Annie Hall
1977
1977
After five films of slapstick gags, it was time for something else. Allen had been wanting to move away from his own brand of comedy for some years. With Annie Hall he finally did it.
For most people, Annie Hall is the first Woody Allen film you hear about, and the first you ever saw. It’s been with us long enough to inspire a love that led to a whole website. It’s considered by many to be the best Woody Allen film and one of the all-time best comedies. The stars align for Annie Hall - Woody Allen’s undisputed masterpiece. Even if this was his only film, Allen’s place in film history would be assured.
Woody Allen plays Alvy Singer. Right at the start he tells us – Annie (Diane Keaton) and he broke up. And he’s been going back through it all to try and work out where it went wrong. We go with him in flashback through Alvy’s life to try and find it. From childhood, early loves, first meetings and the break up.
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– Annie Hall is the one Woody Allen movie that everyone has seen, and probably the most discussed, analyzed, talked about, and imitated romantic comedy of all time. [2]
– Woody said at the time of the film’s premiere, “I wanted it to be about…real people, real problems besetting some fairly neurotic characters trying to exist in male-female relationships in America in 1977. So it turns out to be more serious than anything I’ve ever tried before.” [3]
– This is the first time that we’ve seen Woody Allen playing a believable person in a modern world setting (although “Play It Again, Sam” tried), and it’s amazing how well he transitions. Instead of being fodder for jokes in, say, the future or 19th-Century Russia, his anxieties are that of a real character. [2]
– “It was a picture about me,” Woody said. “My life, my thoughts, my ideas, my background.” As much as [Woody] disliked the idea of using autobiographical material, he felt the need to take risks and try something different. What he envisioned was a film that would make people take him seriously. [4]
– Allen’s 1965-1975 movies were about being funny — that is, their ultimate purpose, be it through jokes, situations or plots, was to generate laughter. In Annie Hall, the goal is to tell a story about characters, and the humor emerges as a by-product. [2]
– It’s ironic, then, that Annie Hall is an innovative movie for its unadulterated look at the seemingly mundane, but relatable and integral, parts of relationships. [2]
– There is no attempt to romanticize him as a character; he’s just a realistic, self-centered, smart, needy, funny, anxious and ultimately relatable man living in a messy, modern America.
– After five pictures, filmed in California, Colorado, Puerto Rico, Paris and Budapest, he finally got to live at home and shoot his first film in NYC. From this film on, he completely became a New York based filmmaker. He drew on local talent, many of whom would become regulars in this films for 20 years. [4]
