The Teacher-Student Relationship in Annie Hall

Rating: 9/10 (15 February 2009)

The film Annie Hall is not only the story of a couple's relationship of absurdities and irritations; it is perhaps about the teacher-student journey of such a relationship. But it is told mostly through the disjointed prism of Alvy Singer (Woody Allen), a neurotic comedian- writer obsessed in philosophical and intellectual masochism, in juxtaposition to Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) whose character expresses a flighty, yet passive acceptance in "becoming" every lover she is involved with. While Alvy impresses the importance of adult education, Bergman films, and his general concern of maintaining a certain level of New York snobbery in the face of Hollywood, Annie becomes his understanding, nurturing muse, who attends the night school courses Alvy wants her to take, often wears the same clothes/fashion sense that Alvy does, and with Alvy's encouragement, sings jazz standards in a club.
Although we do notice at times Annie's charming transparency of innocence and wisdom, the film does tend to weight the point-of-view of Alvy more heavily. Despite sharing each other's breaking-the-fourth-wall memories of family, former relationships, and views on life, a lot of Annie's interior soul remains unanswered, while Alvy's is more in the forefront. This is the story of Alvy, in any case: it is his inflexibility and private/public obsessions that seem to doom every relationship of his, without the ability to empathize and accept consistently throughout the course of relationship the "growing-up" of his muse/student, Annie. We also notice that the more Annie rebels or questions him (even to the point of the suspicion of a small affair Annie has with the instructor whose class he told her to attend), his fear and possessiveness rises in proportion.
Alvy's loss of ownership of Annie is at its height when she leaves him to pursue a career in music in Hollywood, as we see their love relationship crumble. It's not because Annie physically left him for another city or lover, but because Alvy remains steadfast as wanting to remain Annie's teacher. One wonders whether this relationship is the expression of Alvy and what he wants his significant other to be and enjoy - a sort of authoritarian, human behavioral project to mirror himself in his lovers.