Another Woman (1988)

I started re-watching this movie, and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was called "The Other Woman," which is what Marion (Gena Rowlands) was. But she has just turned 50, and maybe that's why this movie is called "Another Woman," because 50 has hit her as no other decade age -- 30, 40 -- has. Or maybe Hope (Mia Farrow) is another woman?

Hope is the vague presence. She's mainly the woman Marion overhears through the wall when Hope is visiting her psychiatrist. Why does Marion listen in on Hope's sessions, specifically, and not anyone else's? Is Hope supposed to be a younger version of Marion? Does Marion take an interest in her because she's invested in her choices? I'm not really sure. I'm not sure how much different the movie would be if somehow Hope's entire character was cut from the final edit. I'm sure Hope is important and adds something to the film, but it's difficult to say exactly just what.

One complaint I might have about Woody Allen films, especially the lesser appreciated ones, is that they're simply not as complex or layered as his better appreciated ones. This is one of the lesser-known films that feels a little too simplistic.

Not that Marion isn't a complex character. She's incredibly imperceptive. She doesn't know why her relationships with her brother and best friend went south. She didn't understand why her boyfriend got upset when she was pregnant and didn't tell him until after she had an abortion. She doesn't understand that the man she had an affair with and married might end up having an affair on her.

Maybe this film's power ties into Marion "waking up." She still doesn't know if memories are something you have or something you've lost, but she at least claims to have come to peace with who and what she is.

The ending, then, is vaguely optimistic, the endings of many Allen films are.

Rating: 3/5 stars

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