In a chat with Indiewire‘s Anne Thompson, Luca Guadagnino mentioned the persecution of Woody Allen. He said he frowns strongly upon “the perverted and primordial enjoyment of a kind of ‘Scarlet Letter’ trial of a man. I still am a believer in [the] state of rights. Mr. Allen went through many investigations 20 years ago and was cleared.

“[And] the Woody Allen legacy –— those movies are there, and they are fantastic. Anyone who denies that Another Woman is a masterpiece is stupid!”

I can’t honestly say that Another Woman, released in October ’88, burns all that brightly in my memory. My most vivid recollection is a romantic confession moment with Gene Hackman, whose part is relatively small. Gena Rowlands has the lead role; Ian Holm and Mia Farrow costar. 31 years ago the film was regarded as Ingmar Bergman-esque, and specifically a riff on Wild Strawberries.

Now I want to see it again, except the only way I could do that would be to buy the 18 year-old DVD.

The primary focus of the Thompson chat was Luca’s The Staggering Girl, a 35-minute short which I saw and favorably reviewed last Tuesday. Its submission to Directors Fortnight led to Guadagnino’s first Cannes invitation. “I’m a Venice man,” said Guadagnino. “I am a nouvelle vague person, [and] this is my first time in Cannes. [But] I felt at home. Maybe this is the beginning of a new phase for me.”