A Rainy Day in New York, Woody Allen’s romantic comedy dropped by distributor Amazon in the wake of the #MeToo movement, is to open the Deauville American film festival next month.
The film, which stars Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning, will have its highest profile booking so far at the festival, which begins on 6 September. Shot in 2017, the movie, about a young couple’s inauspicious weekend break in Manhattan, fell victim to the taint of a renewed accusation of molestation by Allen made by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.
The accusation was investigated and no charges were brought. Allen has always strongly protested his innocence. But Chalamet and co-star Selena Gomez donated their salaries from the movie to the Time’s Up movement, and Amazon cancelled the release of the film – as well as its future films with the director – in the aftermath.
Amazon claimed that it was Allen’s comments about the movement that prompted it to cancel the contract; in a $68m lawsuit launched against the streaming service earlier this year, the director rejected the legitimacy of its actions.
In January 2018, Chalamet and Gomez’s co-star Jude Law said it was “a terrible shame” the film looked likely never to see the light of day. Since Amazon dropped the film, distributors in territories including France, Italy, Hong Kong, Greece, Turkey and Spain have scheduled releases for it this autumn. A US and UK distributor is yet to emerge.
Earlier reviews of the film have been broadly positive, with Little White Lies praising the “wonderful performances” in line with the film’s June release in Poland. Seven previous films by the director have been screened in Deauville, with the programme this year saying that the latest “crystallises once again the dreams and neuroses of Allen-ian heroes in a crossover brimming with charm”.
Allen has just finishing shooting a new film, Rivkin’s Festival, in San Sebastián, Spain. Posting on Instagram two days ago, Gina Gershon – who stars in the film alongside Christoph Waltz – paid tribute to the director as filming wrapped.
