HoldenIsHere Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I saw SLEEPER for the first time yesterday when it aired on TCM.. There were a lot of funny moments, but the part where Woody Allen broke into Blanche's dialogue from A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE took me by surprise and cracked me up. The use of jazz music for the soundtrack was interesting, but I guess it fit since his character was a former clarinet player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Yes, Sleeper is a very funny movie. Woody uses jazz on almost all his soundtracks. Jazz, and classical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 I forgot to mention Diane Keaton as Brando's Stanley Kowalski. So funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 The fact that most of the jazz used by Allen is from the '20's and '30's, and sometimes the very early '40's is an oddity that I always liked about his movies. And Allen himself is said to be a fair clarinetist. Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpressman Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 That IS Woody Allen playing clarinet in "Sleeper". He performed with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the New Orleans Funeral and Ragtime Orchestra for the soundtrack of this film. For more Woody on clarinet, see the movie "Wildman Blues" or go to the Cafe Carlyle in Manhattan on any Monday night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewhite2000 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 I feel compelled to mention that in his most recent film, BLUE JASMINE, Allen revisits STREETCAR territory, as the plot (intentionally) borrows heavily from the Williams play, and Cate Blanchett's protagonist has some definite similarities to Blanche. Woody must really like STREETCAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 I feel compelled to mention that in his most recent film, BLUE JASMINE, Allen revisits STREETCAR territory, as the plot (intentionally) borrows heavily from the Williams play, and Cate Blanchett's protagonist has some definite similarities to Blanche. Woody must really like STREETCAR. Thanks for sharing this, sewhite. Cate Blanchett played Blanche in a 2009 Australian production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE directed by Liv Ullman, which toured all too briefly in the US (the Kennedy Center in Washington DC and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York). Those who were fortunate enough to see a performance have described how "real" Blanchett's portrayal was. In most productions, Blanche comes off as an exotic "character," but Blanchett was able to bring a person to life. The "I don't want realism. I want magic" line spoken by Cate Blanchett therefore is especially poignant. Someone described seeing Blanchett's interpretation as hearing words you thought you knew pronounced correctly for the first time. It is rumored that at least one of the American peformances was recorded and could eventually air on public television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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