Woody Allen - Annie Hall
Changes
Woody Allen’s Annie Hall is a film that depicts the life of a character named Alvy Singer, a comedian who always seems nervous, is full of self-loathing, doesn‘t have a positive perspective on life, had an unhappy childhood and has been divorced twice. He knows he has problems but can’t figure out how to solve them in a dignified way so uses sex as a substitute. By the end of the film however, he shows a significant change in his outlook on life, due mostly to his recent relationship with a woman named Annie Hall. They end their relationship but Alvy learns from it, makes changes in his life, and uses it as a stepping stone into his future. The first moment where he shows change is when he compliments Annie after her first performance at a night club. She thinks she did horribly so he gives her reasons why she wasn’t as bad as she thought which cheers her up. This signifies Alvy turning a bad situation into a good one and shows confidence for the first time. Another moment where he shows change is his meeting with Annie in Los Angeles after they have broken up for good. He does things that he is usually reluctant to do: leaving New York City, driving a car, and eating at a health food restaurant. Although it doesn’t end like he hoped, he accepts that they aren’t going to be together any longer and doesn‘t complain, which is his usual response. In addition, he shows growth when he writes a play about his relationship with Annie, which shows their last meeting in L.A. but with an alternate ending with them together; proving that the relationship affected him enough to analyze and critique it. He views the relationship as a learning experience and uses the play to articulate his experience in a productive way, something he hasn’t done yet. Lastly, the ending of the film shows the most significant change from Alvy. He meets with Annie and seems genuinely happy to spend time with her and says he’s glad that he got to know her, contrary to his prior notion to
Woody Allen’s Annie Hall is a film that depicts the life of a character named Alvy Singer, a comedian who always seems nervous, is full of self-loathing, doesn‘t have a positive perspective on life, had an unhappy childhood and has been divorced twice. He knows he has problems but can’t figure out how to solve them in a dignified way so uses sex as a substitute. By the end of the film however, he shows a significant change in his outlook on life, due mostly to his recent relationship with a woman named Annie Hall. They end their relationship but Alvy learns from it, makes changes in his life, and uses it as a stepping stone into his future. The first moment where he shows change is when he compliments Annie after her first performance at a night club. She thinks she did horribly so he gives her reasons why she wasn’t as bad as she thought which cheers her up. This signifies Alvy turning a bad situation into a good one and shows confidence for the first time. Another moment where he shows change is his meeting with Annie in Los Angeles after they have broken up for good. He does things that he is usually reluctant to do: leaving New York City, driving a car, and eating at a health food restaurant. Although it doesn’t end like he hoped, he accepts that they aren’t going to be together any longer and doesn‘t complain, which is his usual response. In addition, he shows growth when he writes a play about his relationship with Annie, which shows their last meeting in L.A. but with an alternate ending with them together; proving that the relationship affected him enough to analyze and critique it. He views the relationship as a learning experience and uses the play to articulate his experience in a productive way, something he hasn’t done yet. Lastly, the ending of the film shows the most significant change from Alvy. He meets with Annie and seems genuinely happy to spend time with her and says he’s glad that he got to know her, contrary to his prior notion to
Cited: Castrignano, Michael. “Biography for Woody Allen.” IMDb. 2010. 25 March 2010 <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000095/bio> Conard, Mark T., ed., and Aeon J. Skoble, ed. Woody Allen and Philosophy: You Mean My Whole Fallacy is Wrong? Peru: Open Court, 2004. Four Films of Woody Allen. New York: Random House, 1982.