 1992, when 00:21:39.420 --> 00:21:41.900 Mia Farrow found nude photos of Soon -Yi that 00:21:41.900 --> 00:21:44.619 Allen had taken. Allen was 56 at the time. And 00:21:44.619 --> 00:21:46.740 Allen's response to that becoming public. He 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:49.019 issued a statement saying, quote, I am not Soon 00:21:49.019 --> 00:21:51.640 -Yi's father or stepfather. I was not a father 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:54.000 to her adopted kids in any sense of the word. 00:21:54.380 --> 00:21:57.140 Which, as the sources point out, seemed to contradict 00:21:57.140 --> 00:21:59.700 his legal adoption of Dylan and Moses just months 00:21:59.700 --> 00:22:02.660 earlier. Allen and Soon -Yi later married in 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:05.160 Venice in 1997 and have adopted two children 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:07.400 together. This rupture, this public falling out, 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:09.660 leads directly into the most serious and lasting 00:22:09.660 --> 00:22:12.880 controversy. The sexual abuse allegation. In 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.559 August 1992, during the custody battle, Dylan 00:22:15.559 --> 00:22:17.460 Farrow alleged that Allen had sexually touched 00:22:17.460 --> 00:22:19.259 her in the attic of Farrow's Connecticut home. 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.700 Allen denied it immediately and has denied it 00:22:21.700 --> 00:22:23.769 ever since. OK, this is where it's absolutely 00:22:23.769 --> 00:22:26.289 critical to detail the official findings from 00:22:26.289 --> 00:22:28.769 that time based on the investigations that followed. 00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:31.890 What did they conclude? There were four main 00:22:31.890 --> 00:22:34.670 official findings reported in the sources spanning 00:22:34.670 --> 00:22:38.710 1993. First, the child sexual abuse clinic at 00:22:38.710 --> 00:22:40.750 Yale New Haven Hospital conducted a six month 00:22:40.750 --> 00:22:43.950 investigation. Their conclusion. released March 00:22:43.950 --> 00:22:47.049 1993, was that Dylan had not been sexually abused. 00:22:47.269 --> 00:22:49.430 Okay, that's the Yale Clinic finding. What else? 00:22:49.670 --> 00:22:52.789 Second, in June 1993, Judge Elliott Wilk ruled 00:22:52.789 --> 00:22:55.210 on the custody case. He denied Allen custody. 00:22:55.589 --> 00:22:58.369 However, the judge explicitly stated that while 00:22:58.369 --> 00:23:00.829 he found Allen's behavior towards Dylan grossly 00:23:00.829 --> 00:23:03.549 inappropriate, he did not find that sexual abuse 00:23:03.549 --> 00:23:06.109 occurred. So, inappropriate conduct cited, but 00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:08.450 the abuse allegation itself was rejected by the 00:23:08.450 --> 00:23:11.750 judge. Third. Third. The state prosecutor handling 00:23:11.750 --> 00:23:13.950 the potential criminal case announced in September 00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:17.930 1993 they would not press charges. They stated 00:23:17.930 --> 00:23:20.170 they believe they had probable cause, but decided 00:23:20.170 --> 00:23:22.710 against prosecution, citing the specific reason 00:23:22.710 --> 00:23:25.069 of wanting to avoid the unjustifiable risk of 00:23:25.069 --> 00:23:27.250 exposing a child to the rigors and uncertainties 00:23:27.250 --> 00:23:30.329 of a questionable prosecution. So probable cause 00:23:30.329 --> 00:23:33.230 cited, but no charges filed due to concerns about 00:23:33.230 --> 00:23:36.420 the impact on Dylan. And finally, finally, the 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:38.680 New York Child Welfare Agency finished its own 00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:41.640 separate 14 month investigation in October 1993. 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:45.240 Their finding was that the allegation was unfounded. 00:23:45.259 --> 00:23:49.579 OK, so Yale Clinic, no abuse. Judge Wilk, no 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:52.559 abuse, though inappropriate conduct. Prosecutor, 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.839 probable cause, but no charges. Child Welfare 00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:58.339 Agency, unfounded. That's the official record 00:23:58.339 --> 00:24:00.500 from 1993. That's the summary of the findings 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:02.769 presented in the sources from that period. But 00:24:02.769 --> 00:24:04.690 obviously the issue didn't go away. It came back 00:24:04.690 --> 00:24:07.190 very publicly years later. It did, particularly 00:24:07.190 --> 00:24:09.910 in 2014 when Allen received the Cecil B. DeMille 00:24:09.910 --> 00:24:12.630 Award. Dylan Farrow published an open letter 00:24:12.630 --> 00:24:14.910 in The New York Times reiterating the allegation 00:24:14.910 --> 00:24:17.569 in detail. Allen responded with his own piece, 00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:20.470 again strongly denying it, calling it false and 00:24:20.470 --> 00:24:23.190 part of a longstanding effort by Mia Farrow to 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:25.289 punish him for the relationship with Sunni. And 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:27.369 the family dynamics got even more complex when 00:24:27.369 --> 00:24:29.250 another one of the children spoke out. Right. 