Café Society

Die zauberhafte Atmosphäre vom Golden-Hollywood und ein Liebesschema versprechen mehr, als der Film schließlich bieten kann – ein Knäuel von Liebesklischees und eine überflüssige Nebenlinie mit dem Bruder, einem Gangster. Eisenberg und Carell sind super, Stewart passt zum Film irgendwie nicht und Blake Lively hätte mehr Raum verdient, obwohl die Entwicklung ihrer Figur wahrscheinlich in die Geschichte noch mehr Klischees einbringen würde. Der Film fühlt sich viel länger an, als er in Wirklichkeit ist. Ein müder Woody. Zweieinhalb Sterne. (22.09.2016)

It's a love triangle, that's all there is to it and the whole thing kind of fizzles out. Woody only makes films out of inertia these days, but Café Society in particular is so caressing, cute, and in its own way, endearingly old-fashioned, especially since it has the flawless atmosphere of 1930s Hollywood, an era that has always appealed to me, an old-timer. In addition to that, I realised that Stewart can be attractive when the role allows her to. And in fact the ending was exactly as melancholic as it should. (18.12.2016)

“Where's character? Where's loyalty?” The protagonist's father asks the right questions. In Woody Allen’s new film, you won’t find multi-dimensional characters that behave toward each other with any degree of loyalty. You will also search in vain for humour (a few amusing lines merely recycle what we have already heard in Allen’s films, but in funnier versions), compositional motivation for a number of scenes (such as the opening scene with a prostitute), type-appropriate casting (only Steve Carrel with his parted hair is more or less suitable for the 1930s setting), meaningful involvement of an omniscient narrator (is it really necessary to describe absolutely everything, even the beauty of the sunrise that we are just looking at?), any sign that the plot is leading to something (in fact, the story could just go on and on in cycles until the characters get old and die), or any reason that the story is set in the era of classic Hollywood. Well, any reason other than the fact that Woody simply loves this period and until someone builds a time machine, the only way to return to it is through movies. Rather than the need to tell an engaging story and share an original idea, it seems that love for the depicted period and setting was the main (or perhaps even the only) motivation for making Café Society. Thanks to Vittorio Storaro’s cinematography, the film looks beautiful. The abundance of light and a golden hue give the shots a supernatural charm and it is clear that we are in a world where dreams are born. Populate this world with characters who constantly blabber on about famous actors, actresses and directors (and they blabber only not to be quiet – the point and main purpose of the dialogue is simply for us to hear a familiar name), add a jazz soundtrack and you have a film. Actually, no, you don’t, because it is still necessary to at least somehow connect the individual scenes with the most lackluster romance under the sun, even if you really don’t care about the people involved in that romance because they rather prevent you from enjoying the period costumes, architecture and set decorations (based on which the lead roles were written – two self-satisfied characters defined only by the fact that they want to go to the movies and are unable to make independent grown-up decisions). Café Society is such a soul-crushing case of total directorial and screenwriting laxity that if it weren’t for the higher production values and a few well-known actors, I would think that this is the first attempt by a not very good writer who doesn’t understand that telling a story with pictures is not the same as telling a story with words. Looking at it from a more generous angle, it is significantly more likely that Allen’s first series (Crisis in Six Scenes) will be far more entertaining than his (so far) last film. The consolation to be found in that, however, is as comparably worthless as Café Society itself. 40% (22.09.2016)

51st KVIFF – Allen has made a recycled, safe comedy snack. Eisenberg plays a confident and absent-minded young man. Steward city is a mess, so there’s balance in the universe and everything is where it should be. The characters aren’t real people, but one-dimensional figures on the chessboard of Woody’s humour, and everything just fizzles out. (10.07.2016)

If you like Woody Allen, his character in this movie will definitely catch you eye real quick. And I have to say that Jesse Eisenberg really nailed the classic emotional nut case. Apparently, he’s been watching all of Woody’s movies, because not only did he have the gestures down, but also the general body movements, faces and overall behavior towards women. What’s more, for this movie, Woody chose a rather rewarding theme that he loves very much and so he poked fun at the extravagance of the legendary Hollywood generation of the 1930s once again. Steve Carell, for example, was absolutely excellent in his role. But what initially looks like another Woody dialogue movie from a world of the young, hopeful and the rich eventually reveals itself to be a very light melancholic drama with a hint of gangster movie. Once again, Woody shot a movie that’s absolutely typical of him and once again, he brought in something inconspicuously fresh that can caress the soul and fascinates at the same time. (31.08.2017)

