The latest Woody Allen film that I saw last night absolutely mesmerised me way past bedtime. To me, it is about a woman, Helena (played by Gemma Jones), who had given up everything to dedicate her life to her daughter, Sally (Naomi Watts), and husband Alfie (Anthony Hopkins). They used her up till she was practically spent then turned to drink and a fortune-teller, Cristal (Pauline Collins), finally leaving them both to their own devices without her.

Helena´s daughter had married a useless untalented waster of a writer, who had thrown all his skills and education away for pursuit of his dream, at Helena´s expense. And he did not treat Helena well; although he enjoyed spending her money, including on wooing his and his wife´s neighbour. Alfie meanwhile, in a mid-life crisis, divorces Helena in search for younger women and the baby boy he had always wanted but Helena could not provide. Sally ends up having to get a job to support her sponging husband. Sally becomes very successful in her job and grows as a person, finally realizing that her marriage was useless and that her husband was no good. She is then approached by a competitor to the art gallery whom she worked for and offered the chance of a partnership. Sally then asked Helena if she would be happy to give her a loan for this purpose, and Helena at first agreed, so Sally set about cutting all ties with her job.

Meanwhile, Helena had started to take control of her situation and make the best of her life. She found solace in the less-than-truthful fortune Cristal, who not only told her untruths and took her money, but also helped her re-build her life and find herself and her identity. Cristal tells her that she will meet a tall dark stranger. And so she does, well a fair and squat stranger, but one totally on Helena´s newly-evolved wavelength. Together, they go to seances, tend to his second-hand spiritual books in his shop, and talk about their past lives.

Alfie finds life after Helena not the easy ride he had expected and ends up hiring a prostitute, falling in love with and marrying her. He knows she is only interested in his money, all of which he fritters away to buy her love. She rewards him by getting pregnant (we are led to believe with the much-wanted boy), only Alfie has no way of knowing whether the boy is going to be his or the sexy gym instructor, whom he had caught making love to his wife. After ditching Helena and totally embarrassing her by being seen everywhere with this trashy prostitute (think Jerry Springer show, trailer trash and wannabe WAG, and you are close), Alfie returns with his tail between his legs and asks Helena back. Helena says no. Helena also says no in the end to her daughter´s loan, explaining that Cristal said that it would not work out and the business would fail. The daughter is aghast, having given up her job and severed all ties with it.

I see Cristal here as the giver who had given too much and then reclaimed herself. She may be foolish seeing Cristal and taking her advice. However, there is another point of view. Helena had been used all her life by her husband and child, gave up everything for them, even her self-identity, and simply lived as their selfless wife and mother. She was used by the ones she loved, who did not give her back the support and love she needed. And then there came a time when she made the decision on who was going to use her now. She chose Cristal for this task, because Cristal not only used her but also gave her back her life and identity. She gave her hope and self-pride. Helena grew and flourished, and in the end gave the proverbial two fingers to those who had become accustomed to seeing her as a provider that they could use, rather than a person with her own life and her own needs. Helena finally found herself and became happy. Go Helena, you kick ass girl!