Allen and Keaton are great

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2006)

I had never seen Annie Hall until this past week. Many famous critics of the film industry have critically acclaimed this film. I have only seen one other Woody Allen film before, Love and Death (1975). With this film, I was first introduced to the director, the writer, the actor, the comedian, Woody Allen. I must say that I enjoyed Love and Death and its philosophy about the meaning of life, love, and, of course, death. I noticed from Love and Death that Woody Allen often comments on the philosophical and psychological aspects of life in his films. Annie Hall is no different. There are many different facets to Annie Hall that make it a unique romantic comedy from those we see in theaters today.
The film follows a struggling comedian, Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), and his many adventures with women, especially this one sort of eccentric woman named Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). The film does not seem to abide by the rules of continuity because Allen goes back and forth in time whenever it suits him and the story. The film begins with him telling the story and soon flashes back to his childhood. Most times, characters are looking on the action that takes place in the past and they even interact with the characters involved in the flashback. For example, Alvy has a flashback to when he was a child in elementary school. We first see the young actor who portrays the young Alvy (Jonathan Munk) but in the middle of the scene, we see Woody Allen, playing the adult Alvy, conversing with his elementary school teacher. There are several instances where Allen uses this technique of storytelling.
Even though the film essentially centers on the vicissitudes of Alvy and Annie's relationship, it is almost difficult to follow the action. The lack of continuity from scene to scene makes it difficult to know what scene occurs chronologically. Near the end of the film, the continuity becomes much better. Allen also uses some camera techniques that, up until that time, were not widely used. One perfect example would be Allen's use of a split screen. In one scene, both Alvy and Annie are shown seeing their respective psychiatrists, whom they both call their "analysts," and both exchange what appears to be dialogue between them and their analysts but the analysts do not speak, so we only hear Alvy and Annie talking. Today, it is common to see a scene such as this one, but in 1977, these kinds of affects were not widely used.
Annie Hall appears to comment on social culture. Alvy and Annie both live in New York City and Alvy seems very content on staying there. Annie, later in the film, gets the opportunity to live in Los Angeles, California and she jumps at the idea, while Alvy is reluctant. They both leave New York in order to visit California. Annie seems in her own environment, whereas Alvy actually makes himself sick and he complains the whole trip. Alvy also seems very neurotic and paranoid about everything. He always thinks that someone is being anti-Semitic, he always obsesses about death, and he always appears depressed. At a certain point, Annie tells Alvy how she perceives his view on life: "Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that?" which describes the character of Alvy, as well as Woody Allen persona in general, exactly.
Allen wants to convey the large culture gap between the East coast of the United States with the West coast with this film. Annie Hall comments on two very different cultures that exist in the United States. Annie tends to represent the Californian culture with her quest for fame and her love of fame. She is trying to become a renowned singer and Alvy seems perfectly content with the way things are. Alvy represents a New York mindset with his seclusion from the rest of the country. New York is such a unique place where people appear to be less interested in being social; this is what Alvy accentuates. In the same conversation where Annie tells Alvy he incapable of enjoying life she tells him: "I mean you're like New York City. You're just this person. You're like this island unto yourself." This explains how Annie perceives Alvy and it expresses to the audience that Alvy will never change. At the end of the film, Alvy and Annie break up for good, but remain friends. We understand that Alvy will never change and that even though Alvy and Annie love each other, they were too different to ever stay together, which is a little saddening.
From a technical standpoint, the film is great. The acting is wonderful with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton giving great performances. The film is very funny and it deals with subjects that may not have been the norm in 1977. Allen is very free when he deals with sex and drugs in the film as he usually makes fun of both of them. I love the camera angles that Allen had cinematographer Gordon Willis (The Godfather) utilize. There is one shot where Alvy and his friend Rob (Tony Roberts) are walking on the sidewalk talking. The actors are far away from the camera, but we can still hear them as if they were standing next to it. The camera never moves as both Alvy and Rob slowly approach it. What a great camera effect. Annie Hall was very good and some say it is Woody Allen's best film. It is a very refreshing romantic comedy as opposed to those seen today, which tend to be formulaic and predictable. Everyone should see Annie Hall.