In breaking news, here's a fascinating 1990s New York Magazine piece by Barbara Lippert on the connection between Philip Roth and Woody Allen. Was Roth really both the model for Harry in "Deconstructing Harry" and Mia Farrow's rebound? I'd never thought about the fact that Harry is played by the actor Richard Benjamin, "who played Alexander Portnoy, the original non-master of his own domain, in Portnoy’s Complaint, and also starred as Neil Klugman in the film of Goodbye, Columbus." I'd always understood that Allen and Roth shared a number of themes, possibly even a general worldview, but had never imagined such deep ties existed.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Mamma Mia!
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4 comments:
That's really fascinating stuff.
It's undoubtedly true - it's Benjamin's only appearance in an Allen movie - but never occurred to me despite a lot of familiarity with both guys.
And probably not coincidentally, it's unquestionably Woody's best movie of the past 13 years. Nothing like vengeance to get the artistic juices flowing.
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Tangentially, Goodbye, Columbus is worth seeing if you never have. It's not a great movie, but it's a fair bit of fun.
I've seen it--it's fun, yes, but I really need to find a copy of the Portnoy movie. I can't even imagine.
There are movies of Roth's books? How?
The one of "Goodbye Columbus" sort of works, while "The Human Stain" is pathetic. "Portnoy's Complaint," I seriously have no idea.
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