Purple Rose

Woody Allen with another marvelous masterpiece.  The Purple Rose of Cairo is so lighthearted and honest, that it is just another Woody Allen classic.  He presents his messages in such a simple way, you can't help but grin when the films are over.
I love the overall idea of The Purple Rose of Cairo.  Society today has a skewed perception that life and love are exactly how they are in a movie.  We dream of falling in love when you least expect it, and running off in the distance happily ever after.  Cecilia, who escapes her abusive and loveless relationship by going to the movies alone, is another one of these fairytale love fanatics.  She dreams one day she can have a relationship like the ones in the movies.  I can say honestly that I didn't expect what happened.  I knew there was a twist coming up in this film, however I didn't think it was going to be an actor in the movie breaking the fourth-wall and living in real life.  Usually when society watches hopeless romantic films we, in our minds, break the fourth-wall, and put ourselves in the film.  I think that is why Cecilia went to see this movie so many times.  She had this idea in her mind that she was apart of that life, she escaped the hardships of her life by putting herself in that movie.
Allen does a great job in connecting the ideas of reality and fantasy.  Tom has a charming personality.  He is great at sweet talking to women, kissing, and holding hands.  But when he is faced with real life problems, he gets lost in translation.  There are many little things that Tom can't do.  For instance, he can drive a car because he drives one in the film, but he can't start a car because he never started one in the film.  The overall problem is that Tom is trying to learn the basics of real life, and Cecilia is still hopelessly awaiting the romantic movie life.
I think the underlying theme is--who you want to be in life, and how others want you to be in life.  You have two characters trying to learn to different lifestyles, trying to figure out each others problems.  But in reality you have to get through them together.  That is when the comedy comes to play in this movie.  We laugh at the adversity these characters go through.  When love works you have two people coming together, conquering life and life's problems together.  The sad aspect of this movie is you just have two halves of hopeless wonders.  Tom and Cecilia try to make it together but reality slaps them both in the face.
The Purple Rose of Cairo is so cleverly done that I was thinking about it a couple days after I watched it.  The love triangle between Gil, Tom, and Cecilia is pretty funny to watch unravel.  This movie and Harold & Maude have been by far my favorite movies of the semester.  This was one of the Woody Allen films I have never seen before.  I am super glad I got to watch it, and I am looking forward to discussing it in class.