DIGITAL WOODY

Rarely has Woody Allen set any of his movies
in Brooklyn, the borough in which he was raised after spending
the first eight years of his life in the Bronx.

Even "Radio Days," one of his most blatantly autobiographical
films – and one of six superb mid-’80s Allen pictures in the
brand-new DVD collection from MGM Home Video – sets the place
where the young protagonist grows up with his eccentric but lovable
family during World War II as Rockaway Beach, which is in Queens!

And all the other boroughs take a back seat when the awed young
hero is taken to a glittering Radio City Music Hall by his aunt
and her boyfriend: Manhattan has been transformed into a brilliantly
exotic fantasy land. It is precisely at such moments when Allen’s
usual reputation as a too-cerebral chronicler of miserable upper-class
New Yorkers falls by the wayside and he’s shown as an equally
adept screen magician, demonstrating his love of cinema by composing
dazzling moving images.

Numerous such images brilliantly flicker throughout the films
in this third MGM collection; as of this writing, only his painfully
confessional "Husband and Wives" (from Columbia/TriStar)
and his latest frothy – and admittedly funny – comedy, "The
Curse of the Jade Scorpion" (from Dreamworks) are not on
DVD. For those Woody completists, Paramount Home Video has just
released the DVD version of the hilarious "Play It Again,
Sam" (1972), which Allen merely adapted from his play and
starred in, leaving the directing chores to the recently deceased
Herbert Ross.

All six titles in the latest collection speak to the power and
enticing allure of art – particularly the movies. Allen first
cast Mia Farrow in the light, airy "A Midsummer Night’s
Sex Comedy" (1982), starting a creative and personal relationship
that lasted a decade, until you know what. Held aloft by its
buoyant Felix Mendelssohn soundtrack and Gordon Willis’ lovely
photography, "Midsummer Night" is 90 minutes of pure
heaven.

The unusually complex mock documentary "Zelig" (1983)
– predating "Forrest Gump" by 11 years with groundbreaking
optical trickery that put human chameleon Leonard Zelig in historical
footage and photos – is a thought-provoking parable on the vagaries
of fame. Allen followed that with the broadly comic "Broadway
Danny Rose" (1984), a sweetly sympathetic tale of abject
show-biz failures who never surrender their dreams of success.

"The Purple Rose of Cairo" (1985) shows how movies
are our greatest escape from everyday reality even as their illusions
cruelly smash hopeful lives. And the Chekovian canvas of "Hannah
and Her Sisters" (1986) works best as a paean to a New Yorker’s
fantasy: finding true love in the most unexpected places. When
Allen and Dianne Wiest share their final kiss, it’s bliss that
can only be found in the movies.

Along with Wiest and Farrow, many notables pop up in Allen’s
increasingly large casts filled with ever-familiar faces. Among
them are Mel Ferrer, Mary Steenburgen, Susan Sontag, Jeff Daniels,
Danny Aiello, Michael Caine (who, along with Wiest, won a supporting
acting Oscar for "Hannah"), Max von Sydow, Barbara
Hershey and Julie Kavner.

It’s a tribute to their director that their performances are
perfection.

Borough of Kings

Philip Bosco joined Allen’s loosely knit acting company in 1988’s
"Another Woman," going on to bit parts of several other
Woody films. But in "Borough of Kings" – a Scorcese-lite
direct-to-video feature from Avalanche Home Entertainment set
entirely in Brooklyn – Bosco sinks his teeth into the juicy role
of Uncle Chicky, the neighborhood Godfather who’s as interested
in the cut of his suits and his hair as he is in keeping "order."

"Borough of Kings" follows Jimmy O’Conner (Jim Stanek),
an aspiring actor who wants to avoid the fate of those in his
Red Hook neighborhood – his drug-addict cousin is dead, his good
friend Tommy (Patrick Newall) is one of Chicky’s goons, his fireman
dad perished in a blaze. After sneaking into an audition for
the part of Banquo in "Macbeth" at the Public Theatre
in the East Village – with help from cute assistant Anna (Kerry
Butler) and a sympathetic director (Olympia Dukakis) – Jimmy
just may find his escape route. But complications involving Chicky
and Tommy ensue.

Although obviously derivative in its gritty look at the local
mob mentality, "Borough of Kings" does have an energy
all its own, courtesy of its attractive young cast, notably Stanek
and Butler. (And, for those who are interested, yes, the Twin
Towers are seen twice, including in the final shot of the nocturnal
skyline.)

There are times when "Borough of Kings" exudes an almost
unearned poignancy. Jimmy’s uncle is a fireman with Ladder Company
136, and the end credits thank both Engine Company 220 and Ladder
Company 122 for their help. Wondering whether any of those companies’
men were affected by the events of Sept. 11 unfairly overshadows
this unassuming, unflashy but effective little movie that’s worth
seeking out for a weekend rental.