Mighty Aphrodite
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 comedy film, written by, directed by and starring Woody Allen.
Plot
Allen plays Lenny, a sportswriter, who is married to Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter). Unwilling to have children of their own, they adopt a child. As the child grows and shows intellectual abilities, Lenny becomes obsessed with the children's birth parents, who he is convinced are likewise brilliant.
However, Lenny finds the birth mother, Linda (Mira Sorvino), is a prostitute and part-time porn star with limited intellectual interests and an incredibly squeaky voice. Lenny wants to free Linda from her life, but must deal with her pimp, Ricky (Dan Moran) and a society which feels morally superior to Linda because of her professional life.
The plot is clearly based on the myth of Pygmalion, which was also explored in the George Bernard Shaw play of the same name and the musical made from the play, My Fair Lady. Allen continues the classical theme by using a Greek Chorus as a sounding board for his feelings for Linda. Allen also uses the large height difference between himself 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) and Sorvino (5'10") for great comic effect.
Sorvino's performance won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Allen was also nominated for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
