Woody Allen

 Woody Allen

Woody Allen
1)Began his career as a comedy writer in the 1950s.
2)By the mid-1960s he was directing films, first specializing in slapstick comedies
    before maturing into more dramatic work.
3) He often stars in his own films as a neurotic version of his real-life persona.
4) His characters are often out of step with society

Annie Hall
1) Allen's most well-known film of the Hollywood Renaissance period is Annie Hall (1977).
2) The film is about the relationship between Allen's character (Alvy Singer) and
   Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) over a period of one year.
3)Annie Hall makes use of several reflexive devices and has been described by some as postmodern.
4)The narrative is not linear and Allen makes use of devices like subtitles to show the thoughts of
    characters while in conversation.

Introduction to Film Clip
1)The following scene shows Allen's Singer address the audience while confronting a pompous film
   academic.
2) Singer eventually brings out real life media scholar Marshall McLuhan to confront the academic.
3)While breaking the "4th wall" has become conventional today,
    the technique was highly unconventional during the late 1970s in American cinema.

Found part of the film clip on YouTube Click Here
Starts with them missing 1 minute of Face to Face Bergman. Then wants to go see the Sorrow and the Pity. It's the funniest clip where he complains about Fellini and Becket...Marshal McCluhan. why can't I give my opinion? I happen to have Mr. McCluhan right here - 

Marshall McLuhan : I heard what you were saying! You know nothing of my work! You mean my whole fallacy is wrong. How you got to teach a course in anything is totally amazing!

Background: Professor McLuhan's work focused specifically on the meaning of film, in contrast with TV and other media. And in particular he discussed the kinds of participation that each of those forms encouraged – writing that film was a hot medium that didn't require the viewer to make much of the meaning themselves, and forcing it on them instead. From article Click Here

Interesting - Annie Hall was one of Dianne and Woody's last pictures together Click Here

Reception: 

Annie Hall won the Oscar for Best Picture, plus Director, Screenplay, and Actress (Diane Keaton, who also won the Golden Globe). Woody Allen's lead performance was also nominated. It placed 31st on the American Film Institute's 1998 list of the 100 best American movies of all time, and 35th on the 2007 revised list. It appears regularly on lists of best comedies. Oh, and that Best Picture Oscar? It beat Star Wars. Which probably accounts for some of the backlash. From an article titled What's the Big Deal?: Annie Hall (1977) Click Here  It's an Ok analysis.