Participation in Comedy

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 2009)

Having seen only Woody Allen's recent films such as Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, viewing Annie Hall forced me to reevaluate what "a good Woody Allen film" really is. Annie Hall has already compelled me to go out and rent films from this director's lengthy archive. From the very beginning until the end of this film, through Allen's use of breaking the fourth wall and his clever techniques of exploiting humor, Allen forces the audience to become active participants in the film, rather than having it be a passive experience of sitting back and watching a story unfold on screen. The acting comes off as realistic and genuine, and perhaps is a good example of the saying that all art is autobiographical, considering Allen and Keaton's former relationship at the time the film was shot. Taking a look at a few of the somewhat highbrow romantic comedies of recent times, such as High Fidelity, the influence of Annie Hall is more than obvious.
Allen, armed with an exceptional talent for writing and dialogue, shows what it feels like to be left behind by those he has thoroughly invested in. This is a story between Alvy and a significant romantic relationship of his past, but also a story between the relationship between Alvy Singer and himself. Although Allen starts the film with the line that he "would never want to belong to any club that would accept someone like him for a member" the majority who see this film would most likely disagree and would very much like to sit down and have a tea with Mr. Alvy Singer.