New look at Woody Allen sex charges
Legally speaking, let’s call for a redo of the 1990s. In this alternate universe built on facts that have been there all along, O.J. Simpson is guilty of double murder, Michael Jackson is guilty of child sexual abuse and those LAPD cops used excessive force on Rodney King. And Woody Allen, due to damning evidence expertly laid out in the new HBO documentary series “Allen v. Farrow,” is tried and convicted of the abuse of his own adopted daughter.
The documentary series by veteran filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, who have spent the past decade documenting issues of rape and sexual abuse (“The Hunting Ground,” “The Invisible War”), examines the case in which Allen, considered by many to be among the greatest movie directors of all time, was accused in the early ’90s of sexually abusing his 7yearold daughter, Dylan Farrow.
While meticulously examining the case, which was investigated but not pursued by Connecticut State’s Attorney Frank Maco, and a subsequent child custody battle through public court documents and witnesses, what makes “Allen v. Farrow” appointment television — and justifies its running time (over four hourlong episodes each Sunday beginning Feb. 21) — is that it expands beyond the case and the people involved. The docuseries looks at society’s perceptions of contentious custody court cases between parents and the legitimacy of rape accusations in the ’90s versus today.
Back then, men were to be believed; women were not, a perception that is now slowly changing. The series is also an indictment of the media ma
chines built to service celebrity culture (see: O.J., M.J.), and, for the second time this month, the media gets a welldeserved upbraiding (after “Framing Britney Spears,” which focuses on the singer’s controversial conservatorship that empowers her father to control her estate, dropped on Hulu).
“Allen v. Farrow,” as you would expect, features the enthusiastic participation of Allen’s expartner, actress Mia Farrow and her children Dylan, Fletcher and Ronan Farrow, as well as friends and witnesses who include singer Carly Simon. But we also hear the voices of Allen and his wife — Mia Farrow’s adopted daughter SoonYi, with whom Allen was having an affair during the salacious proceedings — even though they declined to participate. Allen’s voice is heard through the audiobook of his 2020 memoir, “Apropos of Nothing,” and SoonYi defended him in a 2018 interview with Vulture.
It’s actually a little surprising how badly Allen comes off in these audio excerpts (he has, of course, completely denied any allegations of impropriety).
The series is incredibly absorbing. Part one gives us the backstory — who Woody Allen and Mia Farrow are and how their relationship and film collaboration made them New York’s power couple of the 1980s — and introduces us to the case and its main actors. Parts two and three delve into the details of the case itself, and part four focuses on the devastating fallout, both emotionally and professionally, and the larger social issues it represents.
Talk about cancel culture: In the 1990s, Mia Farrow was reviled in the court of public opinion, and she hasn’t worked steadily since; Allen has continued to churn out about a film per year and is currently working on his 51st. While a new reckoning has surrounded Allen in the #MeToo times — his U.S. release contracts have been voided and prominent actors who appeared in his movies such as Timothée Chalamet, Selena Gomez, Kate Winslet and many others have expressed regret for working with him — the fact of the matter is that his 2019 film, “A Rainy Day in New York,” made a respectable $22 million at the international box office and went on to profitability in the home video/streaming realm.
But the most compelling voice in “Allen v. Farrow” is Dylan herself. Perhaps the most fascinating part is when she confronts the clearly conflicted Maco, who had said that there was compelling evidence that Allen committed sexual abuse but declined to press charges because he felt the trauma of putting Dylan on the stand would be too much for the child.
The docuseries ends as it should: with Maco and Dylan, now 35, meeting across a backyard table, with emotions flowing.