Annie Hall (1977) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) Background Annie Hall (1977), from director-actor-co-writer Woody Allen, is a quintessential masterpiece of priceless, witty and quotable one-liners within a matured, focused and thoughtful film. It is a bittersweet romantic comedy of modern contemporary love and urban relationships (a great successor to classic Hollywood films such as The Awful Truth (1937) and The Philadelphia Story (1940) ), that explores the interaction of past and present, and the rise and fall of Allen's own challenging, ambivalent New York romance with his opposite - an equally-insecure, shy, flighty Midwestern WASP female (who blossoms out in a Pygmalion-like story). Annie Hall clearly has semi-autobiographical elements - it is the free-wheeling, stream-of-consciousness story of an inept, angst-ridden, pessimistic, Brooklyn-born and Jewish stand-up comedian - much like Allen himself (who started out as a joke writer for The Tonight Show) - who experiences crises related to his relationships and family.

His unstable love affair with aspiring singer Annie Hall begins to disintegrate when she moves to Los Angeles and discovers herself - and a new life. [A real-life relationship and breakup did occur in early 1970 between Allen and co-star Keaton. Keaton's birth name was Diane Hall, her nickname was Annie, and she did have a Grammy Hall. And Woody Allen played a similar role as mentor to Diane Keaton (about New York life, politics, philosophy, and books), as did best friend Tony Roberts to Allen.] This breakthrough film came after Allen's five earlier light-hearted comedies (from 1969-1975) that were take-offs of various film genres or books, often similar to episodic Marx Brothers' films: Allen's Previous Films The Story After the silent opening credits (influenced by director Martin Ritt's film The Front (1976), starring Woody Allen), the opening scene has the main character (indistinguishable from Woody Allen himself, dressed in a tweed jacket, red plaid shirt, and his black-framed spectacles) speaking intimately and directly to the audience viewer in a full, stark closeup.

He tells two key Jewish jokes in a stand-up, vaudeville-style monologue. In his first joke, he satirizes his own feelings about life and its miserable shortcomings: Two elderly women are at a Catskill Mountain resort. And one of 'em says: 'Boy, the food at this place is really terrible.' The other one says: 'Yeah, I know. And such small portions.' Well, that's essentially how I feel about life. Full of loneliness and misery and suffering and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. His second joke pays tribute to key individuals in his life - Groucho Marx and Sigmund Freud. From Groucho Marx, the comedian learned comedy. From Freud's writings on wit and jokes, the 'pleasure mechanism', neuroses, dreams, and psychopathology [the content of the film, in fact!], he delved into his unconscious: The other important joke for me is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx but I think it appears originally in Freud's Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious - and it goes like this. I'm paraphrasing. I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.

That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women. The malcontented comic, later identified as Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) [the name bears some resemblance to the hedonistic, Cockney title character in Alfie (1966) - a similar film about the lead character's love life and his problems with commitment], has just turned forty (and already experienced two failures in his previous marriages to intellectual Jewish women) and is in the middle of a mid-life crisis, with aging bringing on signs of slight balding: "I think I'm gonna get better as I get older." He hopes to become the "balding virile type, you know, as opposed to, say, the distinguished gray, unless I'm neither of those two. Unless I'm one of those guys with saliva dribbling out of his mouth who wanders into a cafeteria with a shopping bag screaming about socialism." The film, not a standard chronological narrative, presents the free-association memories of a one-year long romance with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) that is already over. Devastated, the comedian switches from the chatter of his comedy act to melancholy.

He also switches from the clearly delineated Woody Allen character to the fictional character of the film. The film searches for his answer to the question - Why did they break up? (and by implication, why does contemporary love die?) He confesses in a crest-fallen manner: Annie and I broke up. And I still can't get my mind around that. You know, I keep sifting the pieces of the relationship through my mind, and examining my life and trying to figure out where did the screwup come, you know. A year ago, we were in love, you know. As a successful, but neurotic Jewish New York comedian, he doesn't consider himself a "morose type." "I'm not a depressive character. I-I, uh, you know, I was a reasonably happy kid, I guess," he assures the audience and himself. Fixated on his past as one possible answer to his question, Alvy looks back to his childhood, mixing a quasi-Freudian analysis with Groucho Marx-ian humor. He was raised in Brooklyn during World War II and his first childhood memories are of depression.

His over-protective, over-achieving, and panicked Jewish mother (Joan Newman) has brought her young and insecure, but precocious, bespectacled 9 year old son Alvy Singer (Jonathan Munk) to a doctor. The boy, exhibiting the latent characteristics of his future adult personality, is pre-occupied with contemplating Death - he metaphysically despairs at the impending expansion of the universe and humankind's doom to the condescending and patronizing physician: Alvy's mother: He's been depressed. All of a sudden, he can't do anything. Doctor: Why are you depressed, Alvy? Alvy's mother: Tell Dr. Flicker. (To the doctor) It's something he read. Doctor: Something he read, huh? Alvy: The universe is expanding...Well, the universe is everything, and if it's expanding, some day it will break apart and that will be the end of everything. Alvy's mother: What is that your business? (To the doctor) He stopped doing his homework. Alvy: What's the point? Alvy's mother: What has the universe got to do with it? You're here in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is not expanding.

Doctor: It won't be expanding for billions of years, yet Alvy. And we've got to try to enjoy ourselves while we're here, huh, huh? Ha, ha, ha. (He gives an artificial laugh before taking another drag on his cigarette) According to the voice-over account by an adult Alvy, he is trying to discover the reasons for his adult confusion by subjecting himself to Freudian analysis - and realizing that he has exaggerated his childhood memories. Flashbacks show his early childhood and grade schooling experience. His neurotic, nervous personality may be due to having been brought up in a trembling house underneath the roller coaster in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. In the Singer home, the house was subjected to vicious shaking each time a roller-coaster car rode by that was filled with amusement park thrill-seekers. At the dinner table, Alvy suffers - struggling to ladle a quivering spoon-full of reddish tomato soup into his mouth. [Note: The roller-coaster was popularized with a cameo in the film. The real rollercoaster -- dubbed the Thunderbolt -- opened in 1925.

