Directed by Woody Allen in 1985, The Purple Rose of Cairo is an escapist’s dream turned reality on the screen. Starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, and Danny Aiello, the film is not just a romantic comedy but a tragedy of human nature and dreams.

Set in a working-class neighborhood during the Great Depression, a waitress in an abusive marriage escapes to the movies, day after day, night after night. The film becomes her wanted reality while what is real and what is fantasy blur in this emotional tale of escapism. She is lacking in so much: money, security, and pure love. Amid difficulty came a man. Not just a man, one of the best types of man: fictional and perfect for her. While her husband did not pay the slightest attention to her, this man noticed her coming to watch the movie he played repeatedly. It was as if the characters were themselves performing when the screen turned on. As if the screen itself was a cage. And this man broke through the barrier and left all he knew for her. 

Many dreamers, readers, and film enthusiasts have wished their entire lives for a character to jump off the screen or a page. To have someone fall so deeply in love with you as to risk security and the fantasy that is a made-up world solely to be with you is a dream. This is exactly what occurs in the movie, and that is what draws so many people in.  

The parallel between the beginning and the end was unfortunate and the reason that this story is not simply a fairytale but an escape. There is no happily ever after, as I was so unhappy to find out. Her life ends at the same point as she began: escaping hardship in the cinema. This, I would say, is an important part of the beauty that resonates from this film. I highly recommend this film.