Woody Allen premiered his latest film, Coup de Chance, at the Venice Film Festival. His stepdaughter-wife Soon Yi joined him at the festival, as did their two daughters, Bechet Allen and Manzie Tio Allen. They walked the red carpet together and it was… something. Allen also spoke to Variety at length about his latest film, his fiftieth, and how it might be his last. Woody basically lost all of his American financing circa 2017-18, and Coup de Chance was made in France, with French actors, and I think it was made entirely with European financing. Woody’s films aren’t super-expensive to make, which is why there are still people who will give him money to make movies. Some highlights from this Variety piece:

On financing: “I have so many ideas for films that I would be tempted to do it, if it was easy to finance. But beyond that, I don’t know if I have the same verve to go out and spend a lot of time raising money.”

He’s an advocate of the #MeToo movement. “I think any movement where there’s actual benefit, where it does something positive, let’s say for women, is a good thing. When it becomes silly, it’s silly. I read instances where it’s very beneficial, where the situation has been very beneficial for women, and that’s good. When I read of some instances in a story in the paper where it’s silly, then it’s foolish. It’s silly, you know, when it’s not really a feminist issue or an issue of unfairness to women. When it’s being too extreme in trying to make it into an issue when, in fact, most people would not regard it as any kind of offensive situation.

A poster boy for Me Too: “I said years ago that I should have been a poster boy [for the #MeToo movement] and they got all excited about that. But the truth is, it’s true. I’ve made 50 films. I’ve always had very good parts for women, always had women in the crew, always paid them the exact same amount that we paid men, worked with hundreds of actresses, and never, ever had a single complaint from any of them at any point. Not a single one ever said, ‘Working with him, he was mean or he was harassing.’ That’s just not been an issue. My editors have been women. I don’t have any problem with that. It’s never been on my mind in any way. I hire who I think is good for the role. As I said, I’ve worked with hundreds of actresses, unknown actresses, stars, mid-level actresses. Not one has ever complained and there’s nothing to complain about.

On Dylan Farrow and the “Allen v. Farrow” docuseries: “My reaction has always been the same. The situation has been investigated by two people, two major bodies, not people, but two major investigative bodies. And both, after long detailed investigations, concluded there was no merit to these charges, that, you know, is exactly as I wrote in my book, “Apropos of Nothing.” There was nothing to it. The fact that it lingers on always makes me think that maybe people like the idea that it lingers on. You know, maybe there’s something appealing to people. But why? Why? I don’t know what you can do besides having it investigated, which they did so meticulously. One was less than a year and the other one was many months. And they spoke to everybody concerned and, you know, both came to the exact same conclusion.

On cancel culture: “I feel if you’re going to be canceled, this is the culture to be canceled by. I just find that all so silly. I don’t think about it. I don’t know what it means to be canceled. I know that over the years everything has been the same for me. I make my movies. What has changed is the presentation of the films. You know, I work and it’s the same routine for me. I write the script, raise the money, make the film, shoot it, edit it, it comes out. The difference is not… from cancel culture. The difference is the way they present the films. It’s that that’s the big change.

He thinks the film industry has issues: “I don’t like the idea – and I don’t know of any director that does — of making a movie and after two weeks it’s on television or streaming. This is not a high cultural point. There were many wonderful films made in the past, and you don’t see many wonderful films made now. When I wanted to go to the movies, there used to be three or four films I was dying to see. Every week there would be a film from Truffaut and Fellini and Ingmar Bergman and Kurosawa. Now, very few European films are playing in the United States to begin with. I think we’re not in a wonderful place culturally, certainly not in cinema.

[From Variety]

I’ve seen people suggest that Woody was basically saying that Coup de Chance might be his last film, but that’s not my takeaway at all – he’s basically letting people (financiers) know that he actually wants to keep making movies but he needs someone to step up and finance them because he’s not going to hustle around for money at this point. As for everything else… what a mess. I’m giving myself a Virgo Szn gift and I’m not going to get into it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.