That pioneer of bawdy literature, Giovanni Boccaccio, inspired Shakespeare's "All's Well that Ends Well" with one tale from the hundred stories in his erotic tapestry of 14th-century Italian life, "The Decameron." 
 
 Will all end as well for Woody Allen? The auteur Bill Murray so memorably dubbed the Wood-man has announced his “Bop Decameron” with a cast led by Allen himself, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ornella Muti, Alison Pill and Ellen Page. 
 
 Allen will make it in Rome starting in July. In more ways than one, he's following in the footsteps of Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, and Luchino Visconti, who contributed sections to the 1962 anthology film, "Boccaccio '70." 
 
 Let's hope travel continues to be rejuvenating for Allen. 
 
 One reason his smash romantic comic fantasy, "Midnight in Paris," is so appealing is that it echoes Allen's youthful prose larks -- not just "A Twenties Memory" but also "If the Impressionists Had Been Dentists." 
 
 This "fantasy exploring the transposition of temperament" takes the shape of a series of letters from dentist Vincent (van Gogh) to his brother Theo -- letters like, "Dear Theo, Toulouse-Lautrec is the saddest man in the world. He longs more than anything to be a great dentist, and he has real talent, but he's too short to reach his patients' mouths and too proud to stand on anything."(The letters end with, "Sometimes I wish I had listened to father and become a painter. It's not exciting but the life is regular.") 
 
 
 
 I was delighted, not surprised, when the artists who created the poster for "Midnight in Paris" based it on van Gogh's "The Starry Night." 
 
 ||||| Woody Allen is going through a career resurgence of sorts, with his "Midnight in Paris" poised to attract a wider audience than any film he's directed in the past 25 years (and there have been a lot of films in those 25 years). 
 
 
 
 On Monday morning, the 75-year-old director said he'd soon make himself visible in another way. Allen confirmed in a press release that he would have a role in his new movie "The Bop Decameron." The film, which begins shooting in July, strings together several romantic vignettes in Rome, the filmmaker's latest stop on his European tour. It attracts the usual mix of top-tier cast members (Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, Penelope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg -- indeed, is there an actor who was born to star in a Woody Allen movie more than Jesse Eisenberg?). 
 
 "Decameron" will mark the first time that Allen has starred in one of his own movies since "Scoop" five years ago, and it's hard not to notice a parallel. Back when that movie was being made the director was also undergoing a career revival, his darkly psychological "Match Point" garnering what at the time was his biggest audience in nearly two decades. 
 
 
 
 It's impossible to know the degree of connection between the popularity of "Midnight in Paris" and his willingness to again appear in front of the camera. But his return to acting certainly comes at an opportune time, with filmgoer goodwill for Allen higher than it's been in a long while. 
 
 
 
 Of course, Woody doesn't go away even when he goes away. In "Midnight," Owen Wilson's Gil Pender channels Woody, and Larry David two years ago played the Woody character to the hilt in "Whatever Works." Coming after all those stand-ins, the sight of Allen on the big screen will provide a fitting metaphor for his current career status: Just when you think he's disappeared, you realize he's been here all along. 
 
 RELATED: 
 
 Movie review: 'Midnight in Paris' 
 
 Cannes 2011: Festival fetes Woody Allen 
 
 'Midnight in Paris': Who's that guy who plays Hemingway? 
 
 -- Steven Zeitchik 
 
 twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT 
 
 Photo: Woody Allen, right, directing Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams on the set of 'Midnight in Paris.' Credit: Roger Arpajou/Sony Pictures Classics
– Woody Allen has announced the cast for his new movie—and it includes Woody Allen. The 75-year-old director, whose new release Midnight In Paris has charmed critics and looks set to attract his biggest audience in years, will have a role in The Bop Decameron, reports the Los Angeles Times. It will be the first time the director has acted since 2006's Scoop. His Bop co-stars will include Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penelope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, and Ellen Page, according to the Baltimore Sun. Filming begins in Rome next month.