1. Annie Hall (1977); A nervous romance.

Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Woody Allen and Diane Keaton

Best Picture 1977, Best Director 1977, Best Actress in a Leading Role 1977, and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen 1977

This film follows Alvy Singer (Allen), a comedian living in New York City, through his unstable and neurotic relationship with girlfriend Annie Hall (Keaton). Alvy reminded me a lot of Billy Crystal’s “Harry Burns” in the beginning of When Harry Met Sally. He was very cynical and conscious of death during the movie to the point where you felt bad for him. Annie was a amateur singer and photographer that turned student. She was very unstable and anxious throughout the movie, and I’m not sure if that was because of Diane Keaton’s lack of diverse talent or because Annie was really supposed to come off as a little unintelligent.

This film is a basic model of the female psyche versus that of the males. After watching about half of the movie I came to the conclusion that this was the typical girl vs guy expression. I thought that the way that Annie dealt with their relationship was very different than that of Alvy’s. Whatever feelings of doubt or hesitation Annie felt, she expressed through various emotionally unhealthy ways, such as keeping thoughts and opinions to herself instead of saying them straight away. While she was off doing all of that, Alvy would simply make a joke and fill the problem with comedy. While this is somewhat true, the rest of the movie made me change my mind. Annie and Alvy did deal with their relationship problems different and with some of the movie supporting these stereotypical differences in men and women, there were a few things that made me rethink my original idea. Normally, women are the ones that overanalyze and confuse themselves about small details that guys overlook. I felt that in Annie Hall the cliché was switched. He was the one that followed her around and over processed every aspect of their relationship. He was the one that couldn’t move on after they broke up and whose life was changed more dramatically than hers.

The use of drugs was an interesting aspect to add to the film. It was a great way to remind the audience of the 1970’s setting of the movie, but also to show distinctive differences between the two characters. Annie relied on the use of drugs so heavily in their relationship that it constantly made them argue or discuss the fact that Alvy didn’t.

(Let me just say that I couldn’t get over how young everyone was in this film. I understand that growing up is what they should be doing, but it was just very strange to see a young Christopher Walken without his normal “charms.”)

I have only seen a few of Woody Allen’s films, but his style seemed a lot different in this one than those I have previously viewed. Since the film was based around Alvy retelling the relationship through the ending, he used a few techniques to help us remember that he is the one remembering all the details. Alvy starts the movie with a monologue of his overall views towards the world around him and the relationships that take place in them. Sometimes, he even used animation to portray his attitude of the situation. During the “flashback scenes” he would sometimes break mode and turn to speak directly to the camera and the audience. This was a constant reminder that we never really heard Annie’s side of the story.

One thing I have noticed about Woody Allen’s films is that they always seem to be based in one major city. In Vicky Cristina Barcelona, it was Barcelona. In Match Point, it was London. In Annie Hall, it was based in New York City. The cities he uses always play very important roles in the plots and I felt that NYC was a great choice for this particular movie. As they discuss in the movie, NYC was portrayed as a dying city, one to play symbolism alongside their dying relationship. When the couple vacation to California, it becomes clearer that they are truly two very different people that are going in different directions.

I thought that his movie was great. On the Becki-scale… I give it a 7.