Anni Hall
1. 1977, Comedy/Drama, Written, directed and starring Woody Allen, Winner of four academy awards for best actress, best picture, best director and screenplay.
2. Annie Hall is the story of a man named Alvy Singer who has loved and lost and loved some more. The woman who is responsible for his infatuation is the character Annie Hall, she shares the same neurotic tendencies and on again off again relationship’s that mark Alvy as such an odd ball. The movie itself is a recount of their relationship a year after it ended with Alvy still trying to put the pieces together to completely understand the complexities of a love that keeps on going.
3. The way in which this film relates to our text is the section involving movement and dialogue. I did not even realize how in Annie Hall the dialogue is so plentiful that it encompasses the majority of the film. Even in moments where the characters are driving or walking them are also taking and further adding depth to the movie. The camera spends a lot of time in the movie just simply capturing the characters interacting with each other, getting lost in long chunks of dialogue. In scenes where Annie Hall is driving the camera places us there with Alvy so we too can experience the fear he feels with her erratic driving. There are traveling shots as the characters walk the streets of the city and walk and talk without missing a beat. These types of shots also allow us to see into Alvy’s mental state when he stands on the street corner pacing waiting for Annie to arrive to the movie trying to avoid the people who want his autograph.
4. This film was an accomplishment for its time for many reasons the first of them being how it beat out star wars for best picture in 1977 which seems practically unthinkable today. Another reason why it was such an accomplishment was because it blended the worlds of comedy and drama and expressed itself with dialogue and content which is well above the standards for its time. The movie uses techniques such as cartoon animation, breaking the fourth wall and longer length shots that allowed for more complicated dialogue. The movie also created an unexpected fashion where Annie Hall’s style of dressing in the film was copied as it was unusual and fresh. Annie wore a lot of men’s clothing such as slacks, vests and ties
5. The two articles that I chose for the Annie Hall movie were a short essay by Roger Ebert (for pop culture) and a paper titled Woody Allen’s Annie Hall: Galatea’s Triumph over Pygmalion (profession article). In Roger Ebert’s article he details assorted facts about the movie, the awards it won and the context for the time period. He also goes on to talk about how the film is probably Woody Allen’s most important and visually challenging film. Roger Ebert is a pop culture writer and his essay on the film deals mainly with facts and observations pertaining to the status and significance of the film. On the other hand the professional article takes a look at Annie Hall and examines the different ways in which men impose meaning upon women. This article takes more of a look at the psychology of the film and dives deeper than just surface level issues.
6. I feel that Annie Hall not only a very important film for film history it is also highly experimental for a comedy for its time and it regards itself with a level of knowledge that does not pander down to the audience. Annie Hall to me is a type of film that is not often seen anymore, a dramatic comedy that does not make basic jokes pertaining to farts, and dick jokes or adds gratuitous sexual stimulation. The film’s jokes are much deeper dealing with issues such as identity, troubled childhood, the complexities of relationships and many references to non pop culture films. The way in which Woody Allen shot the film also begs me to replay the movie as the dialogue is longer and wittier than most movies (especially blockbusters) of our time and even for a comedy in the 70s his use of cartoon animation, flashing back to childhood, breaking the fourth wall and assorted moments all stood out from movies of the time. Comedies were often times more basic and straight forward and dramas less likely to feature a neurotic character who over analyses his relationship through the entire film. After watching Annie Hall I looked back the past few years to see if there were any films that were half as funny and even remotely as smart as Annie Hall was, I find it sad to say my favorite comedies all dealt with giant man boys who have yet to grow up and throw dick jokes around like their as plentiful as water or oxygen. My opinion has been solidified and I now know Annie Hall is a unique film, the type that comes along once or twice a generation and leaves its mark in history.
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Name___Matthew Larue ____________________________________ Date_____________________2/27/12______