The house in which young Alvy supposedly "lived" was the actual home of the ride's owners, the Moran family, who were interviewed in PBS's American Experience documentary Coney Island: A Documentary Film (2000). It was the first roller-coaster to use a steel frame. It lay abandoned for many years and was demolished in mid-November, 2000.] With a "hyperactive imagination," he also experiences problems distinguishing between "fantasy and reality." His working-class father ran the bumper-car concession at Coney Island where he would compensate for feelings of aggression by taking it out on fellow bumper car drivers: "I used to get my aggression out through those cars all the time." The camera pans from left to right past three of Alvy's childhood teachers. On the blackboard behind the first teacher, the words "TUESDAY - DEC. 1 - " (1942) are written [Woody Allen's own birthday is Sunday, December 1, 1935]. The teachers at his school are mocked and castigated for their ignorance in the profession: "Those who can't do teach. And those who can't teach teach GYM.

And, of course, those who couldn't do anything, I think, were assigned to our school." Alvy's classmates are called "idiots" and "jerks." In the next scene, an adult Alvy no longer provides voice-over narration or an objective perspective - he physically interjects himself into the past - he visits his classroom and sits with the younger kids, clarifying his childhood actions to both his teacher and a classmate. [The scene was filmed on location at St. Bernard's School in the West Village area of New York.] As a sexually-confused adult - with little differentiation between fantasy and reality, he talks back to his teacher, defending himself over impulsively kissing one of the little girls: Alvy (young): What did I do? Teacher: You should be ashamed of yourself. Alvy (adult): Why, I was just expressing a healthy sexual curiosity. Teacher: Six year old boys don't have girls on their minds. Alvy (adult): I did. SparkNotes: Annie Hall: Analysis of Major Characters Analysis of Major Characters Themes, Motifs, and Symbols Alvy Singer An insecure, self-reflexive Jewish comedian obsessed with death, Alvy is a clear stand-in for filmmaker Woody Allen.

He is introduced in stark close-up, giving a humorous confessional in a tweed getup that mimics Allen’s usual style of dress and performance. Alvy’s occupation, location, and personal idiosyncrasies resemble those of Allen, making it hard to distinguish the filmmaker/actor from his protagonist. As a fifteen-year veteran of psychoanalysis, Alvy frequently looks to past events to explain his present actions. He became a nihilist at the age of nine after reading that the universe is expanding and suffered criticism as a child for acting on early sexual impulses and kissing a female classmate. These flashbacks set up Alvy as a pessimist who has little luck with sex or relationships. He also almost immediately refers to what he considers the primary joke of his adult life: “I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.” All of these themes—Alvy’s pessimism, self-loathing, and failure to succeed in love—are established within the first ten minutes of Annie Hall. Although Alvy’s self-deprecating quick wit and intimacy with the viewer establish him as an endearing character, his irksome qualities are evident, too.

He is anal (“a polite word for what you are,” Annie says), neurotic, overbearing, insecure, aggressive, domineering, pretentious, and unusually averse to unfamiliar situations and places. Often, his actions are counterintuitive: he rejects the “intellectual” Manhattan community of which he is a part; he travels across the country to L.A. to participate in a television awards show, and then chickens out; he encourages Annie to sing until she gets noticed; he is not attracted to women who are attracted to him. He is aware and indulgent of his angst, cracking jokes about it constantly. Because Alvy is driven by the notion that art can revise life, he allows fantasy to enter his narrative throughout the film. As Alvy says after directing a rehearsal of his play that is based on his relationship with Annie: “You’re always trying to get things to come out perfect in art because it’s real difficult in life.” Allen, who based the film on his failed relationship with Diane Keaton, clearly would agree. Annie Hall When Alvy first meets Annie, she is awkward and nervous, somewhat airheaded, and tells herself via subtitles to “hang in there” because she’s not smart enough for him.

Originally from the Midwest, Annie feels somewhat lost in and intimidated by the intellectual atmosphere of New York City. Nonetheless, she has already hopped on the therapy bandwagon and joined a sports club. Her self-consciousness about her Chippewa Falls upbringing is magnified by Alvy’s propensity to make fun of it. Annie allows herself to be steered along Alvy’s path, tolerating books on death and four-hour-long foreign films about the Holocaust, but by the end of their relationship, her confidence and independence have grown exponentially. She begins to accuse Alvy of thinking she’s not smart enough, thereby suggesting that she knows her intelligence matches his. She becomes so independent, in fact, that upon their split she quickly moves to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career. Annie’s transformation is substantial, giving the film a Pygmalion-like storyline in which Annie blossoms under Alvy’s influence—so much so that eventually she doesn’t need him anymore. The film plays out much like a tribute to Diane Keaton. Whereas Alvy’s idiosyncrasies become tiresome at points in the film, Annie is nearly always a likeable character.

When Alvy goes out to California to woo her back with a desperate marriage proposal, Annie is happy and thriving and her polite refusal is practically a relief. Annie has solidified her identity and no longer allows Alvy to push her around in his neurotic fashion. She has struck out on her own and no longer pines for Alvy as she did after their first break-up, when her ego was still fragile and underdeveloped. The last few moments in the film celebrate Annie with vignettes and sweeping music, and the title of course signifies that she is the main figure of the film. Stepping out of the fiction of the film into its reality, it’s clear that Allen’s romance with Diane Keaton left a lasting impression on him. The film encourages us to fall in love with Keaton just as Alvy falls in love with Annie. It worked—women wholeheartedly adopted the “Annie Hall” look in 1977, and the film has become a classic. Rob Rob, an actor, serves as the voice of sanity that balances the turmoil of Alvy’s angst. He is Alvy’s best friend and his venting ground.

