Annie Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Annie Hall | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Charles H. Joffe, Jack Rollins |
| Written by | Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman |
| Starring | Woody Allen Diane Keaton Tony Roberts Christopher Walken Carol Kane Paul Simon |
| Cinematography | Gordon Willis |
| Editing by | Wendy Greene Bricmont |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | April 20 1977 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4,000,000 (est.) |
| IMDb profile | |
Annie Hall is a 1977 Academy Award-winning romantic comedy film directed by Woody Allen from a script he co-wrote with Marshall Brickman. Allen's working title for the film was Anhedonia, but this was considered unmarketable. Brickman's suggested alternative, It Had to Be Jew, was considered even less marketable, and ultimately Annie Hall was settled upon as the release title. Because of biographical similarities with the character Alvy and Woody Allen (including Allen's previous relationship with co-star Diane Keaton (real name Diane Hall), who portrays the character Annie Hall), Annie Hall has been widely assumed to be semi-autobiographical, but Allen has denied this.
This film is number 28 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The film is set in New York City and Los Angeles.
Allen plays Alvy Singer, a comedian obsessed with death, attempting to maintain a relationship with the ditzy but exuberant title character (played by Diane Keaton), who loves life. The film chronicles their relationship over several years, intercut with various fantasy trips into each other's history (Annie is able to "see" Alvy's family when Alvy was only a child, and likewise Alvy observes Annie's past sexual relationships). After several years, many arguments and many reconciliations, the two realize they are fundamentally different and split up, with Annie moving in with a Hollywood executive (played by Paul Simon of Simon and Garfunkel). Alvy eventually realizes he still loves her and tries to come back and get her. He fails, and, resignedly, returns to New York. However, they are able to meet later on good terms and have no regrets about the relationship.
Alvy Singer grew up in Brooklyn. His father operated a bumper cars concession. He claims the family home was located below the Thunderbolt rollercoaster on Coney Island.
[edit] Film technique
The film makes use of various techniques such as split-screen imagery, double exposure, breaks in character to address the camera directly (breaking the "fourth wall"), subtitles expounding the characters' real thoughts (as contrasted with the dialogue) and elements of magic realism. For instance, Allen's character, standing in a cinema queue with Annie and listening to someone behind him expound on Marshall McLuhan's work, leaves the line to speak to the camera directly. The man comes to speak to the camera in his defense, and Allen resolves the dispute by pulling McLuhan himself from behind a counter to tell the man that his interpretation is wrong. Another scene is animated, featuring a cartoon Allen and the Witch from Snow White.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Academy Awards
The American Film Institute places Annie Hall on the following lists of its 100 Years series:
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (#31)
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs (#4)
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions (#11)
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs (#90; "Seems Like Old Times," performed by Diane Keaton)
- AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes (#55; Annie: "La-dee-da, la-dee-da...")
The film is consistently in the top 150 on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Zagat Survey Movie Guide (2002) ranks Annie Hall one of the top ten comedies of all time, one of the top ten movies of the 1970s and as Allen's best film as a director. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the forty-second greatest comedy film of all time.
[edit] Influence
Annie Hall is a benchmark for modern romantic comedies, with a large influence over future films. Its mix of relatively realistic scenes and surreal flights of fancy was highly influential on later films and TV series; the 1980s TV series Thirtysomething, for instance, was just one of many shows that would break away from more realistic, dramatic scenes for comic trips into the imagination of the characters. In fashion, Keaton dressed in layers with a tie (by Ralph Lauren), which became a popular style. This movie was also Christopher Walken's first notable performance as Annie's strange and suicidally fixated brother. It brought the actor and his unusual qualities to the attention of the mainstream viewing public.
[edit] Cast and roles include
- Woody Allen — Alvy Singer
- Diane Keaton — Annie Hall
- Tony Roberts — Rob
- Carol Kane — Allison Portchnik
- Paul Simon — Tony Lacey
- Shelley Duvall — Pam
- Janet Margolin — Robin
- Colleen Dewhurst — Mrs. Hall
- Christopher Walken — Duane Hall
- Donald Symington — Mr. Hall
- Helen Ludlam — Grammy Hall
- Mordecai Lawner — Mr. Singer
- Joan Neuman — Mrs. Singer
- Jonathan Munk — Alvy Singer at 9
- Ruth Volner — Alvy's Aunt
- Martin Rosenblatt — Alvy's Uncle
- Hy Anzell — Joey Nichols
- Rashel Novikoff — Aunt Tessie
- Russell Horton — Man in Theatre Line
- Marshall McLuhan — Himself
- Jeff Goldblum — Lacey Party Guest
[edit] Trivia
- The film features a number of appearances by actors and actresses who went on to later fame:
- Christopher Walken, in an early film role, plays Annie's creepy, suicidal brother.
- Jeff Goldblum speaks one line as a man at an LA party phoning his guru: "I forgot my mantra."
- Sigourney Weaver can be briefly glimpsed as Alvy's date outside a theatre.
- Beverly D'Angelo plays one of the actors in Rob's TV show.
- John Glover appears as Annie Hall's previous boyfriend.
- In the scene in which Alvy and Annie are observing passersby in the park and Alvy comments, "Oh, there goes the winner of the Truman Capote Look-Alike Contest," the passerby is actually Truman Capote, who appeared in the film uncredited. [citation needed]
- The scene where Alvy sneezes into the cocaine was purely accidental. They decided to keep it in the movie and when they tested it with audiences they burst out laughing. The filmmakers had to add more footage after the scene so the audience wouldn't laugh through important conversations afterwards.
- The film was originally meant to be a drama centered around a murder mystery with a comic and romantic subplot, but the film's editor persuaded Woody Allen to make it a comedy fully. Allen would reprise this murder story many years later in the film Manhattan Murder Mystery.
- The film is mentioned in the Blur song 'Look Inside America' (Blur, 1997). The verse goes, "Annie Hall leaves New York in the end / Press rewind and Woody gets her back again."
- The building under the roller coaster, described as Alvy's childhood home, was actually the Kensington Hotel, which really was located underneath the Thunderbolt roller coaster.
- Also known for winning the Academy Award for Best Picture instead of "Star Wars," another 1977 Best Picture nominee.
[edit] External links
- Annie Hall at the Internet Movie Database
- Annie Hall at the TCM Movie Database
- Annie Hall - synopsis, production details, etc.
- Greatest Films Essay - Filmsite.org essay
|
1961: West Side Story | 1962: Lawrence of Arabia | 1963: Tom Jones | 1964: My Fair Lady | 1965: The Sound of Music | 1966: A Man for All Seasons | 1967: In the Heat of the Night | 1968: Oliver! | 1969: Midnight Cowboy | 1970: Patton | 1971: The French Connection | 1972: The Godfather | 1973: The Sting | 1974: The Godfather Part II | 1975: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1976: Rocky | 1977: Annie Hall | 1978: The Deer Hunter | 1979: Kramer vs. Kramer | 1980: Ordinary People |
cs:Annie Hallová de:Der Stadtneurotiker es:Annie Hall fr:Annie Hall he:הרומן שלי עם אנני hr:Annie Hall it:Io e Annie ja:アニー・ホール hu:Annie Hall nl:Annie Hall pt:Annie Hall ru:Энни Холл (фильм) simple:Annie Hall sv:Annie Hall tr:Annie Hall (film) zh:安妮荷爾
Categories: Articles with large trivia sections | Articles with unsourced statements | 1977 films | Best Picture Academy Award winners | Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance | Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance | United States National Film Registry | Films directed by Woody Allen | 1970s Romantic comedy films | American films | English-language films
