Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.5

The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 13, 2015

The Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody Allen’s paean to the escapism motion pictures offer the world, as well as his trenchant critique of the disconnect between illusion and reality, may itself not be able to escape the intrusion of an “extracurricular” reality, namely Allen’s spate of family dysfunction bad publicity, on its own very unique illusion, at least for some who can't completely divorce an artist from his art. The Purple Rose of Cairo rather brilliantly depicts both the allure and danger of cinema, an “alternate reality” that audiences willingly enter into, at least for an hour and a half or so, hopefully leaving the petty concerns of their own lives behind. It’s Allen’s gambit in this film that the longing of Depression Era waitress Cecilia (Mia Farrow) seemingly reaches into the film she keeps returning to at her local theater, ultimately drawing one of the characters in the film, a dashing archaeologist named Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) right out of the screen and into Cecilia’s life. This intriguing reversal plays incredibly smartly on the very concept of finding an escape in the movies, for there are strata of escapes in this one defiance of the laws of physics (not to mention rationality) alone. Cecilia may indeed find an escape from her humdrum and perhaps abusive life at home when Tom emerges from the screen to stand by her side, but it’s Tom who has actually left his environment, in a whimsical formulation that ends up having unexpectedly profound emotional implications for all involved.

Ironies abound within The Purple Rose of Cairo, beyond any “meta” element that Allen’s personal life may belatedly bring to the film’s themes. It’s hard not to see the disconnect between the name of Cecilia’s neighborhood “dream emporium,” The Jewel, and its dilapidated, shopworn exterior. But once Cecilia actually goes inside, the lights are dimmed, and a supposed RKO feature called, well, The Purple Rose of Cairo starts up, all bets are off in terms of being able to ignore “reality” and become immersed in an impossible fiction. Cecilia has plenty that needs ignoring, including a drab workaday world and a brusque, abusive husband named Monk (Danny Aiello). Her refuge is the movie theater and the black and white fantasies it unspools before her wide eyes, and somehow her need to experience something removed from her own life manages to suck Tom right out of the screen and into a somewhat befuddled new “life” in the real world.

Had Allen simply stopped here at this level of artifice, he would have had a no doubt charming update of a concept that’s seen previous cinematic light in such films as Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr.. But the genius of Allen’s screenplay is how it pushes the “logic” of this perhaps magical realist premise in delightfully daft ways. First of all, the remaining cast of the film at The Jewel is left gobsmacked right there on the screen after Tom departs for supposedly greener pastures with Cecilia (and after all, they’d have to be greener considering he came from a monochromatic world). Secondly, though, ultimately the actor portraying Tom, a Hollywood heavyweight named Gil Shepherd (also Jeff Daniels of course) is called into action to try to convince Tom to return back to the movie. For a brief, shining moment, Cecilia suddenly finds herself the object of rapturous attention by both Tom and Gil, in a rather poignantly developed arc that still retains a farcical element.

What’s amazing about The Purple Rose of Cairo is how hilarious it is while it’s also one of Allen’s most melancholic formulations. The uneasy dialectic between the illusion of Hollywood and the reality of dreary and dank New Jersey is personified beautifully by Daniels and Farrow, and the bulk of the dramatic component of the film is conveyed through this odd but charming “three way” (with Daniels two of the three in different guises). Much of the comedy stems from the ace ensemble in the movie within the movie, a silly supposed late 30s romp with tuxedoed gents (Edward Herrmann) and glamorous Countesses (Zoe Caldwell) in evening dresses. (This was a rare feature film role for Caldwell, a legendary stage actress who originated the title role on Broadway in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.)

The Purple Rose of Cairo ultimately has to give in to reality, at least as it pertains to Tom and Gil and their burgeoning relationships with Cecilia. But Allen’s final act of defiance, and one which might bode well for anyone still wrestling with real life intrusions, shows that escape into Hollywood artifice is seemingly inescapable.

The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Purple Rose of Cairo is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. There is quite a bit of passing element damage, including dirt and white flecks, but overall this has a pleasingly organic look, though one with a very heavy grain field. Colors are nicely suffused and accurate looking, though grain can tend to overwhelm darker parts of the frame as can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying this review. There's moderate crush in a couple of scenes (even Aiello's basically brown hair almost disappears into the background in one apartment scene). The black and white sequences have a few "built in" oddities (like supposed frame skips), but look quite nice, with well delineated gray scale and consistent blacks. Close-ups offer commendable fine detail (see screenshot 1).

The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Purple Rose of Cairo's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track is perhaps intentionally shallow, evoking the sort of tinny, boxy sound of vintage films (the film in fact opens with Fred Astaire crooning "Cheek to Cheek"). Dialogue comes through just fine, but after having luxuriated in the isolated score track (see below), I couldn't help but wish Allen had mixed Hyman's music up louder.

The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:37)


• MGM 90th Anniversary Trailer (1080p; 2:06)


• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. I'd like to once again take this opportunity to tout the incredible accomplishments of Dick Hyman, who added so much to so many Allen films, but who had an incredibly eventful if depressingly underappreciated recording career as well. As this review was being written I was in fact listening with great pleasure to the recent Sepia Records two-fer CD of Dick's early Command Records sides, Provocative Piano I and II. (The Sepia releases are surprisingly good needle drops processed with CEDAR which are available due to United Kingdom copyright laws.) Hyman offers a perfectly adroit score for The Purple Rose of Cairo which is largely pastiche rather than the traditional Allen approach of ubiquitous source cues (though there are a few of those, as well). Hyman's name may not have made it to the apex of film composers for whatever reason, but his contributions to many Allen films prove what a smart and capable composer he could be. I highly recommend any/all of his many LPs for Enoch Light through the sixties (both under his own name and as arranger/orchestrator for other artists), and his early forays into electronic music on several albums featuring then nascent technologies like the Moog are also fun if a bit on the kitschy side.
  
  But to this isolated track in particular: what a treat! These are the complete versions of cues that are often times ended in the film long before their actual close.

The Purple Rose of Cairo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Typically films that reside upon a surplus of whimsy tend to simultaneously divorce themselves from any real feeling human emotion. An ability to join those two elements so seamlessly may be The Purple Rose of Cairo's ultimate achievement. The ménage à trois at the core of this story is one of the most unique in the annals of film, and Allen writes each of the three principal roles with a lot of snap and a surprising lack of neurosis. Technical merits are generally strong, the isolated score is a total treat, and The Purple Rose of Cairo comes Highly recommended.