The mirror image of Alvy, Rob is refreshingly mellow and superficial, and his presence in the film provides a relief to Alvy’s constant paranoia and insecurity. Rob enjoys normal activities like playing tennis, basking in the sun, and dating women and indulges few quirks or psychodramas. Unlike Alvy, Rob seems to have a healthy, optimistic grasp on the world. But while he is amused by and accepting of his friend’s idiosyncrasies, he doesn’t necessarily understand them. When Alvy and Annie split up for the first time, Rob tries to help the situation by setting Alvy up with Pam, an extremely thin music journalist interested in mysticism who is entirely wrong for Alvy. When Rob moves to L.A., Alvy is appalled that Rob welcomes the glamour and superficiality of L.A., the city that is endlessly battered by Alvy’s snide cracks. Nonetheless, throughout the film, Rob is Alvy’s loyal sidekick and comes through for him anytime he is in a jam. The two enjoy a comfortable familiarity, calling each other “Max” in a running inside joke, but neither really understands the other.

Nonetheless, they don’t really need to understand each other to enjoy each other’s company. More Help The New York Times: Best Pictures Woody Allen Fights Anhedonia By MEL GUSSOW Walking along the streets of New York, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton and Tony Roberts run into the Devil - robust, bearded and wearing a red tie - who invites them to accompany him on a guided tour of hell. The four enter an elevator, which goes down. At each level, some of Mr. Allen's favorite enemies get on: C.I.A. assassins, F.B.I. informers, fast-food servers. At the sixth level, the door opens and - with flames leaping at their highest - Richard Nixon enters. This scene was written, shot and edited, but it does not appear in Mr. Allen's new movie, ''Annie Hall,'' opening today. Neither does a scene in which Mr. Allen, the ultimate basketball fan, fulfills a fantasy and plays ball with his idols on the New York Knicks - dribbling with Earl the Pearl, fighting for rebounds with Clyde. In each case, Mr. Allen felt that the scenes detracted from the final film, what could be described as his first serious comedy.

This time out, the 41-year-old Mr. Allen would allow for no digressions, no matter how hilarious. ''I've always been able to get laughs,'' he said recently. ''I wanted to move on. This is not a quantum leap, but at least it's a couple of inches in the right direction.'' When it was suggested to the occasionally secretive Mr. Allen that his movie was an invasion of his own privacy, he categorically denied the charge. ''It's really a work of fiction,'' he said. Then he proceeded to confirm at least the outline of the characters. ''Details are picked from life,'' he said. ''I'm a comedian. Diane sings, and I'm friends with Tony Roberts, and almost everybody I know has moved out to California.'' Both the author and his character were married twice, but, said Mr. Allen, ``I was not married to a New York intellectual nor to anyone politically committed - as in the movie. I lived with Diane for a year when we were doing 'Play It Again, Sam' on Broadway, but'' - in contrast to the characters in the movie - ''we're still the best of friends.'' The script was written by Mr.

Allen and Marshall Brickman as a comic, Bergmanesque ''stream of consciousness showing one individual's state of mind, in which conversations and events constantly trigger dreams, fantasies and recollections.'' As the movie developed, the mind of the man, Alvy Singer, played by Mr. Allen, made less of an impact than the character's involvement with a woman, Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton. Generously, Mr. Allen decied to name the movie for her. ''Annie Hall'' became the story of their relationship, which, parallels the real-life relationship of Mr. Allen and Miss Keaton. Mr. Allen's character was born in an apartment under a roller coaster in Coney Island, a definite departure from reality. Originally, Mr. Allen was going to use his own birthplace in Flatbush as the setting for his hero's childhood but, while scouting the locations for other scenes, he discovered the house under the roller coaster, and decided on the spot that that was where Woody-Alvy had been born.

Because he is both the writer and director, he simply said to the art director, ''I want to get that house,'' and changed the script - and Alvy's father was transformed from a cab driver in Flatbush to the man who runs the bumper-car concession at Coney. Then Mr. Allen admitted, ''There's one clear autobiographical fact in the picture: I've thought about sex since my first intimation of consciousness.'' There is also a clear line of fact in Miss Keaton's role. Her real name is Diane Hall. In common with her character, she calls her grandmothers Grammy, uses expressions like ''la-dee-dah'' and ''Oh, gee, its a wacky old world,'' and orders pastrami and white bread with mayo. ''I remember having Thanksgiving dinner at one of her Grammy's houses. A beautiful American family. I felt I was an alien or exotic object to them, a nervous, anxiety-ridden, suspicious, wise-cracking kind of strange bird. Actually, that wasn't so far off from what I was. After dinner, all these grammys sat around playing penny poker. I couldn't believe it.

My family would have been exchanging gunfire.'' Inspired by these facts, the movie of ''Annie Hall'' began to evolve - from concept to script, through casting, finding locations, shooting and editing - each step leaving its imprint on the final product. Mr. Allen creates as he films. This is his sixth feature and he feels that he has greater control of technique, such as in the case of the camera and of color. For example, in ''Annie Hall,'' there is a deliberate ''three-color scheme.'' The New York scenes, Annie and Alvy's love story, were filmed only on gray, overcast days or at sundown, ''the most romantic light.'' Alvy's past, at home and in school, is ''very yellow and golden,'' the hue of nostalgia. California, which Alvy-Woody hates, is shot ``right into the sun. Everybody is so white that they seem to vaporize.'' As usual, when he had prepared a very rough cut, Mr. Allen screened it for groups of 40 to 50 anonymous people. He stood in the back of the screening room, lurking, tuning his extrasensory perception into the reactions of his audience.

