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- Woody Allen responds
Director Woody Allen announces plans to retire from filmmaking after his 50th movie. Allen is a prolific writer and director, some of his best known works include Manhattan, Annie Hall, and Midnight in Paris. Over the course of his career, Allen has earned four Oscar wins for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Allen's films are known for their quick wit and biting sarcasm with a musical quality to the direction.
Allen's career has been overshadowed by a series of controversies spanning several decades. Allen had a 12-year relationship with actress Mia Farrow, that ended in 1992 when she discovered he had taken explicit photographs of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn who was 21 years old at the time. The following year, Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Allen and Mia Farrow, came forward will allegations of molestation against Allen. Shortly after these allegations, Allen and Previn went public with their relationship, where he faced backlash from the media and film industry. In spite of the criticism, the two married several years later once Allen lost his custody battle and the charges against him were dropped.
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While working on his 50th film, Allen reveals he is retiring from filmmaking and plans to focus more time on writing. Variety reports Allen confirmed that his new film will be his last in an interview with a Spanish newspaper. Having trouble getting financial backing and support in the United States, Allen has been releasing his most recent films with a European audience in mind. His latest film, set in Paris, will be entirely in French.
Following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Dylan Farrow wrote an op-ed where she recounted her alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Allen. She criticized the media's blind spot for Allen's transgressions at the height of the TimesUp and #MeToo movements. Allen has repeatedly denied these accusations, with him and Previn both accusing Mia Farrow of coaching Dylan Farrow and otherwise abusing her children. While Allen has never been charged with any crime in a court of law, his legacy as a filmmaker was irreversibly tarnished when these accusations resurfaced.
In spite of having well documented, public accusations against him, Allen managed to have a successful career well after these allegations initially came to light. Many well known actors and celebrities publicly supported and came to Allen's defense after Dylan Farrow's 2014 open letter in The New York Times. However, once #MeToo shifted the conversation, Hollywood began to distance itself from Allen. His retirement seems inevitable considering his decades-long career, but it still has left many wondering why it took so long.
UPDATE: 2022/09/19 11:54 EST BY CHRIS AGAR
Woody Allen responds
Per a statement from his rep sent to IndieWire, Allen says he does not have plans to retire after completing work on his next movie. Read the statement below:
“Woody Allen never said he was retiring, nor did he say he was writing another novel. He said he was thinking about not making films, as making films that go straight or very quickly to streaming platforms is not so enjoyable for him, as he is a great lover of the cinema experience. Currently, he has no intention of retiring and is very excited to be in Paris shooting his new movie, which will be the 50th.”