Best Picture Winner: 1977

Annie Hall (1977)

In 1977 there was the little film called Star Wars that seemingly came out of nowhere to be the film everyone was talking about. It wasn’t a movie, it was an event. To a nine-soon-to-be-ten year old, this is what movie magic was all about. This was probably the year I learned about the Oscars, because I knew Star Wars was nominated for Best Picture. I remember hearing the day after the awards that Star Wars lost to a film called Annie Hall. Annie Hall? What the hell was that? Years would go by before I finally saw Annie Hall and understood. What a great film this is. It made me an instant Woody Allen fan, a description that still holds true today.

Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) directly addresses the audience as the film opens. He makes two things clear: life is miserable and all too short, and he cannot have a successful relationship with a woman who thinks Alvy is worth having a relationship with. Alvy and Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) have just broken up, and the film is Alvy’s take on life events that brought them together, and ultimately broke them apart.

Annie Hall is, too say the least, unconventional storytelling. The movie zigzags between past and present, from childhood to adulthood and back. Alvy frequently addresses the audience, sometimes right in the middle of a scene, such as when he leaves a movie theater ticket line to complain about the pretentious clown behind him. A grown up Annie and Alvy might be present at a childhood recollection, sort of like the Ghost of Christmas Past. When Alvy visits Annie’s family, he imagines being viewed by Annie’s grandmother in full rabbi regalia, complete with bushy beard and curly locks. Subtitles will suddenly appear to tell the audience what the characters are thinking while they chatter on trying to express themselves. At one point, the film becomes animated, with a cartoon Alvy seeing Annie as the evil queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A split screen has each of them talking to their respective therapist about the relationship. They both agree they have sex three times a week. But they do not have the same opinion on whether that’s too much or not enough. Alvy stops people on the street to ask their views on relationship. The result is a stylistically unpredictable but totally endearing comedy about a failed relationship.

Annie Hall thankfully presents neither one at fault for the romance not working. Each is imperfect, with Alvy the more anal one and Annie the more neurotic. Annie frequently stumbles for words, while Alvy, a stand-up comedian, constantly makes jokes (he describes masturbation as sex “with someone I love.”). They are lovable in their own way, but we can understand why friction develops. Amongst the plentiful laughs is a fascinating adult look at the rise and fall of a modern relationship. The film never, however, becomes pretentious, and often features humor for humor’s sake, such as when Annie’s brother (Christopher Walken) tells Alvy about his automobile fantasy, and then ends up driving the lovers to the airport. Alvy’s expression is priceless.

Allen and Keaton make for one of the great romantic couples. Multi-faceted, intelligent, and verbose, they converse in numerous delightful exchanges. Annie may appear something of a scatterbrain, but she has a big heart. Alvy may at times be overly critical, but he means well. The relationship in the film feels genuine, and this makes jokes funnier and the characters endearing.

Annie Hall is frequently cited as Woody Allen’s best film and this may be true, although Hannah and Her Sisters has just as much joy, even though it is much more conventional in its telling. Annie Hall still ranks high on the list of cinema’s finest romantic comedies. Not that Alvy would care, since any such list that would include Annie Hall must not be worthy of attention.