Post by marianne48 on Jun 30, 2021 18:25:32 GMT
Annie Hall--I was about 17 when I first saw this, and like a lot of people at the time, I thought it was brilliantly done and Woody Allen was endearing in his semi-annoying way. Seeing it again recently, I still think it's brilliantly done--but Allen's character in the film is creepy and repulsive. I don't think that reaction is
just because of all the things that have come out about Allen over the years, particularly his predilection for "just old enough" teenage girls and all of his subsequent films featuring older, not especially attractive men with pretty young women whom you know could do better. It's jarring now to see this from an older perspective, and realize that Singer's attraction to Hall was her naivete and social awkwardness, the better to try to manipulate
her into his misanthropic way of seeing the world--avoiding social gatherings, seeing WWII documentaries instead of something more lighthearted, only reading books with "death" in the title, etc. What I thought was a wistful ending to the movie now seems more like a happy one--Annie Hall herself, ironically with Singer's help,
has matured into a more confident woman who has profited from Alvy's mentoring by outgrowing him; the ending of that controlling relationship is the best thing that can happen to her. (Tony Roberts' line, in which he encourages Singer to stay in L.A. because he knows some 16-year-old twins he can sleep with, is a more glaring reason to dislike this film, given Allen's current notoriety; I don't recall anyone having a problem with that line when the movie was first released, which reflects that era's viewpoint).
Still a good movie, but Allen is so much harder to take on recent viewings.
just because of all the things that have come out about Allen over the years, particularly his predilection for "just old enough" teenage girls and all of his subsequent films featuring older, not especially attractive men with pretty young women whom you know could do better. It's jarring now to see this from an older perspective, and realize that Singer's attraction to Hall was her naivete and social awkwardness, the better to try to manipulate
her into his misanthropic way of seeing the world--avoiding social gatherings, seeing WWII documentaries instead of something more lighthearted, only reading books with "death" in the title, etc. What I thought was a wistful ending to the movie now seems more like a happy one--Annie Hall herself, ironically with Singer's help,
has matured into a more confident woman who has profited from Alvy's mentoring by outgrowing him; the ending of that controlling relationship is the best thing that can happen to her. (Tony Roberts' line, in which he encourages Singer to stay in L.A. because he knows some 16-year-old twins he can sleep with, is a more glaring reason to dislike this film, given Allen's current notoriety; I don't recall anyone having a problem with that line when the movie was first released, which reflects that era's viewpoint).
Still a good movie, but Allen is so much harder to take on recent viewings.