Now in his 80s, Woody Allen has backed off on acting, but he hasn’t lost much ground as a writer or director. He kicks off his seventh decade of filmmaking with “Rifkin’s Festival” (2020 internationally, 2022 in the U.S.), casting his friend Wallace Shawn as the Woody Allen Character, a film-studies teacher named Mort Rifkin.
Age is just a number
Like a lot of Allen films, “Rifkin’s” is a commentary on age. The theme hits in straightforward fashion when New Yorker Mort worries about his heart health while attending a cinema festival in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain (where the film is shot). The theme is expanded without overt commentary via the age differences in the couples and prospective couples.
I’ll list the actors’ ages in 2020 since their characters’ ages aren’t mentioned. Mort (Shawn, 77) is married to PR director Sue (Gina Gershon, 58). Sue is attracted to her actor client, Philippe (Louis Garrel, 37). Mort is interested in his Spanish doctor, Jo (Elena Anaya, 45).
“Rifkin’s Festival” (2020)
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Wallace Shawn, Gina Gershon, Elena Anaya
“Rifkin’s” never brings up the characters’ ages in these romances and prospective romances. Although I do get the sense that it matters somewhat to Jo, age gaps (as something frowned upon by society) are rarely an issue in Allen films. It’s central to “Manhattan” and “Whatever Works” only because of the struggles specific to those individuals. That matters more than the societal pressure to be “normal.”
Allen himself is shunned by a segment of society for having a younger wife (he’s 86, she’s 52) and for the Allen Character always having a younger partner, and “Rifkin’s” is certainly off the radar of those shunners.
Meanwhile, Allen’s supporters see instances of consenting, rational adults relating to each other. I think this and other entries in Allen’s catalog will (no pun intended) age well as the politically correct segment of society gradually sheds the age-gap taboo, realizing how it minimizes the agency of women.
Marriage is just a piece of paper
Another controversial Allen staple on display in “Rifkin’s” is the notion that marriage doesn’t have sanctity unless both partners see it that way. Sue is drifting on Mort, and – inspired by that, funnily enough – Mort then drifts on Sue.
In lightly courting Jo, Mort is encouraged to be more aggressive when he learns from outside parties that Jo’s artist husband is an a**h*** (That’s confirmed when Mort meets him).
A climactic scene between Sue and Mort is memorable, in a good way, for how undramatic it is: She maturely tells him they should break up, and he states that he’s upset, but he doesn’t give an emotional display. He recognizes her logic.
Allen might be a perpetual child with a portion of his sense of humor, but in other ways he shows increasing maturity throughout his career, and “Rifkin’s” is an example. Or it could be that Mort/Allen is reacting to Sue in a tired, “seen it all before” way, and that manifests as maturity.
Exploring the sights
Even so, that fits with “Rifkin’s” vibe as a laid-back, only lightly melancholy film. Its thesis statement is similar to the more energetic “Everyone Says I Love You”: Things don’t always work out, but the adventure is worth it. Extremely, Mort even compares his travails to Sisyphus, contending that he’s better for having tried to push the rock up the hill.
While I wouldn’t take the metaphor that far, “Rifkin’s” is a nice statement on how Allen views the later years in life. As he’s always made clear, he’s terrified of death. But with “Rifkin’s,” we see Allen (via Mort) as someone who will enjoy life as long as he has it.
That’s not to say “Rifkin’s” is fatalistic. It’s often funny, with light but smart one-liners spicing up many scenes. Allen doesn’t feel pressure to put jokes in every conversation, though, thus keeping with the vacation vibe.
Tourist traps?
Mort’s wife is technically working, but actually enjoying a whirlwind affair (although not entirely enjoying it, because she’s not that bad of a person). Mort has no work concerns in this Spanish seaside town, gorgeously lensed by Vittorio Storaro in his fourth-straight Allen film.
Although troubled by dreams – amusingly presented in the styles of classic European cinema (black and white, and with a narrower aspect ratio) – Mort has no work stress. And he has smoothly, perhaps subconsciously, replaced marriage stress with the enjoyment of his pursuit of Jo.
The cast is a delicate mix. Although Shawn played a dying man in a recent episode of “Evil,” he hasn’t lost his adorable ageless quality where he’s perpetually the way we remember him from “The Princess Bride.” Shawn is always a facial expression away from being funny, but he can likewise be thoughtful and serious with ease.
Gershon is gorgeous and fashionable, so it’s believable that Philippe is into her – although Garrel, whose looks make him ideal for a Novak Djokovic biopic, is a little cold. Anaya is a B-list answer to Penelope Cruz, but she’s mesmerizing with that Spanish accent.
“Rifkin’s Festival” is too breezy to surpass the fiery “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” among Allen’s Spain-set offerings, but it’s a pleasant companion piece. With both humor and reflection, it shows that white-hot passions might go out of romance with age, but feelings don’t.