Woody Allen and Annie Hall

Recently, I was listening to a interview with Woody Allen (with Terry Gross), and the biggest thing I got out of that interview was how Woody Allen’s pet peeve was how everybody seemed to think they knew him from his movies. It was something I was a little astonished by, because I could not figure out how he could not be empathetic towards these people. Woody Allen has directed, wrote, and starred in movies where he was a Jewish comedian in New York. Since this is rather similar to Woody Allen’s own life story, it would almost be silly not to think that those movies are somewhat biographical. Woody Allen goes on and says stuff about how not only was he not the nerdy guy in his movies, but he actually was a great baseball player and could have been in the MLB if his passion for movies hadn’t taken over. I would hate to sound unreasonably skeptical, and maybe I am just not fully aware of the body build of baseball player back in the day, but imagining the skinny and feeble looking younger Woody Allen in the MLB sounds like a joke that he himself would set up.

So, with this new background information about how Woody Allen feels about his own image portrayed in his movies, I decided to watch Annie Hall. I actually thought I had seen Annie Hall before, but as I watched it recently, it occurred to me that I think that I had seen so many specials analyzing the movie, that I just tricked myself into thinking I saw it. I had always assumed that Annie Hall was just a linear love comedy about a relationship, but as I watched the first few scenes, it occurred to me that wasn’t what the movie is about at all. Annie Hall is about the memories and thoughts of Woody Allen’s character and his obsession with the heroine of the film, who shares the same name of the title. It isn’t so much of a romance movie, as it is a break up film as seen through the male perspective. Annie Hall starts with the Woody Allen character with his thoughts on the matter, and proceeds to insert many scenes that could have only come from the imagination of the main male protagonist. In fact, it becomes a little bit fuzzy whether some scenes in the movie are actually happening or if they are just another creation of the male protagonist’s brain. It is what gives Annie Hall a surreal but intimate feel.

Though Annie Hall is a great movie, it is not hard to see why Woody Allen would object to having his personal life compared to the protagonist’s, Alvy Singer. While the two seem rather similar, the movie does not make Alvy Singer the most sympathetic character. The movie may be from Alvy Singer’s point of view, but it is this insight to his thought process and what he really thinks that allows the audience to see what is both good and bad about this person. While both parties are responsible for the break up, the audience gets to see mostly how Alvy Singer makes the relationship fall apart. That is also another point of the story, the audience only gets to see what Alvy Singer remembers about the relationship and how he sees it, the audience hardly ever gets to see what is in Annie Hall’s head, and even when the audience does get a glimpse, it is unclear whether it is really what Annie Hall thinks or it is just what Alvy Singer thinks she thinks. Though the movie is about a character similar to Woody Allen (including a scene where he is making something that looks like it is parallel to the making of Annie Hall itself), the key is realizing that being able to obfuscate, change, being able to take personal experience and knowledge of the other people of the world, and mix and match to make a unique experience through film is what makes cinema an art form. Annie Hall probably wouldn’t be as good as it is if it was just a documentary on a break up, so Woody Allen being able to infuse his humor and insight into relationships into a movie is pretty incredible.

That being said, I think part of the reason why Annie Hall is so beloved by audiences everywhere is because they believe that the movie gives some insight into the Woody Allen’s life. Despite Mr. Allen’s complaints, perhaps he should be more appreciative that he created a movie so completely believable and honest that people could confuse it for real life. Or maybe I should appreciate that Woody Allen cares about what people like me think in the first place, because he certainly has enough money and talent to completely ignore his critics. In the end, any sort of creative work may reveal a part of the artist that they may not want to be misinterpreted, and I think it is our duty as an audience to respect the potential risk that revealing an intimate part of yourself can bring. That is the only way to foster honest and compelling art that relates to the human experience.