Deconstructing Harry (1997)

A Brilliant Conflict

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Woody Allen's vainly revealing, yet mostly unflattering self-portrait-film succeeds by remaining increasingly challenging, surprising and offensive throughout its 1.5 hour runtime. With a large all-star cast of A-listers entertaining in supporting roles, Allen deftly blurs the lines between his real-life self and his on-screen character, between reality and fiction, between confabulation and recollection. His charming artistic talents and disturbing character flaws are on full display with equal transparency, finished off with a touch of his trademark cynicism. Allen's concluding self- assessment is both poignant and relevant for those of us privileged enough to live in the developed world.Not to be overlooked is the sometimes shocking black and blue comedy: a mixture of tasteless sight gags, crude language and hyperbole that culminates in a perfectly outlandish final sequence that may or may not take place outside of our universe. The original and disoriented editing reinforces the dream-like quality of the picture and also charges viewers to confront the ways in which we voluntarily distort our own perceptions of reality. It is this insight that separates Deconstructing Harry from Allen's other pictures, which are generally shallow (albeit entertaining), self-serving examinations of love, lust and the "meaning of life." Those who say that this film is mainly recycled material or that this is just an unapologetic attempt by Allen to repair his image have sadly missed the point.

"Deconstructing Harry" stands, in my opinion, as one of Woody Allen's best, probably his last masterpiece although it doesn't have the 'masterpiece' vibe. It looks like a typical Woody Allen movie but watch it closely and you'll get more insights about the director, the artist, ultimately the man. If you're not interested in, enjoy the gags and forget about it … if you can.I am more and more confident that Woody Allen is never as inspired and –of course- hilarious as when his movies work as media to expresses his personal fears, angst and frustrations. And being capable to distort life, facts and reality to produce insights based on his own living, and in the intellectual and emotional process, to enable us to question ourselves, is in my opinion the work of a true artist. The film might feel 'minor' compared to other Allen's films but for some reason, it touched me, not immediately, but the ending was one of Allen's most triumphal achievements. Don't let yourself guided by your first feelings, this is not Allen wrapped up in his own ego, the film works on higher levels, and use Allen's own demons to tunnel us into ours, to use our empathy as a lightning torch to find truth in our personal darkness.Woody Allen is the titular Harry, Block is his last name, a fitting one as the writer he plays seems to suffer from mental block, the nightmare of every writer. But this block is justified by the series of incidents that undermined his inspiration. "Deconstructing Harry" is set during the aftermath of Harry's best-seller's success, a novel where he unveiled his most intimate secrets involving his friends, ex-wives, sister, family and acquaintances. It is one thing to reveal one's intimate secrets but we tend to forget that our secrets involve our personal circle. As a writer, Harry doesn't embarrass with such dilemmas, inspiration commands the writing and the others' anger is only a collateral damage he can afford but still must deal with. He tries to hide the names, to use lamentable pseudonyms, but behind every character, there's Harry. The film, like "Radio Days" is a succession of little vignettes, all reflecting a part of Harry's life, this is what the whole deconstruction process is about, in a masterstroke of writing.Whether it's a writer whose wife rediscovered her Jewish faith after the birth of her son, an old man indulging himself to cannibalism, a man cheating on his wife in front of an old blind parent, it's all about Harry, his friends are not fooled, neither are we. Is there a message behind that? Yes, every single piece of work of an artist is autobiographical. I'm tired of the whole: "Woody Allen always plays the same character" argument, because rather than a criticism, this is the best homage he can receive. But I would specify it a little bit, he doesn't play the same character, but within his whole oeuvre, there is one and only one Woody Allen. To understand the personality, one has to follow his evolution step by step, film by film. In "Interiors", the artist put his own inspiration into perspective, in "Stardust Memories", his comical talent or in "Zelig", his capability to please to be part of the mood..In "Deconstructing Harry", it seems like the constantly self-deprecating Woody Allen is finally over with his own demons, because he comes to one realization, this is the best thing he can do, this is the only talent he truly has, and he's only exploiting it for the best. One of his friends, played by Billy Crystal, stole his girlfriend, but he acknowledges he doesn't have his talent. And yes, Allen is the best screenwriter. At the film's apotheosis, when all the characters he created applauded him, you can see the overwhelming effect on his eyes, and for one second, we imagine Woody Allen being applauded by Annie Hall, Virgil, Hannah and her Sisters thanking him for having graced the silver screen and pleased a generation of movie goers, for more than 20 years. Almost 20 years later, Woody Allen is still prolific but you could feel a relief after "Deconstructing Harry", when he could finally get to more fictional stuff, and telling stories again.I didn't speak much of the film because it's typically Allenian with a great cast, a deliberately disjointed editing, sometimes confusing but I guess it's a benign artistic license in order to convey the chaotic aspect of Harry's life as a sort of story he tries to rewrite inside himself, with the same process of writing, erasing, rewriting, copy-pasting etc. But what rises above the whole chaos, is the self-reflexive approach of Allen to his own work, he did it with "Interiors" and "Stardust Memories", but the films were inspired by Bergman and Fellini's works. I guess it took the revival of his comical genius in the 80's and the early 90's so he could understand that the best one to talk about Woody and to deconstruct Woody, is still Woody.And from someone who wishes to become a writer and can't function in the cold and average normality of life, I realize that I'm more inclined to bloom during writing, and stop being so out-of-focus, I should be the one to give people the right glasses to see what I'm worth. This out-of-focus metaphor is a strike of comical genius, and it touched a very sensitive chord. I loved "Deconstructing Harry" in a very deep and personal level and as I get older, I feel a very strong connection to the artistic and even neurotic personality of Woody Allen.To deconstruct Harry is to understand Woody, and ... a certain part of ourselves, imprisoned in a life of futile conventions and begging for expression, no matter how hard, and painful or shameful they are. I guess we should all learn to deconstruct ourselves to be over with our inner demons.

