Search - Love and Death on DVD

MPAA Rating: PG Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Adult Humor Movie Release: 1975 DVD Release: 07/05/2000 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 25 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 6 Genres: Comedy, Parody/Spoof, Comedy of Errors

Woody Allen's Love and Death is purportedly a satire of all things Russian, from Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky novels to Sergei Eisenstein films, but it plays more like a spin on Bob Hope's Monsieur Beaucaire. Allen plays Boris, a 19th century Russian who falls in love with his distant (and married) cousin Sonja (Diane Keaton). Pressed into service with the Russian army during the war against Napoleon, Boris accidentally becomes a hero, then goes on to win a duel against a cuckolded husband (Harold Gould). He returns to Sonja, hoping to settle down on the Steppes somewhere, but Sonja has become fired up with patriotic fervor, insisting that Boris join a plot to kill Napoleon. Intellectual in-jokes abound in Love and Death, and other gags are basic Allen one-liners; for instance, after being congratulated for his lovemaking skills, Boris replies nonchalantly, "I practice a lot when I'm alone." The pseudo-Russian ambience of Love and Death is comically enhanced by the Sergey Prokofiev compositions on the musical track. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Woody Allen - Boris
Diane Keaton - Sonia
Harold Gould - Anton Ivanovitch
Sol Frieder - Leonid Voskovec
Olga Georges-Picot - Countess Alexandrovna

Woody Allen's hilarious absurdist satire finally arrives on DVD in this fine release from MGM Home Entertainment. With a choice of either standard 1.33:1 standard full-screen or widescreen 1.85:1 (enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs) presentations, the disc also features a closed-captioned English Dolby Digital Mono audio track in addition to a Spanish Dolby Digital Mono audio option and optional Spanish and French subtitles. Though extra features remain scarce, Allen fans will surely delight in the collectible booklet and the inclusion of an original theatrical trailer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide