Woody Allen "A multitude of people have written about Woody Allen," said John Lahr, "and they either like him or they don't like him. But no one has yet succeeded, I think, in interpreting it." Woody Allen has been revered as one of the most brilliant artists of the 20th century and at the same time called a pervert. His works have been called jokes but also masterpieces. Many critics have attempted to explain why Allen writes what he writes, but none have succeeded. Allen's drive and genius have not yet been understood. Watching his films gives us two opposing points of view. One is the zany comedian obsessed with death and sex while the other is the serious artist who comments and critiques our society. This latter point of view is more difficult to grasp but is nevertheless there. Through different cinematographic techniques, Allen makes fun of our society and the film industry without us even being involved. realize. His most used technique to achieve this is the film within a film. In films such as The Purple Rose of Cairo, Play It Again, Sam and Hannah and his sisters Allen uses this technique to show us his opinion on a particular subject, and also uses it as a driving force behind his films. The most notable use of film within a film in Allen's films occurs in The Purple Rose of Cairo. The era is the Depression and the setting is a small town. Cecilia (MiaFarrow) is the central character of the film. She is married to an abusive gambler and heavy drinker. To cope and escape her problems, Cecilia constantly visits a nearby movie theater called The Jewel. She spends hours there watching films, sometimes the same one more than three times. When she gets fired from her job one day, she goes to Jewel and watches a movie called The Purple Rose of Cairo "at least five times" (Blake 117). During her fifth time watching the film, Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels) jumps out of the film and enters the theater telling Cecilia that he has noticed her loyal presence and is attracted to her. As they leave the room together, the film's cast wonders aimlessly, baffled by what has just happened. Tom Baxter's real-life actor, GilShephard, is deeply worried that this misfortune could "ruin his thriving career" (Kauffmann 37). To add to the problem, other cities reported that Baxter's character had walked out of The Purple Rose of Cairo in various theaters and disappeared. Why did Woody Allen create such an unrealistic film that critics called "the most innovative"