Woody Allen 1

Allen: Annie Hall (1977)/Manhattan (1979)  16/08/11

Director: Woody Allen            Writers: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman

Woody Allen is undoubtedly one of the most respected and often mentioned filmmakers in the history of the medium. Here I write about the two films that he is most famous for and arguably defined his early work. They have many of his trademarks in common; NYC for their setting, Allen taking on the male lead with Diane Keaton as his female counterpart, and a focus on relationships and the lead character’s neuroses.

            Their similarities do not end there. In both films Allen plays creative characters that are well aware of their own intelligence and consider themselves superior both to the uneducated masses and the academically focused circles with which he mixes. These characters complain constantly, as much about their own defects as anything else, and tend to make passive aggressive sarcastic comments. They routinely act selfishly yet seem to follow logic and reason rather than actual heartfelt feelings in their relationships.

            I noticed that characters speak in a way that seems unnatural to me, as if discussing academic issues rather than life. No doubt this was on purpose, and in Annie Hall it matched the theme of a relationship where both members are neurotic and undergoing psychoanalysis, however I felt that in Manhattan it just didn’t fit. In fact, despite the many similarities between the films I found that I was much more interested and pleased by Annie Hall and that what worked in the earlier film annoyed me in the later one.

            Allen himself says that he finds Manhattan to be his worst film and that he doesn’t know how he got away with it. While it is certainly a film worth watching I would not encourage people to see it as their first Woody Allen film, and I have noticed almost all of its elements in either Annie Hall or later films where they work more successfully.

            Perhaps the reason I preferred things such as the highly intellectual dialogue in the 1977 film is due to its greater accessibility due to Allen breaking the 4^th wall. He does this with amusing straight to camera pieces that sometimes are just for us and sometimes are noticed by other characters in the scene. They almost get the audience on to his side and that enables us to put up with his self pity and bemoaning of the world around him, which for many people would be a desirable life.

            Of course there is no need to take these two films too seriously. There are brilliant lines in both, too many to list here, and an exceptionally strange and hilarious cameo by Christopher Walken in Annie Hall. Both are worth watching, but Manhattan just isn’t quite as funny or engaging.