Alvy Singer stands in front of an orangey sort of backdrop and tells us, the movie audience, the joke about two women at a Catskill resort. “The food,” says the first woman, “is terrible.” “Yes,” the second woman agrees, “and the portions are so small.”
This, says Alvy Singer, is just about the way he feels about life. It’s not great—in fact, it’s pretty evenly divided between the horrible and the miserable—but as long as it’s there, he wants more.
In this fashion, Woody Allen introduces us to the particular concerns Annie Hall, a comedy about urban love and incompatibility that finally establishes Woody as one of our most audacious filmmakers, as well as the only American filmmaker who is able to work seriously in the comic mode without being the least bit ponderous. And you know what? It’s a story full of love, and surprisingly enough, pure romance. Hit the jump to see more about it.
Alvy Singer is a neurotic, insecure, difficult comedian (as usual) who works for TV in Manhattan. Having just split up with his long-term lover Annie Hall, Alvy takes us back through their time together with brief stops at his childhood and failed marriages. Brought up in Brooklyn, in the shadow of a giant roller-coaster, Alvy was always a little different from his classmates. Even at the tender age of six he was lusting after girls (explored in a great children-acting-as-adults scene) and worrying about the fate of the Universe. In parallel with his rise as a comedian, Alvy gained and lost two (unsuitable) wives. However, the first meeting between Annie and Alvy is a moment to treasure for ever. Annie manages to take Alvy back to her apartment (in a death-defying car journey) where they talk the intellectual, philosophical conversation of adults. However, their real thoughts are shown as subtitles – a terrifically earthy contrast.
At first Alvy is the confident and worldly one while Annie is unfocused, nervous and clingy. She has undeveloped dreams of becoming a singer, which Alvy encourages her to fulfill, while he has become jaded with the constraints of fame. Autograph hunters and excited fans are simply obstacles to be avoided, rather than recognition of his talent. Annie attends a few literary college courses and begins seeing a therapist. The problem is that Annie makes more progress in one session than Alvy has made in 15 years! Eventually they move in together, much to the displeasure of Annie’s family. A real suburbanite conformist bunch, all they do is examine their navels and talk about bring-and-buy sales. Such a contrast from Alvy’s noisy, demonstrative and altogether more human folks. This additional closeness causes problems though, particularly when Annie has a fling with one of her college professors – not what Alvy had in mind when he suggested education to broaden her mind.
As their relationship deepens, a critical flaw emerges – Annie is changing and maturing while Alvy seems to be running on the spot. Therapy has shown Annie that she needs to cater for her own needs, which is why she jumps at the chance when Tony Lacey, a music mogul, offers a recording contract. This means moving to California but Annie’s ready for the change of pace and an excuse to split up with Alvy. He kids himself that this is a mutual decision but, eventually, the longing becomes too great and Alvy travels to his nemesis – LA. This smog-ridden, soft-living town fundamentally rubs against his chosen lifestyle (anywhere that serves alfalfa and grated yeast must have a problem) but he’ll do anything to get Annie back.
Like reliving anyone’s remembrances, there isn’t a plot as much as a plethora of encapsulated brain droppings, but Allen never seems to miss in any of them. Annie Hall is not just for Allen’s fans (although it does help to like him), but all who love romantic comedies, influential comedies, and the finest films of the Seventies. This isn’t just the work of a funny writer or hilarious comedian. It’s the maturation of an auteur in cinema, and just like the finest of films that Allen would obsessively attend in his years growing up in Manhattan, his own ranks right up with them. If Manhattan is Woody Allen’s best movie, with its gorgeous black-and-white, widescreen imagery, then Annie Hall has to be his best screenplay.
Will it seal the deal? Like Harold and Maude, this movie is quirky; however, the love aspect of it isn’t nearly as subtle. Use that to your advantage. Let the frank discussion of topics and differing opinions in the movie create a sense of “ZOMG” between you and your date, and roll with the funny. It’s more whimsical than humorous. I can’t throw the SeriouslyGuarantee onto the movie, but like our preferred cologne here at SG Towers, Sex Panther, 60 percent of the time, it works every time.