Scenes that didn't work, he dropped, recut or reshot. Until it was finished, ''Annie Hall'' was hush-hush. Nobody knew where the shooting was going on in New York or even what the name of the movie was. Mr. Allen didn't know the name either. He and Mr. Brickman considered 100 possibilities. Right up until the end, the favored title was ''Anhedonia.'' But hardly anyone knew what the word meant, so it was jettisoned. ''Anhedonia is a psychological state where nothing gives a person pleasure,'' he explained. ``The word hedonism is in it. We diagnosed that as Alvy's problem; nothing gives him any pleasure.'' Asked if that were his problem as well as his hero's, he said, ''I think everyone suffers from it, just as everyone is a little paranoid. I don't develop big enthusiasms. I find filmmaking laborious and tedious. I try to mitigate it by working with Diane, who I like a lot. This time I gave myself a very big treat by working in New York. I think I will try to make off my films here.'' What does he take pleasure in?

''Meaningless stuff. I get fun out of a few diversions. Basketball. Playing the clarinet. And other foolish things, like going for walks, drifting in and out of revival houses, buying records, sitting on park benches. I like to stand in line for movies, though not for more than 10 minutes. I'd make a good drugstore cowboy.'' But isn't he recognized and mobbed by his adoring public? ''I'm unobtrusive,'' he said. ''I can move around the city very well without being noticed. I switch my hat. I have three hats. I even bought dark glasses.'' He paused and thought about that disguise. ''Keaton tells me that with the hat and dark glasses, I look like Peter Sellers with hat and dark glasses, which is not much help.'' Though his films may become even more serious, Mr. Allen's life continues to be an absurd comedy. Things happen to Woody Allen. One evening he walked to the bank on his corner to get some cash from the money machine. He put his money credit card into the slot - and the machine ate up the card.

On another occasion he was sitting in his Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment when lightning struck his terrace, smashing a gargoyle. Is Somebody trying to tell him something? Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in a scene from "Annie Hall." (United Artists) � Annie Hall Movie Review "The film that beat Star Wars to the Oscar." "An effortless subversion of Tracy and Hepburn" "cynicism sunny-side up" Woody Allen's comic masterpiece sums up the anxieties of relationships in an ingenious combination of slapstick and reflective wistfulness. Annie Hall clearly represents a turning point in Allen's movie career. Described often as the birth of modern romantic comedy, Annie Hall swings between hilarity and poignancy, tenderness and cynicism. This nervous romance is one of Woody Allen's most popular films and was a huge success with critics and audiences when it opened in 1977. If anything, Annie Hall's status as a great comedy has continued growing ever since; this summer, the film placed fourth in the American Film Institute's poll of the Top 100 comedies ever made.

Main Cast Noteables See Full Cast & Credits Film Synopsis Comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) happens to meet Annie Hall (Diane Keaton), a good-looking, insecure midwesterner. Alvy has had two failed marraiges - first to a campus Democrat, then to an ambitious and devoted follower of radical chic. Currently he divides his time between professional appearances, visits to the movies and equally frequent visits to his analyst, where he endeavours to trace the connection between his present neuroses and his deprived childhood in Brooklyn. It is 1975, Alvy's sixteenth year of analysis. His manager, Rob, introduces him to Annie Hall at a game of doubles tennis. Alvy and Annie fall in love and move in together. Alvy gets Annie to enroll for adult education courses (and also for analysis), and encourages her in her attempt to sing professionally. Worried that she's not intellectual enough for him, Annie takes Alvy's prescriptions for her development as an independent person seriously enough to make him jealous. After a quarrel, Annie moves out, and Rob introduces Alvy to Pam, a humourless Rolling Stone reporter with whom he heroically tries to have fun.

Reconciled with Annie, Alvy takes her on a trip to Hollywood, where they wind up at a party given by Tony Lacey (Paul Simon), a record tycoon who admires Annie's singing. On their flight back, the couple decides that the fun has gone out of their relationship and the two agree to seperate. Annie goes to live for a while with Lacey in Hollywood. The following year, Alvy and Annie meet in New York and discover that they are still friends. Movie Remarks Annie Hall is one of the truest, most bittersweet romances on film. In it, Allen plays a thinly disguised version of himself: Alvy Singer, a successful--if neurotic--television comedian living in Manhattan. Annie (the wholesomely luminous Dianne Keaton) is a Midwestern transplant who dabbles in photography and sings in small clubs. When the two meet, the sparks are immediate--if repressed. Alone in her apartment for the first time, Alvy and Annie navigate a minefield of self-conscious "is-this-person-someone-I'd-want-to-get-involved-with" conversation.

As they speak, subtitles flash their unspoken thoughts: the likes of "I'm not smart enough for him" and "I sound like a jerk." Despite all their caution, they connect, and we're swept up in the flush of their new romance. Allen's antic sensibility shines here in a series of flashbacks to Alvy's childhood, growing up, quite literally, under a rumbling roller coaster. His boisterous Jewish family's dinner table shares a split screen with the WASP-y Hall's tight-lipped holiday table, one Alvy has joined for the first time. His position as outsider is uncontestable; he looks down the table and sizes up Annie's Grammy Hall as a classic Jew-hater. The relationship arcs, as does Annie's growing desire for independence. It quickly becomes clear that the two are on separate tracks, as what was once endearing becomes annoying. Annie Hall embraces Allen's central themes--his love affair with New York (and hatred of Los Angeles), how impossible relationships are, and his fear of death. But their balance is just right, the chemistry between Allen's worry-wart Alvy and Keaton's gangly, loopy Annie is one of the screen's best pairings.

