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Shadows and Fog

1991

Woody Allen

Woody Allen, John Malkovich, Mia Farrow, Madonna ...

6.7

7,053

Comedy. Mystery A strangler is sowing panic in the city, cloaked in a dense fog. The insignificant Kleinman is wakened in the middle of the night to participate in a plan ending with the criminal’s arrest. But his specific role in this plan is never very clear. His fearful steps in the deserted streets cross paths with those of a circus sword-swallower just left by her boyfriend, one of the clowns.

	Author	Review
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"It is different (...) It's unpredictable, with its own tone and rhythm, even though, like all of the director's work, it's a mixture of the sincere, the sardonic and the classically sappy."	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"Dear Woody, (...) [This movie] it’s so tepid and 'small', so shamelessly patched together from other works, that it’s like an unwitting parody of everything that’s ever gone wrong in your filmmaking."	NEG
United Kingdom	Angie Errigo Empire	"At best its slight plot reserves its pleasures for the more elitist wing of Allen devotees (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"The maddeningly unfocused 'Shadows and Fog' is a noble misfire. Allen has sketched the outline for a great movie without mustering the inspiration to make it come alive the way he did with 'Crimes and Misdemeanors'."	NEG
United States	Variety Staff Variety	"A sweet homage to German expressionist filmmaking and a nod to the content of socially responsible tales since narrative film began. Allen's fans will regard this as a nice try that falls short."	POS
United States	Desson Thomson The Washington Post	"It's the equivalent of a modest sketch that catches your eye for a moment, then fades from memory the moment you've passed it by."	NEG
United Kingdom	David Parkinson Radio Times	"Short on humour, perhaps, but this curio is laced with ideas that took on a new relevance when news broke of his split with co-star Mia Farrow (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"An inconclusive charade for celebrity guests, Allen's film (...) will add to the general sifting through the oeuvre for relevances to his personal predicament, without registering as a work on its own."	NEG

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