Whinging Woody

If you've had a good day so far, you may be strong enough to read this article, but if you've had a bad day... well, you should stop reading right now, and come back when you're in a chirpier mood. Why? Because Woody Allen could depress for his country in an Olympic capacity. The director was in London last week for a rare interview about his life and work, and the transcript - which can be found in full at Film Unlimited - proves that international fame, respect and celebrity don't always make you happy. Our favourite quote from the doom and gloom merchant goes as follows: 'I'm a great pessimist and I feel that it's impossible really to be happy, and that the best you can hope for is to be distracted. And I feel you can be distracted - you get distracted by your relationships, you get distracted by the meaninglessness of a sporting event, by a movie, by the work that you're doing that you think is important at the time - I think it's so important whether my film works or not when in fact it's completely meaningless... But the overall picture - if they sit you down in a chair and really shove reality in your face - I feel about it the way Freud, Nietzsche, Eugene O'Neill felt about it, and that is very pessimistic, but optimistic about this comparatively minor problem in a much grimmer totality. Have I depressed you enough?' Yes indeedy.