ANNIE HALL
A film review by Ted Prigge
Copyright 1997 Ted Prigge
Director: Woody Allen Writers: Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelly Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurst, Christopher Walken, Marshall MacLuhan, Dick Cavet, John Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Beverly D'Angelo, Sigourney Weaver
When trying to pick the film in a director's oeuvre that should be referred to as his or her masterpiece, one should not go for the one that was the best over all, but the one that best represents them as a human being. Directors, contrary to popular opinion, are human beings and are trying to inject themselves into their art in one way or another. Whether it's Martin Scorsese telling stories of his home town in "Mean Streets" or Tony Scott telling homoerotic stories in "Top Gun" (you know it's true, that movie is so homoerotic, it's campy), the director has expressed himself with his piece of art, even if it is "Top Gun." Well, I pick "Annie Hall" as Woody Allen's masterpiece. I think it IS his best film, although that is up for argument but has nothing to do with whether it's his masterpiece. He has several masterpieces ("Manhattan," "Hannah and her Sisters," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Sleeper"), but none better represent Woody as a person.
One thing you must realize is Woody has been bad with relationships. He was married twice before meeting Diane (I think) and, well, you know all about he and Mia (I actually read her autobiography - interesting...). Well, Woody explains why he continues to go on with them after failing at them several times in this film. On the surface, it's a romantic comedy (and a damn good one at that). If you watch closely (not that closely, really), you see that it is Woody giving a theory he has and showing an example of it. His theory? Glad you asked: Love is annoying and pointless and everything, but we're in it 'cause we need it, 'cause we need to feel liked and to like someone else and perhaps change them a bit, infusing ourselves into their psyche, even if it is just for a bit. We are, in fact, all unique because we've met other people and are all walking around with bits and pieces of eachother on ourselves. Well, that's what I got from this film.
The film is also incredibly autobiographical, although Woody has reportedly denied it is (uh huh). Granted, some of the parts of the protagonist's life are very over-exaggerated, I'm sure something similar happened to him in his childhood. Woody plays Alvy Singer, a stand-up comedian and comic writer (big stretch). The film begins with a brilliant stand-up routine delivered to the camera as he stands in front of a blank wall. He tells some old vaudevillian jokes (example: "There are two women at a resort, and they're eating, and one of them says: 'The food here is really terrible.' And the other woman says, 'Yes, and in such small portions!'") He then goes on to explain how each applies to his life, giving an odd, universal twist on all of them. He explains that he's pretty tired of himself and how much he was in love with a girl named Annie Hall (Diane Keaton, of course, in her Oscar-Winning role), and how they are now broken up. He says he has been thinking about their relationship a lot and sifting it through his mind. And that's what we get for the next 90 minutes: sifting of his relationship, trying to figure out what went wrong and why he still wants to get into other relationships.
The film, done in a great non-linear form, expresses his views on love and friendship as we see Woody drifting from scene to scene in the most original ways possible. The funniest scene takes place when he first meets her and he goes to her apartment to drink and talk a bit. As they talk about her photography, sub-titles appear below them, stating what they are thinking at that exact moment (example - Alvy: "I wonder what she looks like naked," Annie: "He's too smart for me; hang in there.") It's possibly the most brilliant scene in the film. Another scene involves cartoons when they break up for the first time with Annie portrayed as the witch from "Snow White." Another brilliant scene takes place when Alvy eats at Annie's parents house and he comments on how different his Brooklyn family is to her New England family. Then the screen splits and we see half of Annie's family talking peacefully and the other half is Alvy's family, bickering about passover.
The film has no real plot or anything, but we see Alvy trying to form Annie into what he wants her to be, kind of like "Pygmalion" (only funnier). First off, she takes pictures beautifully, but he wants her to learn about "asthetics" and take classes on it. Second off, she sings in a club and has never taken a lesson. Woody urges her to continue singing and take lessons and all, but her voice is beautiful without them (interesting side-note: Diane is on the original 1969 cast album of "Hair" in a minor role). She's also a tad on the vapid side and sometimes has no idea what he's saying (much of her dialogue consists of "yeah, oh yeah?" but Diane does it so convincingly that it sounds totally realistic), so he convinces her to go to school and take some adult college courses. This backfires as she not only has a crush on one of her professors, but she becomes smarter and the two outgrow eachother, forgetting why they were attracted to eachother in the first place. This happens all the time with couples: they fall in love with eachother but are always trying to change them for the "better." This is probably the reason why so many divorces occur.