It couldn't be more engaging. --by Susan Benson of Amazon.Com Many fans already knew that Annie Hall's working title was "Anhedonia," the inability to feel pleasure. But did you also know.... Additional Allen went all-out creatively for Annie Hall. The movie is remarkable for his use of techniques like split-screens, sub-titles, color schemes, animation and lines spoken directly to the camera. The movie also contains trademarks that he's used in many of his films: cameo appearances, the Allen trademark one-liners, neuroses, cultural referencing and an infectious love of New York. For star-spotters, there is an early creepy performance from Christopher Walken as Annie's brother. Viewers can catch a quick glimpse of a young Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Goldblum. Singer/songwriter Paul Simon also appears in his first acting role, a born New Yorker ironically cast as an LA producer whose offers of stardom tempt Annie to the West Coast, or "Munchkinland" as Alvy describes it. Annie Hall was lensed by top cinematographer Gordon Willis (The Godfather: Parts 1,2 and 3 and All the President's Men).

The movie was co-scripted by long-time Allen collaborator Marshall Brickman. Annie Hall won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also received the New York and National Film Critics awards, the Directors Guild award and four BAFTAs, including Best Picture and Best Editing. As well as outshining Star Wars at the 1977 Oscars, Annie Hall started the fashion trend for thrift-shop chic as a generation copied Diane Keaton's eccentric dress sense. Tribute To "Annie Hall" Star - Photo 2 - Pictures - CBS News Tribute To "Annie Hall" Star Next Diane Keaton, third from left, and a few of her friends pose together backstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute in New York, Monday, April 9, 2007. Keaton is this year's honoree. From left are actors Martin Short and Steve Martin, Keaton, director Nancy Meyers, and actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Lisa Kudrow, and Candice Bergen. Credit: AP Keaton won an Oscar for her performance in the title role of 1977's "Annie Hall," one of eight Woody Allen films in which she starred.

The role not only won Keaton a slew of awards but launched a unisex fashion trend that even today is known as the "Annie Hall look." Here, Keaton talks to actor and director Woody Allen on the roof of a building in a still from "Annie Hall." Credit: GETTY/ United Artists Al Pacino and Diane Keaton in a scene from the 1972 movie "The Godfather," directed by Fancis Ford Coppola. The 61-year-old actress, who played Kay Corleone in the three "Godfather" movies, has appeared in more than 50 films, directed a few of her own and produced a handful of movies. Credit: GETTY/Paramount Pictures Diane Keaton, photographed backstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute April 9, 2007, has won two Golden Globes, the David diDonatello prize, and acting awards from BAFTA, The New York Film Critics Circle, the Screen Actors Guild and the National Society of Film Critics.

Credit: AP Actors Steve Martin, left, and Martin Short, right, joke backstage with Diane Keaton, this year's honoree at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute, New York, Monday, April 9, 2007. Credit: AP Actors Diane Keaton, left, and Lisa Kudrow, right, pose together backstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute in New York, Monday, April 9, 2007. Keaton was the honoree. The two appeared as sisters in the film "Hanging Up." Credit: AP Actress Diane Keaton, honoree at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute, walks the red carpet at the ceremony in New York, April 9, 2007. A California native, Keaton got her start on stage and drew attention after appearing in the Broadway run of Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam." She reprised her role in the film version.

Credit: AP Pictured from left to right, actors Sarah Jessica Parker, Diane Keaton, and Lisa Kudrow, pose together backstage at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 34th Gala Tribute in New York, Monday, April 9, 2007. Keaton was the honoree. Credit: AP Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, co-stars of 2003's "Something's Gotta Give," present Best Picture award during the 79th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre on February 25, 2007, in Hollywood, Calif. Credit: CBS Wearing one of her trademark hats, actress Diane Keaton attends the party for the launch of "Looking at Los Angeles, a book actor Ben Stiller helped edit, at the gallery at Hermes on June 2, 2005, in Beverly Hills, Calif. In her career, Keaton has had four Oscar nominations, an Emmy nomination and a Tony nomination.

Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Marsaili Mcgrath Producer Michael London and actress Diane Keaton arrive to the world premiere of Twentieth Century Fox's film "The Family Stone" at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, Calif., on Dec. 6, 2005. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Frederick M. Brown Diane Keaton attends the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 25, 2004, in Beverly Hills, Calif. The actress was nominated nine times for a Golden Globe and she won the statuette twice. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Carlo Allegri Actress Diane Keaton, nominated for Best Actress for her performance in "Something's Gotta Give" attends the 76th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theater on Feb. 29, 2004, in Hollywood, Calif. She was nominated four times for an Oscar but won only for "Annie Hall." Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Vince Bucci Diane Keaton arrives for the screening of "Something's Gotta Give" at the 54th annual Berlinale International Film Festival February 6, 2004, in Germany.

The actress, who has never married, has been romantically linked with Woody Allen and Warren Beatty. Credit: CBS Wearing gloves, another of her trademarks, Diane Keaton appears on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on Feb. 13, 2004, at the NBC Studios, in Burbank, Calif. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Kevin Winter Executive producer Diane Keaton and director Gus Van Sant pose for a photo in the green room before the New York Film Festival screening of "Elephant" at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center Oct. 10, 2003, in New York. Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Scott Gries Actors Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson talk as they watch the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 28, 2003, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Lakers won, 103-87.

Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Stephen Dunn Woody Allen’s Distinctive Female Characters - The New York Times The New York Times Movies |Annie and Her Sisters Search Photo Credit Thomas Fluharty Like many protagonists in Woody Allen ’s movies, the title character in his new film, “Blue Jasmine,” sometimes speaks with a familiar stammer and exhibits a telltale existential dread. But beyond that, she could hardly be more different from her creator. Jasmine, a fallen New York socialite played by Cate Blanchett , is left emotionally brittle by the deceptions of her husband (Alec Baldwin), a philanderer and a financial huckster. Having fled to San Francisco to start anew, she is oblivious to the calamities that have stripped her of her station. She continues to be obsessed with class, status and luxury brands, and knows how to pronounce the name Louis Vuitton for maximum annoyance. For all the illusions torn away from her by the end of “Blue Jasmine,” a comedy-drama written and directed by Mr. Allen that Sony Pictures Classics will release in New York and Los Angeles on July 26, she stands as his latest distinctive female character in a roster full of them.

