A work of genius

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 1999)

You must replace the comments that have dogged the Annie Hall page for months. This is unquestionably one of the funniest, warmest and most enduring films of the late 20th century, and -- of all Allen's films -- the one easiest to return to time and time again. In the swiftness of its editing (there isn't a wasted frame in the whole picture), the depth of colour in the cinematography, the fashion-leading costumes by a young Ralph Lauren, and particularly in Diane Keaton's luminous performance, this is a masterpiece of modern cinema. Allen presents New York as a world in which he (in his own way) is master -- walking the streets with purpose, haunting bars and restaurants, playing out his life against the backdrop of Manhatten. There are countless moments of inspired invention: the film is bursting with ideas. Go and see it, whether a Woody