The Susanna Wolff interview

Susanna Wolff of CollegeHumor.com gave FPM a little interview, where we talked about her favourite film: Everyone Says I Love You, among other things.



Tom: Alright, so i saw it around 3 weeks ago. Twice. It sort of set me off on a Woody Allen binge because I think the man's a total genius
Susanna: as you should
Tom: first off, why did you choose this film?
Susanna: It's a movie that I absolutely love and that almost no one has ever seen. I've recommended it to a bunch of people and they all always like it. Also, Woody Allen singing? I mean, come on
Tom: I can relate to that first point, I frequently campaign for my favourite smaller films to be seen and I'm never wrong. I was surprised by how good the cast was. I mean, considering the age some of them were, probably not big stars by then, it's a testament to Allen's eye I guess.
Susanna: Definitely. Natalie Portman at age 13-ish shows a lot of foresight on Woody's part
Tom: Even if she's a bit... "meh" for me.
Susanna: Haha, are you more of a Drew Barrymore man?
Tom: Not in THAT way. Gosh
Susanna: Haha. i'm just teasing you, I actually thought that Drew Barrymore was the most meh actor in the cast. Natalie Portman was cool by me, Julia Roberts was a little weird, but that may just have been her singing.
Tom: I think the whole semi-spoof vibe it had going on certainly helped to cover the slightly suspect acting of one or two of the cast. Also, i was a little surprised, not in a bad way, to see a bit of political commentary slipped in there with the Republican son
Susanna: The funny thing about Woody Allen's style of political commentary in his films, is that it's always just a given that the protagonists are liberals. And it's a safe assumption because most of his protagonists are NY Jews. I like that there is no controversy to the politics though. It's just there for background jokes.
Tom: I'm ashamed to say I never really thought of it like that
Susanna: Well, you don't have the viewing advantage of being a New Yorker. (Tom: NOT YET!) The movie is very very New Yorky in fact. Every location has specific connotations.
Tom: Oh man, they need to re-release it with a "Susanna info bar" down the bottom
Also, I've been curious about this: hypotheically, how would you feel if some guy employed Allen's character's actions to get close to you? Assuming you have a therapist, but let's face it, you're in NY
Susanna: Haha. I would find it crazy. (Even more crazy than I hypothetically am.) That sort of thing is just all kinds of Shakespearean messed up. It's the kind of plan that always backfires.
Tom: Yeah, i was SO waiting for it all to go tits-up in the film then when it all came out it wasn't really too bad. Well, you know what I mean, she didn't go crazy.
Susanna: Yeah, it was a very subtle unravelling. I really like that. It would have been so cheesy to have the secret come out and have there be some explosive fight. It's much nice to know that even if everything goes according to plan, the plan still won't work. That's a very Woody Allen conclusion.
Tom: I agree. It felt a lot more... real.
Susanna: Yeah. You've seen Annie Hall, right?
Tom: of course
Susanna: Then you know that the unhappy ending can really be delightful. What's more is that an unhappy ending isn't necessarily unhappy. It's just not what you expected in the beginning.
Tom: it's a common theme running through his films that I like. The plan or assumptions made ion the set up often turn out a whole lot differently, sometimes with little or no consequence
but it's how these people get to those places. I once had to describe VCB for a friend as she was a little sceptical and I went with "Nothing happens, it's just a whole bunch of really well-written conversations stringed together"
Susanna: Haha. That's my favorite kind of movie. It's all about the characters. Plot is just an excuse to get them to talk. Have you seen Play It Again, Sam?
Tom: I'm afraid not
Susanna: Oh man. That's another oft forgotten Woody Allen movie. You have to see it. Sorry, that's slightly off topic, but I didn't want to forget.
(It was on my rental list 15 minutes after the conversation ended)
Susanna: It's fantastic. What's really amazing about it and, actually, of all Woody Allen movies is that his character, that neurotic Jew shtick he does, was mostly made popular by him.
Sometimes you'll watch his old stuff and think, "This is just the same old gag I've seen a million people do." But he did it first. The New York Jew in therapy is him.
Tom: That's what it's like watching Emo Phillips do stand up, which I reccomend
Susanna: I am writing that name down.
Tom: alright, i was playing a game the other day, I had to think of who i would cast as my friends in a film on my life. Obviously, as you work with some people a lot of my readers are familiar with, who would you cast to play some of them?
Susanna: Wow, hard question. Let's think... I don't even know.
Tom: alright, it was a bit of a curveball question anyway
Susanna: I would probably make it some weirdo one man show. All one guy. Lots of costumes.
Bob Balaban does CollegeHumor.
Tom: I was about to say, if you had said Eddie Murphy the interview would have been over
Susanna: haha: Tyler Perry's Eddie Murphy does CollegeHumor: A Movie
Tom: Tow about this: if, God forbid, a remake of ESILY was in the works, and no matter how you felt about it, YOU had to cast it, who would you pick? re-casting the originals isn't an option.
This is a horrific alernate universe
Susanna: Jeez these question got hard. Let me think here. I know whatever I answer now I'm going to think about all day and want to change.
Tom: That's fair enough. It's clear you love the film and Woody in general, any other filmmakers you're very attached to?
Susanna: As girly as it sounds, I love Nora Ephron. When Harry Met Sally is one of the best movies. She is so great with dialogue.
Tom: You're certainly more of a character-centric dialogue person than anything else, do you still enjoy the more ridiculous and lavish Sci-Fi stuff out there?
Susanna: Definitely. If Die Hard is on TV, I'm watching it. Star Wars marathon? Yes please.
The only movies I can't stand are scary movies. Because I'm a wuss.
Tom: I can totally relate. I'll only watch a horror if it does amazingly well critically, like 28 days/weeks or The Mist or something. (Let The Right One In, too) I still haven't seen The Orphanage, which I must because Del Toro is my hero
Susanna: I had to leave the theater during 28 Days Later. It scared the crap out of me. I snuck into another theater and ended up seeing Alex and Emma, the most forgettable film ever.I only made it like 2 minutes in. I don't even know how it ends or what the explanation was. Honestly, even Shaun of the Dead scares me a bit.
Tom: It scared me a little the first time I saw it, but I was pretty young. Then I realised it's probably the best British comedy ever
Susanna: So hilarious, but that part when they're trapped in the bar is still a little frightening.
Tom: I can see what you mean. Are you one of those people that despite the plot or the jokes still finds yourself in the moment and imagining how you'd react to the situation within the film?
I did that with Saw the first time it came out. Screwed me up bad.
Susanna: Haha. I obsess over how I would react in a similar circumstance. The answer: I would absolutely die. No questions.

Susanna's superior wit and intellect can be further sampled in her articles, which can be found on her CH profile here: http://www.collegehumor.com/user:945989
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