ANNIE HALL
THE FILM
▸ Directed by Woody Allen in 1977
▸ Screenplay by Allen and Marshall Brickman
▸ Academy Awards - Best Actress, Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Director
▸ Films
Hannah and her Sisters
Manhattan
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Blue Jasmine
WOODY ALLEN
▸ Quintessential Independent American auteur
▸ Unconventional storylines and narrative techniques
▸ Breaking the fourth wall
▸ Unique film language
▸ New York Jewish background
▸ Light hearted comedies and serious films
▸ Dialogues are a mix of Neurotic humour and existential repartees
▸ Tongue in cheek style of dialogue delivery
THEMES
▸ Relationship
▸ Love
▸ Independent women
▸ Human mind - Freudian theory of Id, ego and super ego
▸ Fantasy and reality
▸ Pessimism and Cynicism
▸ Idea of life and death
▸ Loneliness
▸ Past and present
▸ Power of art and imagination - “Boy, if life were only like this”
▸ Pretentiousness of the new intelligentsia
NARRATIVE
▸ Genre - Romantic Comedy
▸ Structure - The film starts with self exposure and the problem “Annie and I broke up”
▸ Nonlinear narrative -
The entire movie is a flashback with a prologue and epilogue on Alvy’s relationship with
Annie
Non chronological - jumps in timeline, present day characters walking through their
flashbacks
Alvy addressing the audience - breaking the fourth wall
Marshall Mc Luhan’s cameo
Animated sequence of Alvy and the Evil Queen in Snow White
Seeking advice on the streets
▸ Subjective narration - story evolves through the point of view of Alvy, Stream of consciousness
style - scenes progress as Alvy’s rambling memories of his relationships
▸ Use of subtitles to underline their thoughts during conversation
MISE-EN-SCENE
▸ Thematic use of mise-en-scene
▸ Setting - 1970s New York and LA. All these cities are linked to the character identities - “You are like New York”
▸ New York, according to Alvy, is full of life, culture and has a soul. Alvy epitomises the self absorption of New
York
▸ LA is shown as superficial (the party scene) and as a cultural wasteland, to the extent that Alvy feels nauseated;
“In Beverly Hills, they don’t throw their garbage away. They turn it into television shows”
▸ Alvy’s childhood - House under the rollercoaster depicting a childhood with turmoil
▸ Metaphors - Scraping carrots (castration), Bumping cars (anxiety., aggression), Wicked Queen (fantasy)
▸ Naturalistic everyday mise-en-scene depicting a modern setting in 1970s
▸ Costuming and make up - Costuming of Annie and Alvy are very similar to the way they dress in real life at that
time. Annie’s wardrobe became fashion sensation
▸ Split screen of therapy session - Contrast in spaces, props, lighting and colour reveal the nature of the
characters
▸ Split screen of dinner scene - Social blocking of characters and the lighting reveals the contrast between Alvy's
and Annie’s home
▸ Animation sequence featuring a Wicked queen from Snow White is designed similar to Inside Woody Allen
comic strip
▸ Breaking the fourth wall - Alienates the audience from the immersive illusion of cinema
CINEMATOGRAPHY
▸ Omniscient camera - gives an unrestricted access to Alvy and Annie’s
life
▸ The movie starts in a stand up comedy style with a mid close up of Alvy
▸ Long take of the opening monologue engages the audience with
protagonist - Alvy’s character is established through self-exposure
▸ Breaking the fourth wall - Alvy tries to rationalise his internal thoughts
by talking directly to the camera or the audience
▸ Last scene shot as if someone is looking outside the window of a
restaurant, looking at the reality of moving crowds or people at a
signal.
SOUND
▸ The absence of prominent background score allows for unobtrusive
viewing
▸ Relies on ambient sounds and music from records
▸ The movie is highly driven by conversation
▸ Humour reflecting Alvy’s self-doubt, sarcasm where he lampoons against
the intelligentsia and ad libs are hallmarks of dialogue
▸ Stutter in Alvy’s voice is in sync with his rambling thoughts and memories
▸ Dialogues are often clearly heard as if in a commentary, even if the
characters are far away and walking towards the camera
EDITING
▸ Original run time of 140 minutes was cut to 93 mins, changing the
storyline completely
▸ Discontinuity Editing - Split screen of Alvy’s and Annie’s families
underline their differences
▸ Most of the story develops through intercuts between present and
flashbacks
▸ Intellectual montage - parking lot scene in LA - indicates Alvy’s anxiety
▸ Ending scenes - Montage shots of their relationship serves as series of
flashing good memories
