AA.VV.
New York Stories

"New York Stories" dates back to 1989. It is a film divided into three episodes. Three different stories, revolving around the protagonists and their New York lives, as the only common denominator. An ambitious production that sees three important directors at work (don't be impressed by the names, this film is anything but a masterpiece), at least as far as the film industry is concerned.

The first episode, "Life Lessons," is directed by Martin Scorsese and features a substantial Nick Nolte (who plays the role of an imaginary famous New York artist named Doobie) who is under the spell of his young assistant (Rosanna Arquette), who is actually quite reluctant to give in. But through ups and downs, the couple splits, and the artist's passions, and paradoxical declarations for her, are in vain, firmly dismissed by the young woman, whose mind is elsewhere (a comedian played by Steve Buscemi). The artist's work continues. In words, Nolte/Doobie seems cloying and beaten, but the artistic flow pulsating in his veins is predominant. If in appearances, in solitude, the artist seemed troubled, it becomes clear during the story that all resources stem from the art itself (not the phantasmagorical muse/assistant) and the anxieties end up on the canvas and impose themselves in materiality. The canvas as an expressive resource and creative outlet. Nolte (in a state of grace) executes energetic brushstrokes and establishes a relationship with the canvas, aware that art, in the end, is the resource that saves and has saved him. It's cloying that in the end, the artist, during his own exhibition, falls back into his limits and pathetically resumes feeding his existential void, using his celebrity as a means of persuasion towards a beautiful and hopeful young waitress.

The second episode, "Life without Zoe," is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and features our own Giancarlo Giannini, who plays an internationally renowned flutist. The protagonist, however, is the obnoxious little daughter (Heather McComb), left alone in New York, pampered by the hotel staff where she resides waiting for mom (unbelievably, Talia Shire) and dad, artists always on the go, to show up by surprise. But the plot is weak, situations are glued together with saliva, and the actors rather foggy, including Giannini. The pretext, the context, and the meaning of the little story are weak (I hazard the message: the family is to be compacted at all costs). The intertwining of characters is unbearable and foolish. Profuse goodwill. A fleeting appearance by the beautiful Carole Bouquet, who doesn't utter a single word. A mushy finale that smells like manure. A weak and plasticized story that lowers the positive trend set by the first episode.

The third episode is written and directed by Woody Allen. The short film is titled "Oedipus Wrecks" and stars Allen himself. The themes developed are more or less the usual ones. From the uncertainty of love, in this case with tenuous premises, to the complex and unsustainable relationship with an absurd parent, a mother who is a real life obsession. Stifling to such an extent that as soon as she disappears, the protagonist's quality of life improves significantly. But...

At times absurd, other times, but with grace, a little paradoxical. Allen enjoys joking with the supernatural. He seasons it all with jazz classics, romanticism, and a surprise ending. He acts alongside Mia Farrow. There's always something autobiographical in Allen's stories, and for those who know him, it will be pleasant to discover the coincidences with his real life, so much so as to think that sometimes there's a script for that too. Perhaps from a New York lover like Allen, one might have expected more in-depth explorations of the city, less personal facets. The director preferred, as befits his ego, to "merge" with the city, becoming a central figure.

The first episode is the best executed, with depth in content, convincing sets and cinematography, and actors up to the task. The second episode is pitiful. The third is of a romantic-absurd thread but is saved. Essentially, more than "New York Stories," treated too marginally in all three films, these are just New Yorkers' stories.