Allen v. Farrow S01: Woody Allen Falls Off His Pedestal For Good

Photo credits: HBO

In 2014, Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of filmmaker Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow, wrote a letter to the New Tork Times stating that she was raped and abused by Allen in her youth. In doing so, she reminds the public of the forgotten 1992 affair. At the time, several government agencies were unsuccessfully investigating Dylan and his mother’s allegations against Allen. It was a difficult time: there was a standoff over the custody, Allen expressed his displeasure with Farrow in the media, and furthermore, Allen decided to continue his life with another adopted daughter of Farrow. , Soon-Yi Previn.

Allen has since been with Soon-Yi, Farrow’s daughter adopted with ex-husband André Previn. In Allen v. Farrow, Farrow describes what it was like to find out that his partner had taken bad photos of his daughter and once confessed that he had feelings for her when she was decades younger than him. American film critics then sketch to what extent Allen’s preference for young women is found in his work, notably in Allen’s magnum opus Manhattan (1979), in which he – in his forties – falls in love with a minor woman.

In Allen v. Farrow, veteran documentary filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering show how all of these events unfolded before our eyes and how many of us nonetheless supported Allen unconditionally. Although you can at least characterize Allen’s behavior as questionable. But celebrity does something to people, or it doesn’t change our perception of celebrities very much; people who are dear to us. And, according to Dick and Ziering, in court cases in America in which a woman accuses a man of abuse, the woman often pulls the short straw, which is described as resentful.

Things have changed since. Allen and Farrow’s adopted son Ronan has proven to be one of America’s most accomplished investigative journalists. He will release the book Catch and Kill in 2019, in which he exposes Harvey Weinstein as a sexual predator, and will support his sister Dylan’s statements in the media after 2014. With which he wants to refute the fact that Mia Farrow, out of spite, allegedly manipulated her daughter from the start to make her accusations, simply because Farrow was frustrated that Allen left her for her adopted daughter. Nonetheless, the PR machine around Allen seems to be very powerful.

The filmmaker has a rebuttal to everything. And Farrow, who is portrayed in the documentary series as a sweet, gentle mother, can’t resist that. Dick and Ziering expertly analyze this dynamic, via phone conversations between the two, and highlighting excerpts from Allen’s autobiography Apropos of Nothing, published in 2020. Because despite the fact that Allen and Soon -Yi did not cooperate in the four parts, they are categorically present. While it is obvious that Allen v. Farrow – along with Dylan, who perhaps should have been better protected from himself – takes sides from the start.

It can be hard for Allen fans to swallow, but anyone who sees Allen versus Farrow can only conclude one thing: Allen has put a lot of trouble under the rug over the past 20, 30 years. He was allowed to continue making films and received compliments from women in the trade during the Oscars. Dylan looked at him sadly; it’s a painful message that spreads along the way. And as a spectator, you are also going to take sides, and then there is really only one possible party: that of Dylan and Mia. Partly because they have no reason to lie about Dylan’s trauma. The documentary predicts that this will only cause more misery.

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Partly true, last week Allen and Soon-Yi already offered a bite-sized rebuttal that Allen v. Farrow is made up of fabrications. But in the meantime, the filmmaker is no longer believed by everyone. And even for skeptics like yours really – a huge Woody Allen fan – there’s no denying how much Allen falls off his pedestal, especially after seeing Allen vs. Farrow. In that sense, there should be more credit for Mia Farrow, who has turned an army of adorable children into responsible adults, and whose naivety has been severely abused.

Allen v. Farrow makes it clear: we need to start taking women at their word. Certainly because it appears time and again that celebrity reputations are inviolable, and that the notion of cancellation culture is not at all embodied as it is sometimes implied. Anyone who is loved and has enough money and power can still be absent for a while. While it is not surprising that Allen v. Farrow ends up being the nail in the coffin of Allen’s career.

Allen v. Farrow S01, from March 15, 2021 in full at Ziggo Movies & Series