A man with such a mountain of work behind him and a comedy career spanning over half a century. Beginning as a stand-up comedian, Allen has never strayed from his rambling neurotic style of performance. His most iconic film characters, such as Alvin in Annie Hallare remembered for their panic and negative outlooks on life. Allen’s films are remembered as much for his leading ladies as Allen himself. Allen worked with several leading ladies over and over, such as Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow. Keaton and Allen, as well as being romantically involved for sometime, made eight films together, including some of his most critically acclaimed and successful films; Annie Hall, Love and Death andSleeper. Farrow and Allen were married briefly and made hits such as The Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters.
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| Annie Hall (1977) |
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| The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) |
Not only do I appreciate Allen for his comedy, but I adore his simplicity and his artistic way of displaying believable characters and situations. It’s true, having written and/or directed roughly fifty feature length films, not every single one of his films is fantastic. However, I think I respect him more for this. He drifts from film to film leaving the last one behind as he begins the writing for the next one. Putting his heart into one project at the time, Woody Allen does not linger on the fact that some of his films were snubbed by critics and some crashed at the box office. Allen just loves to make movies. His love for cinema is expressed in most of his films. Especially in his first film with Diane Keaton, Play it Again Sam. This film displays Allen as our protagonist talking to an imaginary Humphrey Bogart in order to improve his love life. I also admire Allen’s ability to tackle a huge number of genres. Although all of his film, to a certain degree, are comedies and although his most famous works are romantic comedies, (e.g. Manhattan), Allen has also ventured into parody, mockumentary, musical and biographical films.
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| Play it Again, Sam (1972) |
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| “Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering – and it’s all over much too soon.” – Woody Allen. |
Hannah McHaffie 