Annie Hall (1977)
Woody Allen sub-titled Annie Hall "A Nervous
Romance", and it is certainly that. It's a very touching,
sweet and funny exploration of male/female relationships based on
the real life romance of Allen and Diane Keaton (who's nickname is
'Annie'), which had ended by the time the movie was made.
Allen essentially plays himself (as usual) as a neurotic Jewish
New Yorker who is funny, sad, self-centred, basically decent,
alienated and a hypochondriac all at the same time.
Keaton manages to portray All-American Midwestern Annie as a
real person - No mean feat in what was a demanding role where she
had to show her character in a wide variety of time periods and
situations.
 She pulled it off admirably and convincingly and
deservingly won a Best Actress Oscar for her work here.
Heavy on biography and psychoanalysis, the movie develops via
flashbacks, monologues and blackout sketches and includes an
amazingly strong supporting cast; Carol Kane, Shelley Duvall,
Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, John Glover, Shelley Hack,
Beverly D'Angelo, and (in a shot from so far away that the only
way you'll know it's her is from the credits) Sigourney
Weaver.
But perhaps the real star of the show is Jonathan Munk, who
plays a nine-year-old version of Allen's character, Alvy Singer.
The kid's absolutely hilarious.
Annie Hall went a long way towards establishing Allen in
the front ranks of serious directors and picked up Oscars for Best
Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture (beating Star Wars).
Allen did not attend the Oscar ceremony, preferring instead to
keep his regular jazz gig in Manhattan than visit LA.
|
