Woody Allen documentary deconstructs the legend

Scenes from "Wild Man Blues"

February 11, 1998
Web posted at: 3:53 p.m. EST (2053 GMT)

From Correspondent Sherri Sylvester

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Considering how much the public scrutinizes his private affairs and how much his films seem to analyze his own relationships, one might think there is little more that another film could expose about Woody Allen.

But documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple reveals something you may not have known. Allen, just nominated for an Academy Award for best screenplay for the 13th time -- for "Deconstructing Harry" -- usually spends Oscars night playing his clarinet with other musicians.

"He plays his clarinet with sheer abandon," Kopple said. "I think Woody Allen really wanted people to know he's a very serious musician.

"Inside, in the things he has control over, he's about 7 feet tall. You know, if it's his writing or his music, he's onstage calling out the tunes," she added.

Kopple, who has been making documentaries since the mid-1970s on such diverse topics as John F. Kennedy's assassination, Mike Tyson's rehabilitation and a '70s coal miners' strike in Kentucky, has just completed her latest work, "Wild Man Blues."

The film resulted from an all-access pass Allen granted her into his life as he and then-girlfriend Soon-Yi Previn toured 18 cities in 23 days. The two have since married.

In the process, Kopple learned not only about his musicality but about his social skills -- or lack thereof.

"He's not that wonderful with social things. It's sort of his downfall," she said. "His relationship with Soon-Yi is all about that sort of sanity point. She can be truthful with him."

Allen and Previn's holiday wedding was news to Kopple, but she did have a sneak preview. Witness the two clad in bathrobes, trading omelets at breakfast, as Allen observes to Soon-Yi, "I think your mistake was ordering a Spanish omelet just because we're in Spain."

And when Allen caught a cold, Kopple said, her crew captured Soon-Yi nursing him. "I mean, you name it, we got it," she said.

What else did she get? For one, a phone conversation with Allen's 96-year-old father -- both of his parents are still living. And, in Paris, she filmed his entourage, including Soon-Yi, trying to figure out a way to get Allen out of a hotel that had been surrounded by fans.

CNN's Sherri Sylvester peeks inside the life of Woody Allen
	2.7 MB/33 sec./320x240 1.1 MB/33 sec./160x120 QuickTime movie

"He was like an aging rock star. There were photographers, paparazzi everywhere. It was amazing," Kopple said.

Finally Allen opts to wave from a window, a move he makes with hesitation. "What if it's not for me? It'll be embarrassing. Maybe they're here for, you know, (Italian politician Silvio) Berlusconi or Mick Jagger, or somebody," he said.

Kopple's film opens in Paris this weekend. Kopple, who won an Academy Award for her first film, "Harlan County, U.S.A," could be an Oscar contender next year.

Meanwhile, Allen is celebrating his Oscars nomination for writing the "Deconstructing Harry" screenplay. No doubt, he'll celebrate in his own way.

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