COM 246
Annie Hall (1977) Study Guide
Annie
Hall
(1977)
Director:
Woody Allen
Screenwriter:
Woody Allen
Released
by: United Artists
Historical
context
Annie
Hall was
released in 1977 to wide critical acclaim and commercial success. The film,
Allen's 6th as director (7th if you count What's Up, Tiger Lily?), differs sharply from his previous films, which were parodies of
specific film genres and literary canons. These slapstick comedies included
films such as Take the
Money and Run
(1969) and Love and
Death (1975).
With Annie Hall,
Allen decided to turn his focus from parody to a film with a more
powerful storyline, presented in a more stylistically adventurous manner. Originally the film was conceived as a murder mystery, but
that idea was discarded as the storyline of a quirky romance began to emerge
from the script.
Sociohistorical
Context
The
themes that Woody Allen deals with in Annie Hall transcend the film's settings, but
the film is also very much a product of its time and place. Much of Allen's
work draws from his personal idiosyncrasies, but Annie Hall finds inspiration in
many places. It incorporates the backdrops of New York City, Los Angeles and
"the Midwest" as juxtaposing forces to inform the film. The film is also rife
with references to popular culture and academia, including the Marx Brothers, filmmakers like Federico
Fellini, who gets a tongue-in-cheek nod in a theater lobby scene, media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who appears in a bit part, and Ingmar
Bergman, whose aesthetic style inspired much of Annie Hall's visual invention. (Allen's non-comedic film Interiors is essentially a straight Bergman pastiche.) It is
Sigmund
Freud however, who has perhaps the greatest impact on Allen's work. Woody Allen's
stream of consciousness narrative style is just one indication of this Freudian
influence.
Narrative
context
Woody
Allen uses an uncommon narrative style in this film. He often interrupts the flow of the narrative to address the audience directly, breaking the "fourth wall."
Why do you think Allen made this choice in Annie Hall?
Beyond
providing visually juxtaposed settings for Allen's film, the cities of New York
City, Los Angeles, and Chippewa Falls are all represented for their narrative
functions. Why would Allen choose these places? What do they represent? How are
they used as narration devices?
What
is the significance of Alvy’s preoccupation with sex?
What
is significant about Annie’s use of the phrases and words, “La-de-da” and
“neat”?
Alvy
is a comedian and playwright, Annie is a photographer and singer, Rob is an
actor. What is the significance of all of the main characters having careers as
performers?
What is the significance of Alvy interpreting his life in the context of jokes? (e.g. "I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member," and "we need the eggs.")
The entire film is filtered through the perceptions of Alvy Singer, who narrates and interprets the story for us. Do you think Alvy is a reliable narrator? Which of the film's events (if any) do you think might have transpired differently than the way that Alvy reports them?
The story is told non-chronologically, with flashbacks interpolated freely throughout. How would the film have been different if it had been told chronologically?
Aesthetic
context
What
are some of the less traditional aesthetic elements Allen utilizes?
Why
does Allen use subtitles during the conversation between Annie Hall and Alvy
Singer on the rooftop of her apartment?
What
is the significance of the animated sequence in Annie Hall? Why is Annie Hall cast
in the role of the wicked queen in that scene?
In addition to blurring the line between past and present through constant use of flashbacks, Allen also blurs the line between fantasy and reality. Think, for example, of the scene in which Alvy is having dinner with Annie's family, in which a split screen effect allows a dialogue between Annie's parents and Alvy's parents that never could have actually occurred. What are some other examples of this, and what function do they serve?
Allen uses a double exposure during the bedroom scene with Annie, where
Alvy convinces her to have sex without smoking any marijuana. What is the
purpose of using this effect in the scene?
Generic context
Some
may consider Annie Hall to be a romantic comedy. It obviously has comic elements and
there is the underlying story of a relationship. Consider other romantic
comedies you may have seen. Traditionally these films present the story of
characters that have seemingly irreconcilable differences in the beginning, but
through a series of events are brought together to forge a relationship,
supposedly find lasting happiness. How does Annie Hall subvert these conventions?
Having
thought about that, would you consider the film to be a classical genre film, a
revisionist genre film, or a genre parody? Or is it sui generis?
Rhetorical
context
It is arguable that Allen presents three dominant themes throughout this film:
How are these three themes embedded in the film?
What
is the general attitude toward drugs in Annie Hall?
What
is the rhetorical significance of Alvy's fascination with death? Does Allen, as the filmmaker, seem to endorse his character's views on the subject? How does the film inform us
of Alvy's obsession with the subject?
Allen's original title for this film was "Anhedonia." Indeed, you can still hear an echo of the word in the name "Annie Hall." How does the clinical mental illness called "anhedonia" relate to the film's attitude toward life and love?