Woody Allen gets his groove back with Midnight in Paris after years of declineVeteran director joins $100m club with his acclaimed new picture despite being written off by critics
Andrew Pulver guardian.co.uk,
Woody Allen and actor Lea Seydoux attend the Midnight In Paris premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Photograph: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
Despite years of critical derision and a general perception that his career is in terminal decline, Woody Allen has confounded his critics by engineering a commercial renaissance – joining the $100m club in the process.
Allen's 41st feature as director, Midnight in Paris, which is due for release in the UK on Friday, is already his highest-grossing picture: its worldwide take stands at more than $107.4m (£68.7m).
Allen has not reached these heights at the box office since the mid-80s, when Hannah and Her Sisters took $40.1m in the US, compared with Midnight in Paris's $54.4m. Manhattan (1979) and Annie Hall (1977) are the next highest, with $39.9m and $38.3m respectively.
The reasons behind the success of Midnight in Paris are open to debate. In recent years Allen's commercial credibility has been on the rise, with films such as Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point performing well.
Mike Goodridge, the editor of industry trade magazine Screen International, said: "Midnight in Paris is a very accessible film, a light, frothy comedy that has certainly hit a nerve, especially in the US."
The film tells the story of an American novelist, played by Owen Wilson, who finds himself transported back to the mythical era of bohemian Paris between the wars that proved such an attraction to expat Americans at the time. There he meets Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.
Goodridge suggested Allen's decision to make films in Europe might account for the easy tone of his current output. Since Match Point in 2005, he has made three films in London, one in Spain, one in France, and he is shooting his next in Rome.
"To me they're like postcards," added Goodridge. "It's about the most commercial thing you can do. He makes charming portraits of cities that are essentially for tourists."
It seems clear, however, that despite Allen's success, his reputation as a cinematic master is still suffering. Nick James, editor of the magazine Sight and Sound said: "The 1970s and 1980s were his golden period and there was a huge falling off in quality about 15 years ago."
According to James the final straw was his split with producer Jean Doumanian (whose last credited film with Allen was Small Time Crooks in 2000) which disrupted the film-maker's settled, New York-based production process.
The early noughties is generally considered Allen's lowest point, both critically and commercially. His 2001 film The Curse of the Jade Scorpion was his most expensive to date, costing $26m, but it took only $18m worldwide. Allen's next three films, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else and Melinda and Melinda, appeared to show a director in irreversible decline.
But James believes Allen has bounced back, saying Midnight in Paris is a significant creative achievement. "He has always tried to make intelligent cinema and he's tried to achieve the highest standards, so you have to respect that," said James. "Midnight in Paris is a return to a cinematic facility and grace – it's his least clumsy film for a long time."
Successful or not, nothing seems to hinder Allen's extraordinary ability to attract the cream of the world's acting talent to his movies. Goodridge said: "Even if his films have become very soft, he still has cachet. If you look at this body of his work as a whole, it's dazzling; he's still one of the great living film-makers. Actors still want a Woody Allen film on their CV."
Midnight in Paris is no different, with space found for Owen Wilson, Michael Sheen, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody and Marion Cotillard, as well as a tiny cameo for Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
Allen also has no problem keeping French cinema-goers on side, despite his new film's less than realistic view of life in the French capital.
Allen remains a fixture at the Cannes film festival (where Midnight in Paris had its world premiere in May) and France is Allen's biggest box office territory outside the US so far Midnight in Paris has taken €10.7m (£9.2m).
Allen has had to endure criticism, including from fellow director Robert Guédiguian who accused him of ignoring "poor Parisians earning below the minimum wage" but French film critic Agnès Poirier says few have been listening.
"His view of Paris is obviously an enchanted, Golden Age one – and if you accept it then the ride is very enjoyable," she said. "The French public always flock to see Woody Allen's films and they're not about to tire of him anytime soon."
It may be premature, though, to herald a full-scale Allen revival.
James said: "If we're being honest, he's not likely to return to his previous heights but there is a phenomenon of late flowering and I for one would be delighted if he made more films as fluid and graceful as this."
But, as Goodridge concludes, consistency has never been Allen's strong point, especially in recent years. "He is the most unpredictable film-maker in the world," he said. "The next one could be brilliant or it could be atrocious. You just don't know."
Woody Allen's six most successful films at the US box office
Midnight in Paris (2011) $54.4m
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) $40.1m
Manhattan (1979) $39.9m
Annie Hall (1977) $38.3m
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008, left) $23.2m
Match Point (2005) $23.1m
… and his six least successful
September (1987) $0.49m
Cassandra's Dream (2008) $0.97m
Another Woman (1988) $1.6m
Shadows and Fog (1992) $2.7m
Anything Else (2003) $3.21m
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010) $3.25m
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