Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Diane Keaton, Geraldine Page, Mary Beth Hurt, E.G. Marshall, Richard Jordan, Sam Waterston, Kristin Griffith
Interiors represented a departure for Woody Allen as his first drama, although some of his comedies until that point freely showed the wounds in Allen's soul. Annie Hall is a comedy, yes, but it's about a painful breakup. Interiors is also about a breakup, but this time it's a marriage of many years. The patriarch, a successful lawyer named Arthur (Marshall), announces over breakfast his desire for a "trial separation". His daughters Renata (Keaton), a published poet, and Joey (Hurt) who is forever in search of work which will fulfill her, are stunned to varying degrees. Arthur's wife Eve, a cold perfectionist of an interior designer, is soon hospitalized from the trauma of her broken marriage. A third daughter, Flyn, (Griffith) is off filming bad movies which her sisters snicker about behind her back. This family was hanging on by a thread to begin with. The divorce brings their conflicts and issues center stage.
Renata and Joey are the daughters with the most gaping wounds caused by their mother's coldness. Their marriages suffer. Renata's husband Frederick (Jordan) is an unsuccessful novelist who finds solace in the bottle and lashing out at Renata. Frederick also has a crush on Flyn, and one night while drunk attempts to rape her in an unsettling scene which showcases just how pathetic Frederick is.
Joey's husband Michael (Waterston) is a political activist and filmmaker who is forever put upon by Eve's insistence on polishing his wooden floors multiple times and redecorating his apartment. Why does Eve want to redesign his place so much? To get back at Joey for undisclosed reasons. Clearly Joey is the most upset at her mother. "I feel such rage against you," Joey painfully admits to Eve.
Renata and Joey find a common enemy to direct their hostility when Arthur introduces his new fiancee Pearl (Stapleton), a down-to-earth woman whose warm and open personality is so foreign to the daughters that they refer to her as a "vulgarian". They're used to Eve's distance. Pearl is culture shock to them, and to her. Stapleton's performance is the best in the movie, and she received a well-deserved Oscar nomination. Watch the scene in which she instinctively answers when Joey says "Mom".
Allen goes heavy on the symbolism, especially when we see the volatile waves crashing violently against the surf at the family's beach home. After the inevitable conclusion, the seas are calm as the daughters reflect on what they've lost, or perhaps the calm they gained. This would not be Allen's last foray into drama, and future films only reflect his renowned versatility as a writer and director. There are no laughs to be had in Interiors, but the material isn't treated in heavy-handed fashion. It is tempting to suggest we wish we had these people's problems. They are affluent, yes, but all of the money in the world won't shake them free of their guilt, anger, and resentments. We feel sorry for someone like Eve, who realizes only too late what caused Arthur to want to leave her. This drives her to multiple suicide attempts, not necessarily because Arthur is gone, but because he isn't coming back.
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