moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (02/10/86)
How much did I like HANNAH AND HER SISTERS? Let me count the ways... In
fact, let me start out what little I *didn't* like about this film.
...
Well. Let me instead guess at what *others* may not like about this film.
If you're looking for a surprising and original plot, or something more than
human drama about the human comedy, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Woody
Allen is once again taking a close look at that select breed of New York
yuppie that lives in so many of his films; and the creatures he studies
basically have no real problems like starvation, war, being sent to prison,
injustice, etc.; i.e. they're like the majority of us, except they still
talk and act like they were in college (a gifted college, to be sure). And
this includes their romantic life and relations...
OK, so let's say that you're not particularly turned on by watching some of
the most realistic (very often, uncomfortably realistic) characterizations
of the year (and probably the decade). Should you skip it? Decidedly not.
Definately not. Absolutely not! For you'd be missing some of the funniest
dialogue and best satire I've seen in ages. I'm going back next weekend
with a pad and pencil just to write down quotes for my sign-off list; I
figure I'll get 10 or 15 -- and I'm being PICKY, people! Stuff that was so
funny that the audience's laughter drowned out the next couple of lines.
Add to that his deft eye for needling the New York and Yuppie lifestyle, and
even the most cynical person will love the first three-quarters of this
film.
That, of course, is only one side of it; the most important, or, I should
say, the most beautiful thing about this film, is the way Allen firsts
deliniates, and then fleshes in, his characters; how he gives them words and
reactions which seem familiar and normal and very solid, despite the
different world in which these people exist; and, MOST OF ALL, the things he
says (at least to me) at the end of this film. He doesn't make it
particularly difficult to assimilate, though some may see the ending as a
standard comedic happy conclusion; but (and I have to give Roger Ebert
credit here) this film tends to be a re-affirmation of life, saying pretty
much that even if there is no God, no after-life, no re-incarnation, and
that this is all there is -- Life's worth it. I know some of you will say
"Of course Life's worth it to the people in this film! They've all got
money and talent and jobs and good looks (mostly) and too much education and
great dialogue! If I had Barbera Hershey in a hotel room, Life would look
good to me, too! These people don't have *troubles*!" Yup. And I'll bet
the same could be said (sans the great dialogue) about 99.9% of the people
on the net. Which may be something to ponder if you're thinking of seeing
this film.
OK, got past what I saw in the spirit of the film. The acting. Nobody puts
in a poor or mediocre or even good performance. Everyone is excellent. Mia
Farrow and Michael Caine and Barbera Hershey and Barbera Weir (that spelled
right?) are to be savored. Woody Allen provides comic relief in the first
half of the film, but goes on to probably the most memorable moments of the
film, sitting in a theatre, watching the Marx Brothers. And then there are
all the smaller roles, fine-tuned to distinction; the characters at Allen's
character's (a Lorne Michaels TV-producer type of something resembling
Saturday Night Live) job; Max Von Sydow (who has lines that will live
forever in movie trivia contests); Lloyd Nolan and ?, playing Hannah's
parents; and Tony Roberts in an uncredited role, who appears in Allen films
almost like a tailsman. A fine cast doing fine work.
But the lion's share of the credit (though there is much to go around) has
to go to Allen, for his script and his dialogue and his directing and his
acting. In essence, I think this is a film for romantics, romantics who are
having a tough time, what with age or cynicism or dissillusion or too much
philosophy or a combination of the above. It does something that few films
do, re-affirming that romanticism; but even better, it gives it a new
foundation to build on, a way to look back and redefine why life's got more
to it than beer commercial gusto; in short, it celebrates about the best
thing this world has to offer us.
I hope you see this film. I think you will like it.
"So gather the kids, a dog... Grandma... and
lock them in another room."
-- Orson Welles
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
<*> DISCLAIMER: Do what you want with me, but leave my employers alone! <*>krantz@csd2.UUCP (Michaelntz) (02/25/86)
Well, just wanted to add my vote to those acclaiming Woody Allen's "Hannah And Her Sisters." The master just keeps getting better and better. 'Nough said. If this film doesn't get Best Picture for 1986 I'm moving to Australia. - Michael Krantz