I often shook my head because the script was deeply submerged in nostalgia and was constantly throwing in old Hollywood names just to show how great Phil is. But when it decides to tell the story we came for, Café Society becomes a smooth and nervous retro with a sweetly sounding string of longing. 70% and rounding up precisely for that infallible final note. (21.05.2018)

Letztes Mal war ich von Magic in the Moonlight ziemlich begeistert, aber Café Society ist noch besser. So viel authentisches Glück aus dem Hollywood der Zwischenkriegszeit habe ich schon lange nicht mehr erlebt. Viele hervorragende Details, Augenzwinkern, Spielereien mit Namen und Projekten und eine klassische Beziehungsanalyse. Man muss nicht unbedingt eine Romanze genießen, die nicht ganz tipptopp ist, aber wenn Sie Art Deco und zig Anspielungen auf Gloria Swanson, Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers oder Jean Harlow schätzen, sind Sie hier richtig. Die Kostüme, die Kulissen, die Atmosphäre sind erstklassig, erst nach all dem ist mir aufgefallen, dass das Makeup nicht zeitgemäß ist, aber zum Glück stört das nicht (was ein interessantes Paradoxon ist). (26.09.2016)

Woody Allen is still making the same thing, but in an increasingly heady and mature way, and in an increasingly refined formal package. Another accurate and perfectly shot relationship drama from the 1930-40s in the irresistible glitter of the bygone glory of the old party cabarets, frills and refinement of the elite of the time. It's a film that is all the more powerful the more times you find yourself in the various relationship and emotional breakdowns of the main characters. Someday Woody will be remembered a lot, as he was able to extract a bunch of stuff from life and put it on film with refinement and insight, yet crystal clear truth like few filmmakers, and in an original and typically quirky way that has become his own and he applies it as his signature trendy trademark. (16.02.2017)

Sie können sagen, was sie wollen, aber das hier ist wieder der Woody Allen, den ich so mag (obwohl mir seine Komödien noch besser gefallen). Bei Café Society bewundere ich am meisten, dass es der erste Film ist, in dem Jesse Eisenberg einen sympathischen Menschen spielt und wirklich sympathisch ist. Sein Bobby ist kein armes Geschöpf, kein Quengler oder Verzweifelter. Im Gegenteil, er hat Mut, er ist ein ziemlich kühner junger Mann und das ist prima. Kristen Stewart hat am Anfang irgendwie nicht so richtig zu der Stimmung der damaligen Zeit gepasst, nach ein paar Minuten habe ich mich aber an sie gewöhnt. Steve Carell ist ein ausgezeichneter Schauspieler und Blake Lively bezaubert einfach jeden. Es ist auch super, dass Allens Drehbuch maßvoll ist. Es gibt so viele Dinge, über die man mehr erzählen könnte. Das ist aber nicht nötig – alles, was wichtig ist, wird gesagt. Zusätzliche Elemente würden Café Society nur bremsen. Das gilt auch für das Ende, das in einem schönen Moment kommt. Was die Kritik betrifft, da muss ich laut sagen, dass ich nicht wie manche andere der Meinung bin, dass Bens Geschichte überflüssig und schlecht ist. Ich sehe bei der Geschichte eine schlaue Parallele – das Judentum aufzugeben und "wegen Vorteilen“ ein Christ zu werden ist doch dasselbe wie einen Menschen zu verlassen, den man liebt, weil man einen anderen gefunden hat, den man noch mehr liebt. (28.09.2016)

Ich wiederhole mich wohl bei meinen Kommentaren zu Filmen von Woody Allen ständig. Als sein treuer Fan bin ich fast immer höchst zufrieden, weil Woody seine hohe Latte schon jahrzehntelang hält. Sein Humor, seine Ironie und die traditionellen Themen bleiben, sie wurden nur in immer wieder neue Geschichten mit immer wieder neuen Schauspielern hineingesetzt. Mich persönlich hat es sehr erfreut, dass aktuell Kristen Stewart engagiert wurde. (03.11.2016)

Woody Allen seems a bit worn out in this film. Sure, it's very well shot, the dialogues occasionally make sense and are even interesting, if not entertaining, but overall, I kind of felt like it was about nothing in particular. I couldn't really connect with the characters, and for example, the second Veronica seemed unnecessary and self-serving, although, of course, she has a certain purpose. (23.10.2016)