I love this movie.
In fact, I’ll go far as to say that Annie Hall is my #1 favorite Woody Allen film.
This romantic comedy is easy to explain on a thematic level. It’s the story of a couple (an insecure, neurotic comedian named Alvy Singer, played by Woody Allen, and an actress named Annie Hall, played by Diane Keaton) from first meeting to break up, told with incredible pathos, such sublime insight into the human condition, that it still resonates deeply with audiences nearly 40 years after it was released in 1977.
What’s harder to explain is the leap in quality between Annie Hall and Love and Death, which was released just two years previously. And it’s incomprehensible to me that Annie Hall comes a mere 10 years from Woody’s first turn behind the camera in What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen (albeit not as bad as Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sex*).
Annie Hall marks a turning point in Woody’s career, an Oscar-winning turning point.
According to its entry on Wikipedia,
Annie Hall won four Oscars at the 50th Academy Awards on April 3, 1978. Producer Charles H. Joffe received the statue for Best Picture, Allen for Best Director and, with [Marshall] Brickman, for Best Original Screenplay, and Keaton for Best Actress.
Keaton is amazing in his movie. Not only is her wardrobe noteworthy (it touched off a fashion trend in the mid-1970s) but so are her mannerisms, including the way she delivers her lines.
For example, when Annie and Alvy first talk after a tennis match, she utters the phrase “La-di-da, la-di-da, la la” in such a cute way that it’s one of my favorite lines from the movie, and the scene one of the best.
Ever since the recent story about one of Woody’s adopted kids accusing him of sexual abuse, I’ve counted the number of times he’s mentioned (in his movies) child molesting or some kind of relationship with an underage person. Whereas before, I wouldn’t have paid much attention to such jokes – and may have even laughed along with them – now such attempts at humor stick out like a sore thumb.
In Annie Hall, that reference comes about 10 minutes or so into the film in the scene with one of Alvy’s old girlfriends – Allison, played by Carol Kane (1952- ). The two are discussing the JFK shooting and the Warren Report.
Allison: All right. So, what are you saying now – that everybody on the Warren Commission is in on the conspiracy, right?
Alvy: Well, why not?
Allison: Yeah. Earl Warren?
Alvy: Hey, honey, I don’t know Earl Warren.
Allison: Lyndon Johnson?
Alvy: Lyn -? Lyndon Johnson is a politician. You know the ethics those guys have. It’s like a notch underneath child molester.
Yeahhh. About that.
Another familiar theme making its appearance in Annie Hall is death.
When Annie and Alvy are in a book store, Alvy picks up two books and the camera zooms in to reveal their titles. One is The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker and the other is Death and Western Thought by Jacques Choron. Alvy carries the books over to Annie and says:
Alvy: Hey, I’m going to buy you these books, I think, because I think you should read them, you know, instead of the cat book.
Annie: That’s pretty serious stuff, there.
Alvy: You know, I’m obsessed with death, I think. Big subject, with me, yeah.
Their relationship begins to deteriorate as Alvy tries to control Annie’s life. especially her intellectual life. The underlying message is that Alvy thinks he’s smart and Annie is less so. So he keeps introducing her to books, urging her to take college courses…the end result of which is that it chips away at her self confidence until the carefree, ditsy woman Alvy falls in love with at the beginning becomes an angry, depressed, argumentative by the end of their relationship. (“You don’t think I’m smart enough,” Annie says to Alvy during one flashback.)
There’s so much richness, depth, and truth to Annie Hall. I’ve seen this film a couple of dozen times over the years. Each time, I laugh, shed a tear, and shake my head at its brilliance.
Woody Allen was 42 when Annie Hall was released.
Diane Keaton was 31.
Shelley Duvall (who makes a memorable appearance as a spacey groupie) was 28.
Tony Roberts (who plays Alvy’s best friend) was 38.
A classic line:
“Honey, there’s a spider in your bathroom the size of a Buick.”
The breakup of Alvy and Annie’s relationship is heartbreaking because it’s told via dramatic irony. We, the audience, know it’s going to happen because Alvy tells us at the movie’s start. We can see it happening as the movie progresses. Yet, we don’t want it to. And I keep hoping it won’t. But it does.
Oh well. “La-di-da, la-di-da, la la.”
Annie Hall won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best Picture, and Best Actress.