Annie Hall

Rating: 8/10 (2 October 2019)

In the late 1970s and early 1980s watching a Woody Allen film was like a visit to the doctor who gives you some foul tasting medicine. Ultimately it was good for you. Most film critics at the time lionised Woody especially when he started to make his films in black and white.
I last saw Annie Hall some 30 years ago. Nowadays I can watch some low rent movie and completely forget everything about it a few months later. When I rewatched Annie Hall recently I could recall some of the gags and scenes such as Marshall McLuhan being dragged out to dismiss the opinions of some smart alec or the weird outburst by Christopher Walken who plays Annie's brother or Allen sneezing on some cocaine. Of course the film was famous with Diane Keaton's masculine fashion sense.
Annie Hall started out as a murder mystery that morphed into a bittersweet romantic comedy. It sees the shift from Woody Allen making silly comedies to a self reverential continental European type comedy. There is certainly an influence of Fellini here.
Annie Hall comes across as a semi autobiographical comedy and even darkly surreal. Woody plays comedian Alvy Singer. He has just turned 40 and recounts his doomed romantic relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton.) Alvy comes from a loud Jewish family. Annie is from a waspish even anti semitic family. Alvy is educated, neurotic who sees a shrink. Annie is easy going, likes to smoke dope. Alvy encourages Annie to take adult education classes, later he is jealous as she spends more time with one of her tutors.
There is so much to enjoy here. Alvy's rapid fire wit and neurosis. He thinks someone is being anti semitic by the way he pronounces 'do you' to make it sound like Jew. Alvy breaks the fourth wall, there is animation and subtitles. When Aly and Annie talk to each other, the subtitles indicate what they are thinking including Alvy wondering what she looks like without her clothes.
When Alvy is waiting for Annie to arrive for their date, he is accosted by two strange men. When Annie pulls up in a taxi, Alvy tells Annie that he has been harrassed by two men from the Godfather. Of course the audience knows that Keaton appeared in the Godfather films.
There are several stars who make brief early appearances in this film. Apart from Walken, there is Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Goldblum.
Woody Allen won the best director Oscar and the film beat Star Wars for the best film Oscar. Annie Hall is an oddball film and it works ultimately because of Diane Keaton.