Woody Allen directing the divine couple, Jesse Eisenberg and Kirsten Stewart, in “Café Society”

« First a murderer and now a Christian », is one of the hilariously funny sentences of the new Woody Allen film, « Café Society », which opened the Cannes Film festival 2016. Vonnie (Veronica) played by Kirsten Stewart, and Bobby (Jesse Eisenberg) form an intriguing couple in the 56 th film by the New York director. We find all his favorite themes, the Jewish family with a willful mother (the excellent Jeannie Berlin), Ben, the son turned mafioso, and Woody’s alter ego, Bobby, a young red headed who travels to Hollywood and returns fast to New York.

The film is set in the thirties and it is beautifully shot, with perfect decors and costumes. There are many extraordinary characters including the actress Parker Posey, a model agency owner, with a blond wig. And a few old friends of Woody’s making cameo appearances like Douglas McGrath.

What I liked about the film is the voice-off narration by Woody Allen,  which one hears on  the first image of a luxurious Hollywood swimming pool. His presence amplifies  the film’s message all along and it is nice to get him back…

New York is the only city in the US where he wants his characters to be successful. The story, as always, partially refers to his own life, the old man-young woman relationship, the vacuity of life, the impossibility of fulfilled love and the approach of death. Bobby’s sister in the film reminded me of Letty Aronson, Woody’s own sister, with her intellectual teacher-husband (Sidney Aronson) and her no nonsense mind. His brother, the mafioso, might be the brother Woody has always dreamed of having.

Kirsten Stewart wears the most fantastic dresses all along

Impeccably filmed by Italian cameraman Vittorio Storaro, and decorated by Santo Loquasto who has worked with Woody for over thirty years, it is yet another manicured fiction film. We are transported in another world for 1 h 35 minutes and if the end is a little disappointing, we have spent a very entertaining evening.