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Annie Hall

post #1 of 21
2/8/08 at 11:52pm
Thread Starter 
Try as I might I found this film really hard to get into. I explain in greater detail in my blog (hit the quote in my link) the process which led to this, but suffice to say by the time I got around to watching Annie Hall a lot of the more famous jokes had become part of culture and as such when I came into the film a lot of stuff was 'old hat'. It's kinda hard because the film is incredible, but the cultural baggage of three decades worth of parody and satire, made it so I couldn't appreciate it on its own merits.
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post #2 of 21
2/9/08 at 12:03am
There's more to this movie than just the jokes though. It's the relationship stuff that is so poignant and makes the movie last.
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post #3 of 21
2/9/08 at 12:16am
Parodies or satires, it shouldn't ever get in the way of an original. If anything you should come away from the experience knowing that there's all the rest, but I've seen the first, possibly the best.
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post #4 of 21
2/9/08 at 12:29am
Besides, you don't like Aliens.
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post #5 of 21
2/9/08 at 1:35am
Not to go more personal with this, but I'm probably thinking the disjointed feeling you felt with the film is also partially a result of your own disconnect with relationships in general. Because this is one of a scant few movies that only improves depending on what you take into it with you.

As a comedy, the movie's brilliantly made, albeit, yes, parodied, and referenced all to hell. As a collective pop catharsis to anyone who's ever been dragged kicking and screaming out of a relationship because of one or several incomprefuckinghensibly stupid mistakes, the movie's a near-religious experience, like getting your chakras realigned, or getting baptised, or slaughtering your first virgin on the grave of a one-eyed madman.
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post #6 of 21
2/9/08 at 2:44am
Thread Starter 
I understand that it's a dark movie, and that is one of the things I respect about it. It's about a man who yearns for acceptance but also yearns for destruction, the entire theme of the film is spelt out in that first Groucho Marx joke. The problem I had was that I could recognise how groundbreaking the film was, but it was ground that had been subsequently gone over and over again.
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post #7 of 21
2/9/08 at 5:38pm
Diane Keaton is about he least sexiest woman I have ever seen, in my opinion. This made the movie hard for me because I couldn't understand some guy pining after a woman who dressed so non-feminine and dumb. I just kept hoping that he would throw her out on her ass. But the writing is good... great really...

Diane Keaton never married in real life I don't think, so I always kinda figured she was odd like the Annie Hall character. Plus she still sometimes dresses in public in that dumb Annie Hall style...
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post #8 of 21
2/9/08 at 5:41pm
***stunned silence***
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post #9 of 21
2/9/08 at 6:38pm
What Justin said (and what diva said, I mean seriously, wtf).

I find it telling to the movie's quality that I was born 3 years after it was made, so I didn't get a lot of the references or even the style of humor, but based on relationship poignancy alone, it remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and one that always breaks my heart in different directions for both characters throughout the duration of the movie.
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post #10 of 21
2/9/08 at 8:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diva View Post
***stunned silence***
I know...
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post #11 of 21
2/9/08 at 9:10pm
Thread Starter 
I actually liked Annie better than Alfie, and I could kinda empathise with her more. I found it fascinating that he took this unpretenious girl and made her into everything he hates about society.
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post #12 of 21
11/24/08 at 5:24am
There were some really great gags in this film but overall, I just didn't connect with it, as a comedy it's brilliant but I lack the "collective pop catharsis" to readily connect with these characters, that's no fault of the film though, it was still an enjoyable watching experience.
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post #13 of 21
11/24/08 at 9:03am
It's been my favorite movie of all time since I first saw it in 8th grade. In addition to being hilarious, it's also an encyclopedia of film technique, and really opened my eyes to the art of filmmaking. It's got everything but the kitchen sink (breaking the 4th wall, narration, animation, split screens, subtitles, stream of conciousness editing, expressive editing, tracking shots etc.) and every bit of it is in service to the story.

This film works on so many levels, emotional and technical, that at this point (after having seen it 50-plus times) the jokes are just icing on the cake. It has an emotional honesty about relationships that few romantic comedies touch, and it does so effortlessly.

And once you learn a little more about it's production history, you realise that this is the best edited film of all time.
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post #14 of 21
12/28/08 at 4:07am
ANNIE HALL is on TCM right now. I'm going to have to watch the whole fucking thing even though I wasn't planning on it. It's what happens whenever I come across the film.
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post #15 of 21
12/28/08 at 4:19am
http://chud.com/articles/articles/13...IAC/Page1.html
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post #16 of 21
12/28/08 at 4:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike Marshall View Post
The problem I had was that I could recognise how groundbreaking the film was, but it was ground that had been subsequently gone over and over again.

Really? Makes me wonder if you were even trying to notice. The structure alone was groundbreaking, particularly for a comedy.
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post #17 of 21
12/28/08 at 3:13pm
I had quite the opposite reaction. I didn't see it all the way through until maybe 3 years ago and I was expecting to see something that was once original but would now come off as trite. I was amazed at how fresh it still was. I could tell it had been ripped off thousands of times--even by Allen himself--but the other films hadn't come close to doing it with the same style or purpose. Like Devin, I have to watch it anytime it comes on. It's just too good to pass up.
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post #18 of 21
12/28/08 at 5:53pm
As a kid, I didn't watch it because I was pissed at it for beating Star Wars for Best Picture. Then I grew the hell up, and gave it the attention it deserves. It's a stunning film, cultural baggage or no. Despite its enormous influence, its structure and construction still feel groundbreaking today. There's nothing about it that feels stale to me, regardless of how many movies have imitated it since.

That Anhedonia article is fascinating. I hate that I know about it. Now I have an overwhelming desire to see something I'll almost certainly never get to see.
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post #19 of 21
5/30/10 at 2:29pm
Question for Spike- have you rewatched this film yet? Have you changed your mind?

This thing is absolutely incredible. I came into it aware of some of the jokes, but without knowing about breadth of stylistic choices Allen made, most of which are audacious and perfectly used, and without knowing how emotionally on the money the whole thing is. I almost feel like the most direct contemporary comparison is Eternal Sunshine, both in terms of being something different and actually getting to a truth about relationships.
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post #20 of 21
5/30/10 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AdrianDyka View Post
Question for Spike- have you rewatched this film yet? Have you changed your mind?

This thing is absolutely incredible. I came into it aware of some of the jokes, but without knowing about breadth of stylistic choices Allen made, most of which are audacious and perfectly used, and without knowing how emotionally on the money the whole thing is. I almost feel like the most direct contemporary comparison is Eternal Sunshine, both in terms of being something different and actually getting to a truth about relationships.
I've always said the only two films that have nailed how a break-up feels are Eternal Sunshine and Annie Hall.
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post #21 of 21
5/30/10 at 9:15pm
I don't think it's a coincidence. There's a lot of Woody Allen's influence in Charlie Kaufman's work. Both find a lot of humor in misery and are able to find the emotional core inside of absurdist realities. The same way I think Eternal Sunshine is sort of indebted to Annie Hall (I've always considered it a remake of sorts, with a cleverer structure), I think Being John Malkovich is indebted to Purple Rose of Cairo.
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