Woody Allen

伍迪·艾倫，美國電影導演、戲劇和電影劇作家，電影演員、爵士樂單簧管演奏家。生于紐約布魯克林一個窮苦的猶太人家庭。原名艾倫·斯圖爾特·康尼格斯伯格。高中時代就為廣播電臺寫笑話，為電視臺寫娛樂節(jié)目，后在紐約大學求學。
1961年，艾倫在紐約格林威治村的咖啡廳表演自己編排的節(jié)目，深受歡迎。他的第一個電影劇本是1965年的《新的貓咪是什么？》，他本人參加了演出。這部劇嘲弄了上流社會的男女們，以偷情排遣他們生活的無聊。1969年他自編自導自演了影片《命了錢就跑》，揶揄了三十年代強盜片中的英雄，頗受學生的歡迎。1971年他自己編導并主演的《香蕉》，是一部諷刺政客行徑的喜劇片。《想知道性又不敢問》(1972，即《性欲奇譚》)，是以學生感興趣的問題為題材，全片由七個性問題組成。1973年的《沉睡的人》(即《傻瓜大鬧科學城》)也是他自編自導自演的，影片表現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代人對未來的科學不知所措，諷刺機械破壞了文明。1975年的《愛情與死亡》，諷刺了知識界熟悉而關心的事物，獲得了西柏林電影節(jié)的特別獎。1977年，他自編自導自演的《安尼·霍爾》，這部影片是他的最佳作品，獲奧斯卡最佳導演、最佳影片、最佳女主角、最佳編劇四項金像獎，并獲該年度英國電影與電視藝術學院四項大獎。1979年拍攝的《曼哈頓》，描寫紐約這個大都市的人與人之間的關系(主要是兩性之間的關系)，表露了城市人精神生活的空虛孤獨人而產(chǎn)生缺乏安全感的現(xiàn)象，獲得紐約電影評論最佳導演獎和第三十三屆英國電影與電視藝術學院最佳影片獎。
伍迪·艾倫寫作的主題不外死亡、性和不道德行為，他善于吸取無聲片喜劇的優(yōu)點，配合自己一套帶有濃厚地方色彩的機智對白，尤其是紐約知識分子式的機智。其諷刺對象上至政治、文化、宗教、性，下至電影、電視、猶太人習俗等等，如果不懂得、不理解影片中的人物和環(huán)境，他的那種“內(nèi)行人笑話”的幽默感，將無法理解，所以他的作品很受美國本國觀眾（特別是知識分子）的歡迎，在非英語國家則有所隔閡。挑剔的法國人稱他為“美國電影界惟一的知識分子”。
伍迪·艾倫基本上每年都有一部新片推出，產(chǎn)量穩(wěn)定的同時也能堅持自己的特點，這也是他的影迷們一直支持他的原因所在。他的其他知名作品包括1992年的《賢伉儷》，1993年的《曼哈頓神秘謀殺》，1995年的《無敵愛美神》，1996年的《人人都說我愛你》，1999年的《甜蜜與卑微》，2000年的《暴發(fā)戶》，2002年的《好萊塢式結局》等。2005年，他轉變風格，導演了驚悚題材的《賽末點》，好評如潮，2006年他與斯嘉麗·約翰遜再次合作了《獨家新聞》。
Before he emerged as one of the foremost American filmmakers of the 20th century, Woody Allen was a stand-up comic. Although his tenure as a performing comedian was relatively short-lived, its importance to the development of his later work was pivotal; on stage and on record, Allen honed to perfection the uniquely neurotic and uniquely New York sensibility which became the hallmarks of his career as an actor, writer and director, firmly establishing the self-deprecating, awkward persona which long defined him in the eyes of the moviegoing public.
Woody Allen was born Allen Stewart Konigsberg in Brooklyn, New York on December 1, 1935. After adopting his stage name at the age of 17, in 1953 he enrolled in New York University's film program, quickly failing the course "Motion Picture Production" and dropping out of school to begin writing for comedian David Alber for the sum of $20 a week. Two years later, Allen graduated to writing for television, working on the staff of the legendary Your Show of Shows as well as penning material for Pat Boone.
During his five-year tenure in television, his efforts won him an Emmy nomination, but like Mel Brooks, Allen found a career as a writer stifling, and eventually decided to try his hand as a performer. He made his professional debut in 1960 at the Blue Angel club in Manhattan; success came slowly, and the first major published review of his act did not appear until two years later. However, his comic worldview was different and fresh, and his talents soon caught the eye of television booking agents; beginning in 1963, Allen became a frequent talk show guest, and by the following year he recorded his self-titled debut LP, a litany of regrets about his marriage, collegiate years and stint playing Little League.
Woody Allen Volume 2, a collection of ambitious comic tales, followed in 1965, although by this point Allen was already losing interest in the stand-up form; that same year, he made his film debut in the comedy What's New, Pussycat?, which he also wrote. For all intents and purposes, his career as a stage comedian -- a period he later admitted was wracked with fear and self-doubt -- ended with the release of 1968's Woody Allen Three; a year later, the success of the feature Take the Money and Run (which he wrote, directed, and starred in) guaranteed him a future as a filmmaker. By 1977's Academy Award-winning Annie Hall, Allen stood as one of the truly monumental talents of his time, a position solidified by later masterpieces including 1979's Manhattan, 1986's Hannah and Her Sisters and 1989's Crimes and Misdemeanors. His longtime interest in playing jazz was the subject of the 1998 documentary Wild Man Blues as well as its accompanying soundtrack.