In the span of more than 40 of Mr. Allen’s films, including “Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” strong and memorable women have become as much a hallmark of his movies as the venerable Windsor font in their credits. These are women who dominate and who are subjugated, who struggle and love and kvetch and fall apart, but they rarely conform to simplistic stereotypes. Jasmine may be deeply troubled, but at least she’s deep. Continue reading the main story Yet almost nothing connects these characters — who have been played by actresses including Diane Keaton , Dianne Wiest , Scarlett Johansson and Penélope Cruz — except that they have all sprung from the mind of the same filmmaker, one who professes no real insight into how he writes and casts his female characters but remains confident that he still knows how to create them. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “People have criticized me for being narcissistic,” Mr. Allen said one June afternoon, over iced tea at the Bemelmans Bar of the Carlyle Hotel. “People criticized me for being a self-hating Jew, that’s come up.

But not being able to create good women was not aimed at me very often.” Mr. Allen may not wish to recall it, but his movies have also drawn charges of chauvinism and sexism, by detractors who have said they frequently depicted women as neurotics, shrews and prostitutes. This chorus reached a climax of sorts in the 1990s, when acerbic films like “Husbands and Wives” and “Deconstructing Harry” were released and he had his notorious breakup with his frequent co-star Mia Farrow , who discovered his relationship with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn, now Mr. Allen’s wife. As the critic Steven Vineberg wrote in a 1998 essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “More and more, ‘Woody’ ” — Mr. Allen’s on-screen persona — “has taken on the uncomfortable role of apologist for Woody, whose woman problems are by now as well known as his movies.” Still, Mr. Allen has continued to create a steady supply of substantial roles for women, often of ages unrecognized by Hollywood (that is, anyone over 30), with Ms.

Blanchett’s potent “Blue Jasmine” performance arriving in the middle of a summer movie season that has been largely devoid of female faces. For successive generations of actresses, the opportunity to work in one of Mr. Allen’s films has become a kind of career validation. And for Mr. Allen, the phase of his career that began with the 2005 release of “Match Point” has seen him delve into female characters who are further removed from his familiar life experiences, and more interested in finding and asserting their place in the world. Ms. Johansson, who starred in “Match Point,” “Scoop” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” said in an e-mail that Mr. Allen “appreciates the versatility of the heroine, her ability to be both doe and lioness.” “His openness to the possibility that a woman can be both hunter and hunted allows him to explore more deeply the complexity of the female spirit,” she said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Mr. Allen, 77, whose copper-colored hair has mostly gone gray, and whose demeanor was more wistful than impish, could not immediately account for why women figure prominently in his work except that, well, they interest him.

“They’re attractive, they’re complex, and the guys have never been portrayed superior to the women,” he said. “The guys are usually inferior, because they’re less grounded than the women.” Photo Cate Blanchett, Woody Allen and Alec Baldwin on the set of "Blue Jasmine." Credit Jessica Miglio/Sony Pictures Classics That surely applies to the nebbish Mr. Allen often plays in his own films. But those closest to him say the filmmaker should not be confused with his awkward, unknowing alter ego. “That’s a role he can play easily,” said Letty Aronson, Mr. Allen’s sister and longtime producer. “It’s almost as if that’s what people expect. They don’t expect him to be a Cary Grant type.” In fact, Mr. Allen credits his romantic relationship with Ms. Keaton that began in the 1970s with opening his eyes to the potential of female characters. In his earliest films, Mr. Allen said, “whether it was ‘Bananas’ or ‘Sleeper’ or ‘Play It Again, Sam,’ whatever silly little thing, they were always from a male point of view” — even “Annie Hall,” which begins with Alvy Singer speaking directly to the audience.

But when he started dating Ms. Keaton, Mr. Allen said, “I started to appreciate her so much, personally and as an actress, that I started writing from the woman’s point of view.” In the movies that followed “Annie Hall,” he said, “It’s always more comfortable for me to write women.” As Ms. Keaton recalled it, their relationship was not unlike “Annie Hall,” with Mr. Allen becoming both her partner and mentor, offering her an attentive ear and introducing her to Freudian analysis. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “I was constantly complaining about things and constantly had this low self-esteem,” Ms. Keaton said, “and had a tendency toward crying and worrying about why I wasn’t good enough, and he took it.” Not only did Mr. Allen pay attention, Ms. Keaton said, “he took an interest in my family and in my mother, who was a fantastic woman and a complex character, and in my sisters.” The surest sign that Mr. Allen was listening to her was when she read his script for “Annie Hall” (written with Marshall Brickman) and her character’s voice sounded just like her. “We can all feel it and understand it,” said Ms.

Keaton, who won an Academy Award for her performance, “but we cannot write other people’s sounds.” Mr. Allen, she said, “can hear it — Annie Hall, flumping around, trying to find a sentence , that’s just remarkable what he did for me.” In the years since, Mr. Allen has had little trouble casting the actresses he has wanted, landing the likes of Geraldine Page, Julia Roberts and Judy Davis , and helping earn Oscars for Ms. Wiest (a two-time winner, for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Bullets Over Broadway” ), Mira Sorvino ( “Mighty Aphrodite” ) and Ms. Cruz ( “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” ). (If anything, Mr. Allen’s practice of paying actors far less than they make on other films has driven away more men than women. “We have no money, and everyone knows it, and they think it’s kind of humorous now,” said Juliet Taylor, Mr. Allen’s veteran casting director.

