"Crisis in Six Scenes" /TV series/ by Woody Allen - review

The story of "Crisis in Six Scenes" tracks several days of aging writer Sydney. Munsinger. In his quiet home suddenly invaded young Lenny (Miley Cyrus), whose radical political views overturned his daily life with his head down. He has to write a TV series - a task that he first sees in his long creative career. And it is at the center of the anti-war protests in America in the 1960s. Her activist strides are in opposition to his passion for intellectual debates, and in this contrast the main driving and comedic force of the series is locked. Sidney is married to Kai (returning Elaine May), who is a married psychologist, and quickly censures Lenny's vain boldness by starting to recommend books of subversive content to her literary club. In no time, her girlfriends are also shaken by the rising desire to upgrade the system. But the policy framework serves as a context, not as a starting point in the rationale of the past.

Crisis in Six Scenes begins with Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers", and that's where the rock'n'roll is exhausted on the soundtrack. It is effectively replaced by recognizable jazz rhythms that seize the silence in some scenes, while others emphasize the dialogue. Herb Mann's Comin 'Home Baby song is the main musical background and its name suggests a return to something familiar, the combination of flute and a variety of percussion instruments shapes an atmosphere that is equally threatening, mysterious and seductive. The script does not delay to present the common between the notorious counter-culture of the 1960s and the quest for young people today. Lenny is presented to us as hardworking and vain, in love with the sound of her own voice and disrespectful of anyone who immediately disagrees with her. But she is also intelligent, agitated and able to revive even a striking old man like Sydney Mansinger.

Elaine May returns after a 16-year absence from the screen and easily steals a scene after a scene under Woody Allen's sick nose. The convincing and crazy utterance of an infant girl, coupled with her old lady's grace, provides a class comedy that we rarely have the pleasure of seeing on the little screen. And Woody Allen, despite his slow movements, continues to be the favorite of all the neurotic, but in his incarnation he feels a vitality he has not shown long ago. The latter is particularly noticeable in a fun scene at the doctor. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, as Alan himself claims to have made a mistake by adopting a line-up for the Amazon, and this is illustrated with the "meta-commentaries" when his character wonders if he could be the next Jeremiah David Salinger or (repeatedly) wonders why he has lost his strength and time in writing a television project. However, it is refreshing that after a decade of mostly unsuccessful filmmaking attempts to find a place in the impossible XXI century, this year Woody Allen is back in time with his two projects. Although the "Café Society" is tending to his weaker films, the 60's here feel authentic, helping every detail. The color palette used in the design of costumes and decorations - the dead cream, orange and blue colors are nowhere to be fake. Visually, the series resonates with cinema from the 1950s and 1960s. The installation arranges frames in instinctive rhythm without giving unnecessary dynamics to simple daily conversations. Operational work is not self-evident, but reveals additional touches of otherwise theatrical scenes. Dialogue is absurd, witty and does not fail to entertain at the right moments, though not one or two scenes sound like a stretched. Such is the overall sensation of the show - not Woody Allen's wildest or most original achievement, but he does not miss all the typical of the filmmaker's rich storytelling.

Image source: 1, 2