Went to see this at the great cinema that is the Glasgow Film Theatre yesterday. It remains very funny. It is a beautiful shot film, not surprisingly given the cinematographer was the great Gordon Willis. Some of the cultural references have dated though the ideas have remained the same.
And yet, I remember going to watch it in 1980 when I was a year younger than the Mariel Hemingway character, and I don't remember feeling as uncomfortable as now with the relationship with Allen's character. Now obviously that is in part because we know more about Allen's personal life, and now that Hemingway could be my granddaughter, and again the overall greater recognition of the exploitation of young people by older men in particular that we have since then.
The odd thing is that the film doesn't really shrink back from that manipulation. The Allen character is shown as a manipulative narcissist, using his charm over a 17 year old in an obvious fashion. I don't remember much questioning at the time about the relationship in the film.