“There are people who have said, ‘I just don’t work for less than my price’ — mostly American male movie stars.”) Back when she was a casting assistant on “Bananas” in 1971, Ms. Taylor recalled, “when an actress would come in, the producer would talk to them because Woody was too shy.” Today, “many of his good friends are women,” she said. “He is one of the guys who you can really sit and chat on the phone with for hours.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story This does not mean his alumnae get any special treatment when they work with him in later projects. When Ms. Keaton reunited with Mr. Allen in 1993 for “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” she said he did not hesitate to call her out for struggling with an early scene. “He said, ‘That scene’s no good,’ ” she recalled. “And I’m going, ‘What am I going to do?’ I’d flown in from California.” After further takes, Ms. Keaton said, “he says, ‘Still no good.’ So finally he cut the scene out.

Thank God he didn’t fire me.” Photo From top to bottom: Mira Sorvino, Penélope Cruz and Dianne Wiest. Credit Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press; Mike Blake/ Reuters; Blake Sell/Reuters Mr. Allen said that his female characters sometimes spring from his own best guesses of how women might react in certain situations. “Now this does not mean I feel it or think it accurately all the time,” he said. “I don’t.” But in the case of Jasmine, she was inspired by a woman he’d heard about from his wife. This woman, Mr. Allen said, was “a very high Upper East Side liver” who “had a precipitous drop and had to downsize radically.” “She went from someone with charge accounts every place and a limitless amount of money, virtually, to someone who had to shop in bargain places and even get a job,” he said. Sensing the makings of classic tragedy, Mr. Allen said, “if there was some way that she brought it on herself, it could fulfill some of those Greek requirements.” The Jasmine character may well invite further criticism of Mr.

Allen’s perspective on women, and whether there is something antiquated about the idea of a woman whose world is shattered when she loses her money and her man. But Ms. Blanchett said she had known similar people. “By circumstance or lack of confidence, their identity gets consumed by their partner,” she said. “Before they realize it, they’ve given away a lot of their autonomy and settled for security, and made a series of compromises.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Though Ms. Blanchett played a similarly lost soul as Blanche DuBois in a heralded stage production of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” she said “Blue Jasmine” more immediately reminded her of playing Shakespeare’s Richard II , of “that sense of falling from grace, the delusion, the interface between the role you’re given and the one you’re longing to inhabit.” Having played the opposite sex in the film “I’m Not There,” Ms. Blanchett said she found a freedom in it that Mr. Allen might also take from writing women’s roles. “Often you can write more closely about your own perspective and experience of the world through a character of a different gender,” she said. Ms. Blanchett said she tried to suggest as much to Mr.

Allen while working on a scene for “Blue Jasmine.” “I said, ‘How would you do this, Mr. Allen?’ ” she recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, if I were playing the role, ’ and I turned to him with a backwards grin and said, ‘You know, you could have played this role.’ ” Mr. Allen paused and thought about it “for a good minute and a half,” Ms. Blanchett said, “and then he said, ‘No, it would have been too comic.’ ” Mr. Allen, who cast himself as Blanche DuBois and Ms. Keaton as Stanley Kowalski for a comic re-enactment of “A Streetcar Named Desire” in his film “Sleeper,” said that he often yearned to play the kinds of women he writes, who are given license to be “emotional and sarcastic and flamboyant.” “I always wanted to play those parts,” he said. “I always felt I could play them because I feel those kinds of things.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Ms. Johansson affirmed that Mr. Allen had a feminine side in him that longed to break out.

“I believe Woody, at heart, would have been happiest to have been born as the classic opera diva,” she said. “He lives for dramatic flare, gossip, intrigue, crippling heartache and turmoil — just as long as it’s happening to someone else.” But Mr. Allen dolefully accepted his role as an observer of women’s lives rather than an inhabitant. When he made his 1987 drama “September,” he said he wanted to play the role of an audaciously outspoken mother that instead went to Elaine Stritch. Had he kept the part for himself, “it would have been a one-joke comedy,” Mr. Allen said. “They’d laugh when I came in, and after five minutes of that, they’d want to go.” A version of this article appears in print on July 21, 2013, on Page AR1 of the New York edition with the headline: Annie and Her Sisters.

Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe The 9 Wackiest Woody Allen Women - MTV mtv [caption id="attachment_187888" align="alignleft" width="300"] Sony Pictures Classics[/caption] As the pill-popping, Vodka-swilling title character of "Blue Jasmine," Cate Blanchett joins a long line of actresses who have played crazy in Woody Allen films. No one has created more complex, multi-faceted female roles than the New York maestro, but let's face it: these gals are never more mesmerizing than when they're screaming, shouting, and throwing a major tantrum. To celebrate this latest wacky inclusion, here's our list of the nine nuttiest female performances in Woody Allen films. 9. Christina Ricci, 'Anything Else' (2003) [caption id="attachment_187886" align="aligncenter" width="500"] DreamWorks[/caption] At first glance, Amanda Chase (Christina Ricci) looks like she'd make a really great girlfriend, especially to a nerd like Jerry Falk (Jason Biggs).

But looks can be deceiving: once you get to know Amanda in "Anything Else," you start to think that maybe Jerry should stick to dating apple pies. Based on the evidence of this film, the pastry would prove a more stable relationship. 8. Mia Farrow, 'Broadway Danny Rose' (1984) [caption id="attachment_187890" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MGM[/caption] Before she was the Woodman's worst enemy, Mia Farrow served as the writer/director's perennial muse in no less than thirteen films. If you ever wondered what the wan-faced, soft-spoken actress would look like with long nails, dark sunglasses and a really bad haircut, look no further than "Broadway Danny Rose," in which Farrow portrays Tina Vitale, the wise-cracking girlfriend of a high ranking mobster. Here's one dame you don't wanna double-cross. 7.

