Annie Hall

Woody Allen, USA, 1977
3.5 out of 4 stars

At first I was worried. I consider Allen, perhaps unfairly, to be a misogynist at best, a child molester at worst (how the icons of the 70s have fallen – in his case, due to both new ideas in general and new misdeeds on his part) so I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a film that began with his self-indulgent mug filling up the screen while he told unfunny jokes and made observations about himself that didn’t seem to be particularly insightful.

That said, whatever baggage Allen carries for me as a kid from the MTV generation who’s never even seen one of his films before was basically set aside after that brief sequence, after which the film became funnier and more insightful at a lightning pace.

I can only imagine that some aspects of this film were much more revolutionary when it came out, such as the confessional, talking-to-the-camera aspect of it. While we may have suffered more than benefited from this development (in my opinion, many much less talented comedians have become way too self-centered and self-indulgent in their films these days), it works surprisingly well here. Allen is quite funny and his persona is more likeable and more complex than it seems at first glance.

The off-kilter chronology of the film is something else that we see in a lot of self-consciously “quirky” movies that are released today, and it’s here that we also see Allen work with greater skill (and of course, with more innovation) than most of his imitators, seeming to tap into an emotional logic with his chronology rather than merely indulge in clever gimmicks).

Finally, the title character, as performed by Diane Keaton, is given much more personal and self than I would have expected. Of course, Allen’s persona dominates the film’s narrative and threatens to squeeze out Annie’s perspective entirely, but Allen still provides Keaton with enough moments to bring across herself as an equal partner in the relationship and a person of her own. Compare this to something like Zach Braff’s Garden State, where Natalie Portman’s character (through no fault of her own) is more a collection of attractive quirks than something approaching a self-possessed character with her own presence.

And of course, it’s just a really funny film. From what I hear, I shouldn’t ruin it by watching his later work, in which his bad urges seem to get the better of him.

Source: Warner DVD
23 Dec, 8:13 PM