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"I just met a wonderful new man. He's fictional, but you can't have everything."
Cecilia

The Purple Rose of Cairo is a 1985 American romantic fantasy comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, and Danny Aiello.

In 1930s New Jersey, Cecilia (Farrow) is a downtrodden waitress with an abusive husband, Monk (Aiello), and little to look forward to in her daily life. She escapes her troubles by going to the movies as often as she can and getting lost in beautiful love stories. In the latest movie, The Purple Rose of Cairo, a charming archeologist named Tom Baxter (Daniels) falls in love with a glamorous nightclub singer. After losing her job, Cecilia tries to raise her spirits by going to see the film another time. Unexpectedly, Tom Baxter walks right off the screen and into Cecilia's life.

Tom's exit from the movie causes an uproar as the characters left in the film fight amongst themselves. Suddenly, Tom Baxters in other screenings are trying to leave their theaters and audiences have no idea how to handle it. Real life actor Gil Shepherd (also Daniels) is forced to track down his character Tom and convince him to go back into the movie. But Tom has fallen in love with Cecilia and she must decide whether to live a life of fantasy or reality.


This film provides examples of:

  • The Alcoholic: Monk blames whiskey for his hot temper and abusive behavior.
  • Art Initiates Life: Tom walks out of the screen and Gil becomes convinced it's up to him to force Tom to go back into the film.
  • Awful Wedded Life: Monk drinks and gambles constantly and often beats Cecelia.
  • The Beautiful Elite: The characters in the films that Cecilia watches.
    Tom: I don't get hurt or bleed, hair doesn't muss; it's one of the advantages of being imaginary.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Depending on how you look at it. Cecilia is stood up by Gil, who seems to genuinely regret leaving her behind, and Tom returns to his film and is supposedly destroyed. However, she is finally free of her abusive home-life with Monk, and the final moments of the film imply that her life will get better from that point on.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: An in-universe example. After Tom walks out of the screen, the other characters are able to interact with audience all the time.
    Movie Patron: You can't talk to my wife that way! Who do you think you are?
    The Countess: I'm a genuine countess with a lot of dough, and it that's your wife she's a tub of guts.
  • Crapsack World: As the film is set during The Great Depression, life is awfully bleak. The ending proves just how cruel the real world is compared to the movies.
  • Cruel Twist Ending: Convinced that Gil is going to take her away to Hollywood, Cecelia finally works up the nerve to leave Monk... and then when she goes back to the movie theater to meet Gil, she learns that he's already gone back to Hollywood - he only pretended to love her so that she would convince Tom Baxter to return to his film, though the look on his face seems to indicate he was actually starting to like her.
  • Decon-Recon Switch: Despite its status as a Deconstructor Fleet, it is presented with a certain amount of affection both for 1930s romanticism and the films made in that time period.
  • Deconstructor Fleet: The entire film plays fast and loose with the fourth wall as the line blurs between fantasy and reality. There's also a good deal of lampshade hanging.
  • Did Not Get the Girl/Did Not Get The Guy: Gil tricks Tom and Cecelia into parting ways, leaving them both alone. Worse, it's implied that once Tom returned to the movie, all the prints were destroyed, causing him and all the other movie characters to cease to exist.
  • Domestic Abuse: Cecilia and Monk both reference occasions when Monk got drunk and hit Cecilia. Monk defends his actions by saying he only hits Cecilia when she "gets out of line".
  • Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest: Played with. And then subverted. Gil was never in love with Cecilia and only used her to convince Tom to go back into the movie.
  • Downer Ending: Again, it's up to your interpretation. Cecilia leaves her husband once and for all and plans to run away with Gil. He stands her up and was only using her to get Tom back into the movie where he belonged - where he is destroyed with all other prints of the film. Cecilia is left to cry alone in the movie theater as she watches the new film of the week, once again escaping her problems by trying to escape to fantasy again. Worse, Gil does seem to seriously regret screwing Cecilia over, flying back to Los Angeles.