One of Woody's biggest pet peeves is California vs. New York. All his films (save a couple) take place in New York, mostly in Manhattan ("Play it Again, Sam" was actually filmed in California, but it was a different director). His best friend, Rob (the great Tony Roberts), is a TV actor who lives out there and Alvy uses him to not only be his designated best friend, but also part of the satire of California. He's always convincing him to come out, but Alvy doesn't want to change himself. He's lived in New York his whole life, in garbage. When he and Annie go out to California so he can do a TV special, Woody remarks about how bad it is, how superficial everyone is and how it's clean because "they dont' throw away they're garbage; they make it into TV shows."
By the end, Alvy and Annie are done for, but we already knew that. All he's left with is what he got from her, how she has rubbed off on him and he is a slightly different person. He carries around black soap she used for her complexion, and she takes later boyfriends to see "The Sorrow and the Pity," a 4-hour holocaust film Alvy dragged her to see numerous times. And at the end, Alvy has figured out why we put up with relationship: 'cause we need them.
"Annie Hall" is also one of his funniest films. He creates hilarious scenes involving some of his phobias and nebbishes. One scene towards the beginning has him being harrassed by scary guys in front of a theatre before a date with Annie where they ask him if he's been on the "Johnny Carson show." Another painfully funny scene (that's a good thing, believe me) involves Alvy sniffing a bit of coke and then sneezing into a pouch of it that had cost one of his friends about 5 grand. But his humor is more realistic and more poignant than his earlier comedies. While most of it is still for satire, much of it is more focused on the point he is trying to make. And the dialogue is so perfect that the film seems to shoot right back at the audience, reminding them of themselves.
The scenes are short and to the point, as not to waste time. It's like he makes his point and ends them, and then somehow tails them onto the next scene. One scene has Alvy and Annie in bed, but Annie's not in the mood so her spirit leaves her body and sits down to draw. Alvy is mad 'cause he wants all of her, but her body just turns to him and says, "You have my body." He wants all of it 'cause he says he's a comedian. She asks him if he's always been funny, and he says, "What is this, an interview? We're supposed to be making love!" And the scene goes to an interview he has to write for some sap.
The acting is terrific from a huge ensemble cast, many of who get small one or two scene parts. Christopher Walken gets to say his funniest speech other than his on in "Pulp Fiction." And Paul Simon gets the harsh task of playing a music producer. Shelly Duvall plays someone he sleeps with on the rebound (Why?!) and Carol Kane plays as if she's on ridlin (compared to her other performances) as Alvy's second wife. Tony Roberts, the underrated man of the 70s, plays his typical best friend, as usual.
But the acting goes to the two leads. Woody and Diane are a flawless comic duo, much better than Mia and Woody (chemistry, please?). She plays right off his jokes, and he plays off her brilliantly realistic acting. Woody is the usual Woody character, but seems more realistic this time since the film is more realistic. Diane creates her most memorable character (to date) and does the best acting of her entire career.
"Annie Hall" is one of two Woody films to be acknowledged highly by the Academy of Arts and Sciences (the other being "Hannah and her Sisters"). It won four out of the five oscars, including Best Original Screenplay for Woody and Marshall Brickman, Actress for Diane, Direction for Woody, and the Best Picture Oscar. The only one who didn't win was Woody, who lost to Richard Dreyfus for the "Goodbye Girl." As much as I LOVE Richard's performance in "Goodbye Girl," Woody should have won for the same reason John Wayne won in 1969 for "True Grit." Woody's a fantastic actor and he makes his character in this one his most likable and most realistic.
As I've already said, "Annie Hall" is Woody's masterpiece because it best expresses its creator. But also, because it best expresses us as the viewers as we sit watching it, meanwhile living a life where we have several failed romances and we just can't figure out why we keep going out to do it over again.
MY RATING (out of 5): *****
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