Scarlett Johansson, 'Match Point' (2005) [caption id="attachment_187894" align="aligncenter" width="500"] DreamWorks[/caption] Who wouldn’t wanna hook up with the gorgeous Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson) in "Match Point," especially if afterwards you get to go home to your posh British flat and your lovely wife? Yep, seems like the ideal life for anybody. Until you accidentally knock Nolaup, that is. Then you're in for a whole world of crazy. 6. Diane Keaton, 'Annie Hall' (1977) [caption id="attachment_187885" align="aligncenter" width="500"] United Artists[/caption] With the title role in "Annie Hall," Diane Keaton created the definitive Woody Allen heroine: smart, funny, sexy, talented and extremely kooky. Is it any wonder the two made eight films together?

Yet Keaton gets knocked down a few pegs on the list because, unfortunately for her, she's not the craziest character in the film: that title belongs to her brother Duane, played by the maestro of weird, Christopher Walken. But that's for a whole other list. 5. Anjelica Huston, 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' (1989) [caption id="attachment_187892" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MGM[/caption] Before there was "Match Point," there was "Crimes and Misdemeanors," the film that first taught us it's all fun and games until your mistress goes f**king nuts. When wildly unstable Dolores Paley (Anjelica Huston) threatens to bring optometrist Judah Rosenthal's (Martin Laundau) cushy upper-crust life crumbling down if he doesn’t tell his wife about their affair, the good doctor decides to do the only sensible thing: have her killed. And they say there aren't any good men out there. 4.

Cate Blanchett, 'Blue Jasmine' (2013) [caption id="attachment_187887" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Sony Pictures Classics[/caption] That’s right, Cate Blanchett is so crazy in "Blue Jasmine," she managed to knock some real heavyweight contenders out of the top nine. In this modern-day retelling of "A Streetcar Named Desire," Blanchett plays Jasmine, a New York socialite who loses everything — including her mind — when her husband (Alec Baldwin) goes to prison for fraud. She guzzles Vodka, pops Xanex like they're Tic-Tacs, talks endlessly about her troubles to anyone who'll listen (mainly herself) and somehow manages to make us feel sorry for rich people. 3. Penelope Cruz, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' (2008) [caption id="attachment_187895" align="aligncenter" width="500"] MGM[/caption] When we first see Javier Bardem in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," we learn that his ex-wife, Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz), stabbed him during a particularly nasty confrontation.

Later in the film, she fires a gun at him and his latest girlfriend (Rebecca Hall), shooting her in the foot. Need we say more as to Cruz's inclusion on the list? 2. Dianne Wiest, 'Bullets Over Broadway' (1994) [caption id="attachment_187891" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Miramax[/caption] Dianne Wiest owes her two Best Supporting Actress Oscars to Woody Allen: first came her coke-addicted, emotional train wreck middle child in "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), followed by her Norma Desmond-esque grand dame of the theater Helen Sinclair in "Bullets Over Broadway." "Don’t speak!" she exclaims to idealistic playwright David Shayne (John Cusack), even when he's not saying anything at all. 1.

Judy Davis, 'Husband and Wives' (1992) [caption id="attachment_187893" align="aligncenter" width="500"] TriStar Pictures[/caption] Of all the loony ladies in Woody Allen films, Judy Davis holds the title Looniest of Them All for her role as Sally in "Husbands and Wives." Not to take anything away from the actress’'equally nutty work in "Celebrity" (1998) and "Deconstructing Harry" (1997), but this is one for the ages. As the embittered wife of a philandering husband (Sydney Pollack), Davis goes from zero-to-sixty at the drop of a hat, brimming with so much nervous energy you feel she might explode at any minute — and we just can't get enough of it.

14 Actors Who Scored Oscar Nominations for Woody Allen Movies (Photos) - Page 2 of 15 Search 14 Actors Who Scored Oscar Nominations for Woody Allen Movies (Photos) With the release of "Blue Jasmine," TheWrap takes a look at Oscar-nominated roles in Woody Allen movies Kathy Le | July 26, 2013 @ 5:29 AM View as Grid View as List Diane Keaton scored her first, and so far only, Best Actress Oscar for the title role of "Annie Hall." The movie won four Oscars overall; the actress has since been nominated for three roles with other directors. Mariel Hemingway played the role of Allen's teen lover in "Manahattan," earning her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Hemingway was only 16 at the time of filming. Penelope Cruz won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as the unstable former wife of Javier Bardem's Juan Antonio in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona." Michael Caine won his first Oscar for his work in "Hannah and Her Sisters"; co-star Dianne Wiest won the first of her two Oscars in this film.

Sean Penn received his second Best Actor nomination from playing a jazz guitarist on "Sweet and Lowdown." Penn's costar in "Sweet and Lowdown," Samantha Morton, earned her first Oscar nomination for playing a mute woman. Dianne Wiest won two Oscars under Woody Allen's direction, both supporting actress roles, in "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Bullets Over Broadway." Mira Sorvino's only Oscar nomination and win came from her role in "Mighty Aphrodite." His work on "Crimes and Misdeamnors" nabbed Martin Landau a second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Jennifer Tilly became a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee from playing a talentless actress on "Bullets Over Broadway." Another "Bullets Over Broadway" actor, Chazz Palminteri was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. "Husbands and Wives" took two Academy Award nominations: one for Woody Allen's original screenplay and the other for Judy Davis's work as a supporting actress.

Geraldine Page was nominated for eight Oscars, the sixth of which for her work in "Interiors." Playing the second wife to Page's first gave Maureen Stapleton her third Oscar nomination; she went on to win for her work as an activist in "Reds."

Question: Who played the title role in Woody Allen's film "Annie Hall"?
Answer: Diane Keaton