Deconstructing Harry is probably Woody Allen's most interesting and controversial film from his troubled 90s period.Coming at the height of turmoil in his personal life, the same year that Deconstructing Harry was released, Allen married Soon Yi Previn and the world was given an insight into their relationship in the rewarding documentary Wild Man Blues (6). Deconstructing Harry sees him slam reality and fiction together, giving (except for one exception) an expletive-free and free-flowing series of fantasy vignettes with jump- cut, foul-mouthed bites of reality. For this reason more than any other it's a film that could upset Allen purists, as his attempt to capture real life sees multiple uses of the word "f***" and even the "c" word coming from Woody's lips on two occasions.Is the film misogynist? Possibly. Woody certainly appears to have anger towards women here, and while the ladies of the night so romantically depicted in the likable-but-bland Mighty Aphrodite (6) are here "whores" and "hookers", there's also more than an element of racial patronage. The adjoinder from an African American prostitute over whether she knows what a black hole is ("Yeah... that's how I make my living") is probably the most repellent line in an Allen film, bar none.Even today Woody is still capable of making watchable films, but they're rarely essential and tend towards the reactionary. Little of his later period has come close to matching the vibrancy and sheer anxiety-based energy of Deconstructing Harry. This is Woody venting his spleen for the masses, and seeming to toy with the "playing himself" questions. It may not be pleasant to watch, but it's never dull.Again, his Jewish fixations can be offensive, though the scenes with his sister and brother-in-law are amongst the funniest in this not quite laugh-a-minute vehicle. I loved the bit where he tells his sister's husband: "I think you're the opposite of paranoid. I think you go around with the insane delusion that people like you". Yeah, most of the jokes at this stage in his career are recycled, but they're given a new take by the level of unsettling acidity contained in this picture. Annie Hall this isn't.The 1990s won't be remembered as a golden age for Allen's work, a period where he was getting more laughs voicing a cartoon ant than in his own movies. Altogether he wrote and directed ten new films, as well as a grating TV movie of his 60s play/film Don't Drink The Water (4). Films like Alice (5), Manhattan Murder Mystery (6) or Shadows and Fog (5) are watchable yet forgettable, the first decade for Allen where the so-so outnumbered the good. Yet there's still some first rate work in his 90s period, with Husbands and Wives (7) treading familiar ground but in subtle new ways. Sweet and Lowdown (7), a biopic of a fictitious jazz musician, brims with invention... though his first musical, Everyone Says I Love You (q.v.) sadly does not.Perhaps most notable in the 90s is the casting of actors to play the "Woody Allen" role, as he was entering his 60s and perhaps straining even his own much-tested formula of "young girl falls for older intellectual". In this regard then Kenneth Brannagh surprisingly does a better job than John Cusack, playing a substitute in the rewarding Celebrity (7), as opposed to Cusack's turn in the jarring Bullets Over Broadway (5). Which brings us back to Deconstructing Harry, as Allen originally had no wish to star in the lead.Deconstructing Harry isn't a pleasant film to watch by any means. It's crass, foul-mouthed and even obnoxious on occasion. But the fragmented, sketchy nature of events and inventive sequences make it an easier viewing experience than an extended narrative. Not only that, but in watching something which appears to be such a personal statement, then it may not be Allen's most likable or accomplished film, but it remains one of the most intriguing.

If Mighty Aphrodite is a nice Woody Allen, then Deconstructing Harry is certainly the pinnacle of his nasty side. Indeed, for non-Woody Allen fans, it would seem difficult to understand how two vastly different films could come from the same mind. Yet, the genius of Allen lays primarily in his writing, able to create and expound upon a brilliant idea of the story of a man who is unable to cope the negative and horrible lifestyle he abides with the successful and insightful writing and art he creates fictionally.This is a difficult film to review as it unfolds itself in a very bipolar manner: cinematically it works on the highest scale with terrific acting, direction, editing and one of Woody's best scripts. Yet, on the other hand, it is quite possibly his meanest and most cynical portrait of humanity. The character of Harry Block (whom no one was willing to play until Allen finally took it himself) is incredibly neurotic, egotistical, nihilistic and narcissistic and Allen takes him to the very end of his rope, almost encouraging us to not feel any sympathy towards him at all. Certainly no one else does; his entire family hates him for the way he vaguely portrays them in his books as cheap stereotypes of their personalities and beliefs. Still, there may be the slightest bit of humanity within this ball of neuroses if only because Woody Allen gives one of his very best performances here.Again, I must praise the large and star-studded cast for carrying much of the heavy material, especially in scenes that would feel out of place in other hands. In particular, Judy Davis, Elisabeth Shue and Bob Balaban are very good. I must also give praise to Billy Crystal who personifies the devil himself in Harry's mind and is evilly funny.I guess this should be recommended but only for serious Woody Allen fans. It convincingly gives an argument for why and how Allen is able to rationalize all the crazy events he has gone through in his life. Personally, I cannot say that I always agree with his worldview. But, he always does have something interesting to say and if he can continue to say it through films like this, then I feel I will be able to sit through them. However, be warned: this is a side of Woody Allen never seen prior and hardly seen since.