Film Review — “Husbands and Wives” (1992)

Following in the footsteps of “Scenes From a Marriage” by the masterful Ingmar Bergman, Woody Allen offers a wise and witty analysis of modern day matrimony.

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This brilliant, devastating film about the relationship highs and lows of two New Yorker couples is a Woody Allen classic.

Featuring Mia Farrow (the last of his films to do so) and released amid the chaos of their very public, acrimonious break-up, it is also a case of life imitating art as their onscreen characters brutally dissect the intricacies of their relationship.

Also starring Judy Davis and the late Sydney Pollack (both on sensational form as divorcing couple Jack and Sally), “Husbands and Wives” asks uncomfortable questions about romantic relationships. If an apparently happy couple can split up, is any relationship safe? Is anyone ever really satisfied? And does coupledom mean abandoning our fantasies of what love can be?

The film is shot documentary style, and clever use is made of “off camera” interviews with each of the protagonists to provide further insight on their motivations and viewpoint. It is a technique Woody Allen rarely employs in his films, but it is handled with a deft touch as action sequences are interspersed…