  • Fade to Black:
    • While on a date with Cecilia, Tom expects a Sexy Discretion Shot to interrupt them once they start kissing.
    • The theater manager suggests turning the projector off after Tom exits the film but the characters object.
    Harry: No! No! Don't turn the projector off! No! No! It gets black and we disappear!
  • Fainting: A woman in the theater faints when Tom walks out of the screen. Later, Kitty passes out when she finds out Cecilia is real.
  • Fatal Flaw: Cecilia’s are her naïveté and her inability to roll with reality’s punches. She acts without thinking through her decisions; daydreams and is wistful to have a romantic, cinematic life to the point she can’t focus on her work or have contingency plans to live independently or financially sound; and she often (though not always) takes people’s words at face value without considering the possibility of ulterior motives. Which potentially end up costing her.
  • Frothy Mugs of Water: Once inside the film herself, Cecilia discovers the champagne is actually ginger ale.
  • The Gambler: Monk spends what little money he has either on alcohol, card games, or penny pitching.
  • Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Monk shamelessly seeing a woman in front of his wife is "bad" while Cecilia's platonic love triangle with a fictional character and an actor is in "good" category.
  • Greasy Spoon: The diner where Cecilia and her sister waitress.
  • The Great Depression: The film is set during the 1930s, and almost none of the real world characters are steadily employed.
  • Growing Up Sucks: Cecilia learns the hard way about how cruel and self-serving people can be when Gil uses her just to further his own career.
  • Hidden Depths: Arturo the waiter reveals his hidden talent for tap-dancing after the film-within-a-film takes on a life of its own.
  • Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Emma.
  • I Wish It Were Real: Played with. Cecilia watches films because she wishes life was as romantic as in the movies. But after Tom walks out of the movie, reality becomes even harsher because of his innocence about the real world.
  • Moral Myopia: Monk has no problem lying to Cecilia, but gets genuinely incensed when he discovers Cecilia has been lying to him.
  • Naturalized Name: Gil Shepherd's real name is Herman Barbedian.
  • Nice Character, Mean Actor: Tom Baxter is charming and perfect while Gil Shepherd is an egotistical Jerkass.
  • Noodle Incident: The studio head says that other Toms have been walking off the screen. Sadly, we never see what they're doing.
  • Real-World Episode: Tom Baxter lives in a movie while Cecilia lives in reality. He is incredibly innocent about several "real world" things.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
    Movie Patron: You can't talk to my wife that way - who do you think you are?
    The Countess: I'm a genuine countess with a lot of dough, and if that's your wife she's a tub of guts.
    (The other movie patrons applaud.)
  • Refugee from TV Land: Tom walks out the film because he wants to meet Cecilia. Later, Tom takes Cecilia back with him into the movie for a date.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Averted. When Cecilia is invited into the movie world, everyone is startled by her presence.
  • Sassy Black Woman: The film maid Delilah, when the plot goes haywire, drops her role and basically tells everyone off then Screw This, I'm Outta Here.
  • Sexy Discretion Shot: Tom is amazed that people in the real world can make love without a Fade to Black.
    Tom: How fascinating. You make love without fading out?
    Cecilia: Yes.
    Tom: Well, I can't wait to see this!
  • Show Within a Show: The Purple Rose of Cairo is the title of the film Cecilia loves so much.
  • This Is Reality: Cecilia has a hard time figuring out how to accept Tom's affection because he is imaginary.
  • Trapped in TV Land: Played with. No one is trapped but it's clear that characters are meant to stay in their films and the audience is meant to stay in the real world. Tom easily brings Cecilia back with him into the film for a date and they easily step back into the real world again.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist:
    • Cecilia, to an extent, because of how much she believes in fantasy.
    • Tom more so because he lives in a movie.
  • Wife-Basher Basher: Tom offers to rough Monk up the next time he raises a hand to Cecilia. After all, it was written into his character to do it.

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