Another Woman

Another Bergmanesque effort for Woody, and one of the better ones. Gena Rowlands is a professor who is writing a book, and rents a small apartment (Woody’s characters seldom have money problems) to get away from the construction noise in her own place. She soon discovers that she can hear conversations in the psychiatrist’s office next door through the heating vent. She covers the vent, but the pillow slips away, and though she would deny it, she is a snoop, just like almost all the rest of us. The things she hears Mia Farrow next door say lead her to re-evaluate her life, how she has treated others (much worse than she had imagined, it turns out) and how she has missed opportunities. It’s a fascinating study. Music is always important in Woody’s movies, and this one has some unusual stuff for him, mostly classical, and featuring the familiar strains of “Gymnopedie No. 3” by Erik Satie.