Manhattan (1979)

My favorite Allen film yet.

Shot in beautiful widescreen black and white, the visuals are simply excellent. I don't have the technical terms or knowhow to describe it. I'll just say that I found the cinematography consistently excellent, with some truly outstanding scenes (Isaac and Mary at the planetarium springs immediately to mind). Combined with the (to my ears) somewhat old-fashioned score, a very dreamy Manhattan is evoked as a backdrop and medium for these people struggling with their relationships.

Woody Allen plays Isaac, the nervous, vaguely immature, relentlessly articulate, twice-divorced lead, and is paired this time with stunning, 17-year-old Tracy (played by a subtle, fragile Mariel Hemingway) who is too precocious for her own good. Three more characters complete the main cast, Yale, Isaac's friend who professes to being happily married to and in love with Emily, but is having an affair with Mary, another beautiful woman too intelligent (cerebral, in fact) for her own good. Meryl Streep plays Isaac's now-homosexual ex-wife who writes a book about their separation.

Character development and interaction in this movie is wonderful and very convincing. These are flawed characters (though Tracy's only flaw might be her youth) who don't quite know how to, or don't have the emotional courage to deal with their relationships. The relationship between Tracy and Isaac, in particular, was pulled off without any big hitches, despite how awkward it might sound in concept (I mean, a 42-year-old and a 17-year-old? Come on!). It helped, of course, that the actors gave good performances.

The dialogue, of course, was pitch-perfect, as was the pacing (of the shifts between romance and comedy, for example). I feel envious and almost inadequate, seeing these bright, clever people interacting with one another! For all their intelligence, though, they still make mistakes in love, like the rest of us.

Annie Hall (1977)

Loved it from start to finish. I had some idea what it was going to be like, just from cultural osmosis, but, yeah, it was great. Woody Allen's neurotic yet likable onscreen persona is an entertaining narrator, as perhaps he only should be, since he is a comedian in the film as well as in real life.

Like the narrator, the film itself is nervous, clever. The fourth wall is broken so smoothly that you don't have the time to complain. In a flashback, children speak as their adult selves. An animated Woody Allen speaks with the evil queen from Snow White. Strangers on the street suddenly have something relevant to say. This isn't to give the impression that there was any more than a light seasoning of surreality in the film, though. The focus is still on the dialogue.

The dialogue was smart, fast-paced, and felt real, if a little too clever to be believed. Good thing, too, since the movie basically consists of people talking: about or to themselves, with others, to the camera. Long takes allow for long, involved conversations filled with literary and pop culture references.

(I'm greatly enjoying getting into Woody Allen's work. Looking forward to watching more great movies of his.)

Interiors (1978)

Interiors appears to be something of the odd one out among Woody Allen's films - it's a very spare, very bleak psychological drama ala Bergman. Incidentally, also the first Allen film I've ever seen.

Lots of still, lingering shots in muted greys and beiges and browns, making for a somber atmosphere. It's also shot fairly tight (not sure if that's the right term), with the characters feeling isolated, as in a play. The emphasis on dialogue and the playing out of the relationships between various characters only serves to reinforce the theatrical feel of the movie.

Wonderful performance by Geraldine Page as the artistic, unstable mother. I could really sense the tensions, the neuroses she was trying so mightily to keep under control.

One of the characters, Renata, is a successful poet, while another, her sister Joey, is a frustrated searcher for meaningful occupation. I found these two characters to be the most interesting ones in the film. I admire and envy Renata for her creative success, her ability to perceive and put things into the right words. On the other hand, I'm afraid of turning out like Joey - that person everyone thought was a great kid with a lot of potential, but, well, look at her now...

Renata:

"Do I really care if a handful of my poems are read after I'm gone? Is that supposed to be some sort of compensation? I used to think it was,but now, for some reason... I can't seem to shake the real implication of dying."

Joey:

"I feel a real need to express something but I don't know what it is I want to express or how to express it."