31 Dec Sweet and Lowdown

After his great success with Take the Money and Run, Woody Allen, who directs Sweet and Lowdown, the production company he worked for gave him a dream contract: to write whatever he wanted. They were expecting a comedy, but Allen, a clarinettist and jazz enthusiast instead wrote a screenplay The Jazz Baby. The executives weren’t happy with his ambitious idea, and after some discussion, Allen instead decided to direct Bananas, a comedy about a man who accidentally becomes the leader of a revolution in his attempt to impress a woman.

Years later, with his still-existent passion for jazz and a reputation for comedy being well established, Allen wrote and directed Sweet and Lowdown, a comedic drama about a jazz guitarist who falls in love with a mute woman while struggling against criminal forces. It was a well-received film and the two starring roles, played by Sean Penn and Samantha Morton, both received Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

The film is set in the 1930s, where has-been jazz guitarist Emmet Ray spends his time between bouts of excessive drinking and shooting rats at local garbage dumps. Despite believing that falling in love would ruin (what was left of) his musical career, he finds himself in a double-date with a shy, mute laundress by the name of Hattie. What follows is a tragic and comedic story of poor life decisions and the implications thereof.

31 December | Monday | 18:00 | ST Movies Plus | ch 100 | Super Package