Shadows and Fog
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| Shadows and Fog | |
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| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Charles Joffe |
| Written by | Woody Allen |
| Starring | Woody Allen Mia Farrow John Malkovich Madonna David Ogden Stiers John Cusack Lily Tomlin |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | March 30, 1992 |
| Running time | 85 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Shadows and Fog (1992) is a film directed by Woody Allen and based on his one-act play Death. It stars Allen, Mia Farrow, John Malkovich, and Madonna. It was filmed on a 26,000-square-foot set at Kaufman-Astoria Studios, which holds the distinction of being the biggest set ever built in New York.
Shadows and Fog is an homage to Fritz Lang, G.W. Pabst and F.W. Murnau, and the German Expressionists. Reviews for the film were generally negative.
[edit] Synopsis
The movie starts with Keinman (Allen) being woken up from a deep sleep by a vigilante mob. They claim to be looking for "the strangler", a serial killer who strangles his victims. They tell him to get dressed and meet them downstairs in five minutes. In a flurry he gets dressed. Before he goes down, his landlady who wants to marry him gives him a small paper bag with pepper in it. "If The Strangler attacks you, blow some of this in his eyes!"
Meanwhile, Irmy (Farrow) and her boyfriend Peter (Malkovich) are having a dispute. They both are freeks at a circus: Irmy swallows swords and Peter is a clown. Irmy wants a baby, but Peter says that "a family is death to an artist." He then goes out and over to another tent where a prostitue (Madonna) waits for him. They begin to have sex, but Irmy catches them. She packs a suitcase and runs away, to the city where Kleinman is. She meets a prostitute (Lily Tomlin) who then brings her to a house of ill repute, where she is comforted by other whores (Jodie Foster and Kathy Bates). Then, a man (John Cusak) comes into the whorehouse and is immediatly bewitched by Irmy, and insists on having sex with her, paying a high $700. They go into the back room.
Meanwhile, Kleinman walks aimlesly around the city, not knowing what to do. He stops at a doctor's house, where the doctor explains that his role in the hunt is purely scientific. He goes into detail about how he will enjoy opening the killer's chest and head, and being able to understand how his mind works. Kleinman drinks a glass of cherry to calm himself down and leaves. Soon after, The Strangler murders the doctor. He goes to the head of police to steal back the cherry glass with his fingerprints on it, so it won't encriminate him. Irmy is there as well, because she has been taken to the police station as well when the police raided the whorehouse. She is interrogated and escapes. Kleinman follows her outside, and they walk into the night together. She tells Kleinman to give the $700 to charity in a church. He does, and at the steps of the church, they see a starving mother with a child, but they run away. While they run, Peter arrives in the city, looking for Irmy. He goes into a bar, where the man who had sex with Irmy is. The man mopes about how he lost the most beautiful woman. After talking, Peter figures out Irmy was his lost love, and leaves the bar.
Kleinman tries to get Irmy a place to stay by asking his fianceé, but she doesn't let them in. They wander some more, until someone walks up to both of them. The person shows Kleinman an alley where they think the killer might be in, and is told to trap the person. Irmy and Kleinman enter the alley warily, and they jump the person. It turns out to be Kleinman's boss, who was considering promoting him, but his mind is changed when Kleinman nearly gives him a heart attack. Ashamed, Kleinman and Irmy again journey into the night. At a pier, they look out at the night, and the feeling is very romantic, until the vigilante mobs ambush them. It turns out that everyone has a "plan". Then, a man who smells people starts to sniff Kleinman. He says that Kleinman is hiding something in his pocket, and the cherry glass is revealed. Angry, and believing he is the killer, they chase him away. Irmy is left on the dock. Alone, she meadors. Kleinman tries to find a safe haven in the house of his first ex-fianceé, but she throws him out. He excapes and goes to where the circus is.
Meanwhile, Irmy and Peter meet and at first Peter is ready to kill Irmy for sleeping with man, but they hear a cry, and find a baby on the ground, the same one that she saw earlier with Kleinman. They decide to keep it, and leave the city, back to the circus.
Kleinman is hiding at the circus, when he meets a magician he greatly admires. Then, The Strangler arrives, and is about to kill both of them when the magician catches him and chains him up, but somehow he escapes. The angry vigilante mob arrive on the scene, and give up for the night. The movie ends with Kleinman becoming the assistant of the magician, and Irmy and Peter continuing their careers as circus freeks, while raising their newfound child.
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