What Woody Allen Is Best Remembered For.

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2020)

"Annie Hall" seems to be everyone's favourite Woody Allen picture. It was his first masterpiece as well as his crowning work. When people think of Allen, even if they are not familiar with this, always picture him in his famous green jacket he wears here. It is not my favourite film of his (my favourite of his is the 1986 masterpiece "Hannah and Her Sisters") but this has the most instant identity among all his films. It is also the one that packs the most hilarity with philosophy.
Allen loves basing characters on himself, especially his early films. In this he plays insecure New York comedian Alvy Singer. He doesn't really suffer from depression, but he's hardly ever happy. He only sees the worst in things and never wants to belong to a club that would have someone like him as a member. As a child his parents fought constantly and they literally lived underneath a roller coaster in Coney Island. He's been seeing a shrink for fifteen years and still goes. He's been divorced twice by great women whom he over-analyzes.
Alvy soon meets his seeming perfect match: performing artist, Annie Hall. Annie is almost the opposite of Alvy, making her the perfect woman for him. They fall madly in love and their blossoming romance is quite beautiful. With their love blooming, ditzy Annie changes for the better. She develops confidence and does well in college too. But Alvy is not the kind of person that changes that easily. Part of the comedy is Alvy not changing, but it's also pretty sad. Annie's self change is wonderful.
Alvy loves Annie and Annie loves Alvy, but their romance just fizzes out (mostly due to Alvy's inability to be happy). There was really nothing either of them could have done to save their relationship. But what Alvy realizes about it is great: despite Alvy and Annie never going to tie the knot, lots great things and fun times happened when they were together. That is the central theme in this film. Annie develops success thanks to Alvy and Alvy writes a play based on his relationship with Annie. Of course, Alvy writes the play with a happy ending. We all want art to come out perfect because it is so hard for reality to be perfect.
"Annie Hall" won the 1978 Oscars for Best Picture and Director, besting out "Star Wars." I am not at all a Star Wars geek, but the sci-fi opera really should have won the gold; at least Best Director because this wasn't a special feat in filmmaking. This is a gigantic feat in writing and acting, not filming.
Woody Allen is a genius and he makes one of the great staples in American cinema.
4/4