This is one of Woody Allen’s best films. Visually it’s probably his most ravishing, the cinematography by Zhao Fei(who shot THE HORSE THIEF) creats a wonderful palette that goes against the conventional sepia tones of Depression films. The lighting of the train yard is a sight to behold.

Sean Penn brings an intensity that’s missing in most Woody Allen films. He gives a performance worthy of Robert DeNiro in NEW YORK, NEW YORK as a driven if unstable jazz artist whose charm and talent is indivisible from his compulsive lying and spending. The film has been compared to LA STRADA because of the relationship between Emmett and Hattie(the great Samantha Morton) but this is closer to SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER by Truffaut. The pulpy milieu of dames, broads and pimps stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the great jazz musicians of the time. The mix of different styles from comedy to tragedy, drama to elegy is in line with Truffaut’s second film. Allen’s flux into these different styles captures the feel of a jam session. Intensity, playfulness and wit alongside moody rhythms and slow beats.