Name: Sleeper (1973)
IMDb: link to Sleeper page
Genres: Comedy Country of Origin: USA
Cast: Woody Allen as Miles Monroe, Diane Keaton as Luna Schlossel, John Back as Erno Windt.
Directed by: Woody Allen. Written by: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman.
The Three Acts:
The initial tableaux:
In 1973, clarinetist and health food store owner Miles Monroe goes to hospital for a minor operation to repair ulcer damage. In 2173, he is revived from cryogenic stasis by rebel physicians.
Just as his orientation starts to succeed, the police raid the health facility; his revival was illegal.
To escape, Miles disguises himself as a robotic servant. He is delivered to the house of citizen Luna Schlossel, who assigns him tasks that illustrate life in 2173.
Delineation of conflicts:
The State, under the direction of The Leader, seeks to have everyone fully assimilated into society. Miles kidnaps Luna to escape yet another police raid. Luna is initially loyal to the State, but when captured and threatened with mind wipe, she converts to the rebel cause.
Miles is captured, but not before Luna escapes with his help. Miles is assimilated by the State. Luna finds the resistance, and becomes enamored of Enro, the resistance boss, and with his ideology. By the time Luna and Miles meet again, their positions have reversed, and he does not remember her.
Erno tasks Luna with getting Miles to the rebel camp. They set about restoring Miles' memory. Erno sends Luna and Miles to stop the Aries project. The State, of course, has other ideas. Miles' jealousy threatens the rebel mission.
Resolution:
The showdown is about the fate of the Aries project (not sure about the spelling here; I think I auto-corrected it).
One line summary: Nebbish from 1973 fights the State in 2173.
Statistics:
Cinematography: 8/10 The scifi part of the set design was clever and well done. The natural backdrops of the Colorado countryside complemented quite well the futuristic parts of the film.
Sound: 8/10 The Preservation Hall Jazz Band performed with Woody on clarinet for the wordless comedy action sequences. That was fun and whimsical. The actors were miked OK. I could hear the dialog, but sometimes the voices seemed hollow.
Acting: 8/10 There was some great physical comedy here. Allen's delivery of some of the lines made all the difference. I liked Keaton and Beck. As a side note, according to the TCM announcer, Woody kept pulling Keaton off the set of Godfather II (1974) in order complete Sleeper (1973) to his satisfaction.
Screenplay: 10/10 The comedy action sequences and one-liners were just brilliant. Some of the futuristic 'inventions' (the Orgasmatron, the Orb, the Telescreen, the Confessor robot) were hilarious. Apparently Woody Allen consulted the well-respected science fiction writers Isaac Asimov and Ben Bova about the feasibility of his sets. The rebels versus State plotline was a bit weak, but is was just there for lampooning. I especially enjoyed the historical misunderstandings of 2173 scientists shown during Miles' orientation.
Final Rating: 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment