The Purple Rose of Cairo

I heard about this film a few weeks ago and subsequently added it to my LoveFilm request list. I always enjoys films about films and this one was no exception with its delicate examination of fantasy and reality.

"I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional but you can't have everything"

Mia Farrow's Cecelia is a waitress during the Great Depression with a boorish husband and the glamourous world of Hollywood as her only escape. After losing her job she goes to see a new film, The Purple Rose of Cairo over and over again to forget her trouble. Tom Baxter is instantly smitten with her and offers to take her away from everything. The only niggle is that Baxter is one of the characters in the film and he enters the real world causing chaos and hilarity.

Hilarity might be a stretch as the film uses gentle humour. Allegedly one of Allen's favourites of his own movies, The Purple Rose of Cairo (the movie, not the movie-within-a-movie) is as much about the necessity of having dreams (which I feel is evidenced by the bittersweet ending) as it is about how unrealistic and unsustainable a fantasy is. I have a feeling this may just be one of my new favourites and I urge everybody to go grab a copy and settle down one afternoon to watch it.