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 America played hard to get with Woody Allen. What did the genius do? He did not sit home and sighed. Instead he moved his creative soul to the old world and started producing his movies in welcoming England, only to watch them become, not to anyone's surprise, top hits in the world, including his beloved New York, where theatres get so crowded it becomes a project to catch an Allen movie. That's an old story and everybody knows it.
He also quickly became the most drooled-over director in Europe, and countries started doing anything for him to shoot a movie in their land, making stories with and for their people.
"Vicky Cristina Barcelona" was not just a world success and Oscar winner. It also starts Woody Allen's new cycle of shooting films in different countries, not because the story necessarily fits in that certain location, but writing stories that happen in a certain city to be featured in one of Allen's movies, as part of a business deal, except that each and all, of course, come with his incomparable wit and savoir faire.
For the past two years Stephen Tenenbaum and Letty Aronson, producers for Woody Allen (Letty is also his sister), have been discussing a film in Brazil. In the first week of October the duo will be landing in São Paulo where, for two days, they will examine possibilities for locations. Then heading to Rio, where they will be for five days; according to the Brazilian press, it is possible that Woody Allen will pick Rio as the city to star his film, scheduled for 2011.
A declared fan of Tom Jobim (is there anything more Rio de Janeiro than Tom Jobim?) Allen, who lives in the same building in New York as Ana Jobim, the musician's widow, paid a tribute to the Brazilian master when he included "Desafinado" with a long sax solo by Stan Getz in his latest film "Whatever Works."
The film also features "Menina Flor," by Luiz Bonfá, which was seen as a green light from the director to move on with the negotiations and also a hint to who is feeding the screenplay-writer with inspiration and possible main soundtrack for the film.
Two Brazilian producers are carrying a fight to co-produce the film, "Conspiração" and "02," and there is a great deal of speculation to which Brazilian stars will get to shine in Mr. Allen's new hit.
The expected rumors are on, giving Alice Braga and Rodrigo Santoro major roles in the film but there are also talks that Allen will go for older ladies like Sônia Braga and the not-so-old-not-so-new talented Denise Dumont, who had a role playing a parody of Carmen Miranda in Allen's "Radio Days" (1987).
Woody Allen might just decide to use all of the above and maybe even throw in the pot some José Wilker moments; the master has been doing his homework on Brazil and it is said to have watched "Dona Flor" and "Bye Bye Brazil" quite a few times, nodding approvingly to Wilker's performance in both films.
Fernanda Torres ("House of Sand") is not out of the list, with a physique-du-rôle very much like Allen's kind of lady star, since Penelope Cruz, anyway: tall, and tan and lovely.
Clara Angelica Porto is a Brazilian bilingual journalist living in New York. She went to school in Brazil and at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Clara is presently working as the English writer for The Brasilians, a monthly newspaper in Manhattan. Comments welcome at clara.angelica@gmail.com.
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You can have him.
He should feel right at home.
At least his once Step daughter is safe.