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Woody Allen Box Set
(Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah & Her Sisters)
- Director: Woody Allen
- Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken
- Release date: 12 March 2007
Even as an Allen virgin, it's hard to resist the neurotic director's charms
Yes, it's a fairly tall order to give a fair review to the source of this website's name. It's also pretty tough to write about three of the finest films by one of the 'Greatest Living Directors'. And, to top it all, I'm a Woody virgin.
Before I watched these films, I had vague suspicions that Allen stereotypes women and turns his films into vain extensions of his life. Both are true; his female characters are often vulnerable and needy while Allen himself always manages to get stunners as young as 17 to fall for him. His arrogance is such that, in Hannah & Her Sisters, when Allen's character Mickey Sachs is told he will never be able to have children, he nevertheless manages to get his wife pregnant by the film's end.
Yet, despite my 21st century sensibilities, none of these things matter. These three films dazzle and Allen's visions of New York - particularly its skyline and the Manhattan streets - are the stunning products of a man in lust with the Big Apple at the expense of anywhere else. His mockery of the superficial Hollywood scene (Annie Hall) remains relevant to this day. His characters' neuroses and constant visits to shrinks are hilarious, the films' use of music beautifully exact, and Allen's character's conversion to Catholicism in Hannah & Her Sisters cripplingly funny.
Oops, I caught the Woody bug. If life is served in depressing 'such small
portions', then I suppose these timeless treats are the rare desserts.
Holly Falconer
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