Annie Hall

Originally published on social media on March 23rd, 2022

The 1970’s themselves were a great decade for film, and the Oscars were truly given to the films and crew who deserved it the most. Famous winners of the Best Picture award during this decade include Rocky, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, and of course Annie Hall. Competition was tough for these films (except the Godfather because it was obviously a winner), and if you ever have time, I recommend exploring the Oscars website and reading more about this history. That being said, let's talk about Annie Hall.

This film is iconic. It’s undeniable. You will find this film on many lists of “films you must see before you die”. Why is that? Here are my thoughts:

This film is unbelievably artsy, and embraces storytelling techniques that I don’t think were utilized until this point in film history. Woody Allen deserves all the credit on this. He embraces exaggeration in such a clever way and really embraces the quirky aspects of being a human being. A dorky human being at that, which I can fully relate to as a dork myself.

There are some other fun elements to this movie like hearing Diane Keaton sing and enjoying Woody Allen’s stream of consciousness. However, this is not a film that I love by any stretch of the imagination for two crucial reasons: 1). I am not a sad or melancholy film person 2). I don’t find the romance in this film to be at all appealing. Annie Hall and Alvy Singer do not have a good relationship, and maybe that’s the whole point of the film is to embrace the realistic and messy romances, but personally it’s not my thing.

This isn’t a favorite film, and I may not watch it again not out of distaste, but because I don’t feel the need to see it again. It’s a one time see, but still a very good film and important to film history.