00:24:29.410 --> 00:24:33.329 In 2018, Moses Farrow, Allen's adopted son, published 00:24:33.329 --> 00:24:36.849 a blog post. He not only defended Allen, strongly 00:24:36.849 --> 00:24:39.329 denying the abuse allegation against him, but 00:24:39.329 --> 00:24:41.029 he also made his own allegations against Mia 00:24:41.029 --> 00:24:43.190 Farrow, claiming she had been physically abusive 00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:45.910 towards him and several of his siblings, particularly 00:24:45.910 --> 00:24:48.869 those with disabilities. Which adds another layer 00:24:48.869 --> 00:24:51.210 of conflicting narratives within the family itself. 00:24:51.349 --> 00:24:54.549 A deeply complex layer. And then most recently, 00:24:54.609 --> 00:24:58.430 you had the HBO documentary series in 2021, Alan 00:24:58.430 --> 00:25:00.809 v. Farrow. Which focused heavily on Dylan's account 00:25:00.809 --> 00:25:03.849 and Mia Farrow's perspective. Yes. Alan and Soon 00:25:03.849 --> 00:25:06.670 -Yi condemned it, calling it a hatchet job riddled 00:25:06.670 --> 00:25:08.930 with falsehoods. They claimed they were only 00:25:08.930 --> 00:25:11.740 given days to respond. The filmmakers disputed 00:25:11.740 --> 00:25:13.539 that, saying they gave them two weeks, which 00:25:13.539 --> 00:25:15.599 they felt was sufficient. So the public discourse 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:18.279 remains incredibly divided. You have colleagues, 00:25:18.579 --> 00:25:20.880 actors, commentators lining up on both sides. 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:23.579 Some believe the allegation implicitly. Others 00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:26.279 point to the original 1993 findings and the context 00:25:26.279 --> 00:25:28.700 of the breakup with Mia Farrow. It's left Hollywood 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:32.279 and the public really split. There's no consensus, 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:35.920 just deeply entrenched opposing views, often... 00:25:36.089 --> 00:25:38.309 referencing different pieces of this very complicated 00:25:38.309 --> 00:25:41.450 history. Hashtag tag outro. So after digging 00:25:41.450 --> 00:25:43.150 through all of this, I mean, the scale of the 00:25:43.150 --> 00:25:45.250 career is just immense from stand up and tiny 00:25:45.250 --> 00:25:48.230 village clubs to directing opera, winning four 00:25:48.230 --> 00:25:51.250 Oscars, making 50 films. Yeah, the artistic output 00:25:51.250 --> 00:25:53.849 is undeniable. Record for screenplay nominations, 00:25:54.150 --> 00:25:57.210 that decades long jazz gig. The sheer discipline 00:25:57.210 --> 00:25:59.650 and breadth are remarkable. A truly monumental 00:25:59.650 --> 00:26:02.910 figure in 20th and 21st century arts. But the 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:05.670 paradox is just. unavoidable isn't it based on 00:26:05.670 --> 00:26:07.410 everything we've covered he's this artist obsessed 00:26:07.410 --> 00:26:10.490 with neurosis with moral gray areas someone famously 00:26:10.490 --> 00:26:14.009 private yet his own intensely personal life specifically 00:26:14.009 --> 00:26:16.390 the start of his relationship with sunyi and 00:26:16.390 --> 00:26:19.710 that subsequent harrowing allegation became incredibly 00:26:19.710 --> 00:26:22.109 public and remains so it creates this fundamental 00:26:22.109 --> 00:26:25.069 tension The sources show us this artist reaching 00:26:25.069 --> 00:26:27.609 the absolute peak of his profession while simultaneously 00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:30.430 his personal life generates controversies that 00:26:30.430 --> 00:26:32.450 challenge many people's ability or willingness 00:26:32.450 --> 00:26:35.250 to separate the art from the artist. Right. And 00:26:35.250 --> 00:26:37.609 seeing him now reportedly struggling to get funding 00:26:37.609 --> 00:26:39.670 for his next film, trying to set it up in Barcelona, 00:26:39.990 --> 00:26:42.609 it kind of crystallizes the whole thing. It leaves 00:26:42.609 --> 00:26:44.690 you, the listener, with this question, I think. 00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:47.190 Yeah. In today's world where we demand so much 00:26:47.190 --> 00:26:49.869 transparency, where the artist and their perceived 00:26:49.869 --> 00:26:53.089 morality are so closely linked, can someone whose 00:26:53.089 --> 00:26:56.089 work constantly dives into human flaws and complexities, 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:59.309 can that artist ever really escape the public's 00:26:59.309 --> 00:27:02.210 demand for simple answers, for clear moral judgments 00:27:02.210 --> 00:27:04.410 about their own life? It's the question that 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:06.490 hangs over this entire legacy, isn't it? Yeah. 00:27:06.529 --> 00:27:09.329 That tension between the art, the artist, and 00:27:09.329 --> 00:27:11.210 the audience's expectations in the information 00:27:11.210 --> 00:27:13.769 age. It's something that likely won't be resolved 00:27:13.769 --> 00:27:14.490 anytime soon.