Woody Allen‘s comments on the Harvey Weinstein scandal haven’t endeared him to those who already have a low opinion of the filmmaker due to his personal life. “The whole Harvey Weinstein thing is very sad for everybody involved,” he said last week. “Tragic for the poor women that were involved, sad for Harvey that his life is so messed up. There’s no winners in that, it’s just very, very sad and tragic for those poor women that had to go through that.”
However, the director’s additional comments that, “you also don’t want it to lead to a witch hunt atmosphere, a Salem atmosphere, where every guy in an office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself,” raised eyebrows, to put it lightly.
The blowback on the comments reached such a pitch that Allen reached out to Variety to clarify his stance, saying in a statement, “When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein I thought it was clear the meaning was because he is a sad, sick man. I was surprised it was treated differently. Lest there be any ambiguity, this statement clarifies my intention and feelings.” However, he might have some more explaining to do.
The director is currently shooting his next feature film, and according to Page Six, the story revolves around a middle-aged man who “makes a fool of himself over every ambitious starlet and model,” and sleeps with a much younger woman. It’s not a theme that’s terribly unfamiliar in Woody Allen movies (see “Manhattan“), but this description of one particular scene, is causing some chatter:
In scenes just filmed, a character played by Rebecca Hall accuses 44-year-old actor Jude Law’s character of having sex with a 15-year-old “concubine.” In the scene, the so-called concubine — played by Elle Fanning (19 in real life) — acknowledges her relationship with Law’s much-older character, but then protests that she is 21 years old. After a discussion about his infidelity, Fanning’s character then asks Law, “Were all these women for pleasure, or were you researching a project?”
The optics and timing, coming so close to the Harvey Weinstein and James Toback stories, isn’t great. There’s no comment from Allen’s camp, and given that he keeps story details under wraps for his pictures, it’s unlikely the filmmaker will offer any kind of explanation until the movie arrives sometime next year.