Shadows and Fog

Shadows and Fog, known in Spanish as Sombras y nieblas and Sombras y niebla, is one of Woody Allen's darkest movies. Shot entirely in black and white in lugubrious scenery, it serves as the author's homage to German expressionism of the 1930s with clear nods to M, the Vampire of Düsseldorf, by Fritz Lang. In addition, the director also alludes in this film to the circus world, often used in his films, highlighting the use of the musical line from The Three Penny Opera composed by Kurt Weill (as the cannon song) for the text by Bertolt Brecht.

Although it is not the first time that Allen uses black and white in one of his films, this time the city is reconverted, used as a backdrop to expose the author's obsessions: God, chance as the engine of existence and life as a mere illusion that, however, is worth being enjoyed.

The cast of Shadows and Fog stands out for its apparent contrast: from Allen himself and actors like John Malkovich or Kathy Bates to others like Jodie Foster or the pop singer Madonna, without forgetting the was his muse in those years: Mia Farrow.

Plot

Shadows and Fog is the story of a puny and cowardly man who is sent out at midnight, in a city filled with mist and darkness, in search of a murderer. This idea, already sketched by Allen himself in a play entitled Death and published in one of his books, Without Feathers (Tusquets Editorial), alludes to Kafkaesque literature.: Kleinman, which is the name of the character, does not know what role he has in the plan that the neighbors have prepared to catch the criminal. From there, the film fits an endless number of situations that color the portrait of the city and its inhabitants: the world of the circus and the problems among its members, the brothel with the university bohemians, the police station and the search of the criminal, the surgeon who tries to investigate the mind of the murderer through the autopsy of his victims, the priest and the officer making a hypothetical list of persecuted... The film adds more and more characters and situations, often crazy, until reaching an end that supposes the confluence of all the characters created.

Cast

• Woody Allen – Kleinman
• Kathy Bates – Prostitute
• Philip Bosco – Mr. Paulsen
• Charles Cragin – Spiro
• John Cusack – Jack
• Mia Farrow – Irmy
• Jodie Foster – Dorrie
• Fred Gwynne – Hacker Follower
• Robert Joy – Follower of Spiro
• Julie Kavner - Alma
• Madonna – Marie
• John Malkovich - Paul
• Kenneth Mars – Mago
• Kate Nelligan – Eve
• Donald Pleasence – Doctor
• James Rebhorn – Watcher
• John C. Reilly – Police
• Wallace Shawn – Simon Carr
• Kurtwood Smith – Follower Follower
• Josef Sommer – Monje
• Lily Tomlin – Jenny
• Daniel von Bargen – Watcher