ALLEN V. FARROW
SKY DOCUMENTARIES/NOW TV, STREAMING NOW
Woody Allen has enjoyed a 50year career that has seen him win multiple Oscars. His films, such as Manhattan, Annie Hall and Midnight In Paris, are beloved by fans, and when he got together with actress Mia Farrow in 1979, they seemed like a golden couple. But the relationship ended abruptly in 1992, after Mia discovered “a stack of naked Polaroids” of her adopted daughter Soon-yi Previn, then 21, taken by Allen, then 56. The pair later went on to marry.
Then came the public allegations surrounding another of Mia’s adopted children, Dylan, who has long maintained she was sexually abused by A llen when she was a child. He has denied all allegations, has never faced criminal charges, and during an ensuing bitter custody battle, accused Mia of coaching Dylan to lie as revenge for his relationship with Soon-yi.
Now, four-part HBO docu Allen V. Farrow sets out to examine the deeply divisive case, and it’s disturbing stuff. Featuring interviews with Mia and Dylan, as well as other family members and friends, the series paints a portrait of an “inappropriately intense” Allen, whose constant “smothering” attention towards Dylan as a child caused her to become “withdrawn and frightened”. Then comes the harrowing testimony of Dylan, now 35. She recounts an incident where she claims Allen took her into the attic of the family home, saying, “I felt trapped. He was saying things like we’re gonna go to Paris together, you’re gonna be in all my movies. Then he sexually assaulted me.”
The docu also reveals video of Dylan describing events at the time, and taped phone conversations of Mia challenging Allen, saying, “[Dylan’s] scared of you, and you hurt her.”
It’s alarming, as are the allegations that A llen’s relationship with Soon-yi became sexual when she was still a teenager. He has maintained she was at college, but former doormen have testified that she would arrive at Allen’s apartment in her school uniform.
Critics have been quick to point out the series only offers one side of the story. The filmmakers said, “Woody Allen and Soon-yi Previn were approached… and given two weeks to confirm interest in participating in an interview… to address the allegations in the series.” In return, Allen and his wife said the series was a “hatchet job riddled with falsehoods”, and they were “approached… and given only a matter of days to respond.” As Dylan says, “No matter what you think you know, it’s just the tip of the iceberg”. HHHH