Hannah and Her Sisters
1986 Directed by Woody Allen
Synopsis
Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.
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76/100
Here's what's weird: I can now see in this old favorite the seeds of everything I dislike about his recent films. Much of the dialogue is clunkily expository and/or tin-eared; supporting characters (e.g. Daniel Stern's gauche rock star) often function as straw-man caricatures; source music is used as a cudgel. Yet it's mostly glorious, and I spent the whole damn movie trying in vain to pinpoint the difference. In the end, I think Tarantino may be right, at least in this case and some others: Woody's just old now, and his work has become correspondingly creaky, with its highs diminished and its flaws hugely magnified. In any case, he was unmistakably at the top of his game here—though he's…
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Annie Hall's too famous, Manhattan's too much the underdog, so I figured it would be reasonable to start with a later Allen show.
Life's a circus. But the difference between this movie's signature shot and the ending of Silver Linings Playbook couldn't be any more different. It's rare to see slow zooms and claustrophobic pan-arounds in mainstream romance flicks these days—Allen sure knew how to get around that problem. Yet I share Mike D'Angelo's problem with the script: it has this naturalism to it that's hindered by clumsy exposition. What I would give to have experienced story information more through the internal monologues instead! They're a defining feature of Hannah and Her Sisters, and I really appreciate how the director…
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Sometimes I think Woody Allen just uses his films as a podium to ramble and stutter through his thoughts on life, like a stand-up routine with less laughs, and i love it. This film has just the right amount of expeditious existentialist rambling and inner monologues to satiate all my soft spots. Hannah and her Sisters is about much more than the three women, it is a mosaic of intertwined disenchanted characters, desperately searching for that spark they felt once before in their lives, all connected through them. I have never been able to connect to a Woody Allen character as well as in this, often i find his performances unbelievable merely because in his films, he gets around with…
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Dianne Wiest is among the greatest actresses America has ever produced and along with Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey carries this film above the mediocre.
Woody Allen and I have a love/hate relationship.He loves my reviews and I hate him. If only. I'm giving the little fella another go after years of being annoyed by his neurotic bullshit. Maybe it's the New Yorker in him,who knows,but he has never really tickled my funny-bone. Fortunately for him he is mostly a side-show to Caine,Wiest and Farrow in a witty,cleverly written look at a families intertwining love stories. Is he growing on me? -
There are times where I wonder if this film is truly deserving of the very top spot on my list of favorite Woody Allen films.
But then I rewatch it. And after all the instances of shining Allen-esque neuroticism, existential questioning, moments of love and struggle, those final few scenes between Mickey and Holly, and THAT MONOLOGUE, I realize (with tears in my eyes) that it has completely, utterly deserved the spot.
This will always and forever be Woody Allen's masterpiece, and the one I love the most. I don't care how uncool that makes me look.
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Ierastās Woody Allen tēlu dzīves kataklizmas vieglas drāmas apskāvienos. Nepiespiesta, bet jēgpilna vāvuļošana par it kā zināmam lietām, kuru interesantuma noslēpums ir darba zirga, režisora īpašībā - necenšanās radīt kaut ko unikālu un vienreizēju.
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Woody Allen and Michael Caine is pretty much my most perfect actor-director combination.
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This is an interesting one. It's about the meaning of life, of love, and all things in between, Of course Woody does it with his typical humor to make light of such heavy subject matter. One knock I have against it is that I find the plot disorienting since it jumps between all of the characters pretty frequently. The section where Woody's character searches for a new religion is particularly entertaining.
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Some great writing and even greater performances. There's a little too much going on towards the end but regardless it is another classic from Woody Allen.
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Annie Hall's too famous, Manhattan's too much the underdog, so I figured it would be reasonable to start with a later Allen show.
Life's a circus. But the difference between this movie's signature shot and the ending of Silver Linings Playbook couldn't be any more different. It's rare to see slow zooms and claustrophobic pan-arounds in mainstream romance flicks these days—Allen sure knew how to get around that problem. Yet I share Mike D'Angelo's problem with the script: it has this naturalism to it that's hindered by clumsy exposition. What I would give to have experienced story information more through the internal monologues instead! They're a defining feature of Hannah and Her Sisters, and I really appreciate how the director…
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It makes me so happy that this is considered one of Allen's masterpieces because it is probably his most nuanced, ambitious work. The screenplay unfolds like an epic novel with a sprawling cast of interconnected characters living through interconnected plots. It's elegant melodrama: unrealized dreams, broken marriages, existential dilemmas. The cast is uniformly wonderful, each with their own voice and style. I think what makes this movie so magical is that it plays like a roller coaster--all the ups and downs. It's almost bleak but it maintains the promise of an optimistic future.
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Ierastās Woody Allen tēlu dzīves kataklizmas vieglas drāmas apskāvienos. Nepiespiesta, bet jēgpilna vāvuļošana par it kā zināmam lietām, kuru interesantuma noslēpums ir darba zirga, režisora īpašībā - necenšanās radīt kaut ko unikālu un vienreizēju.
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Going into this, I expected a fun Woody Allen film which would be enjoyable enough. Instead I got a film which is one of his absolute bests. The film juggles several stories and characters, all of which it are interesting and well executed. The film is constantly engaging, funny, dramatic, and handles some very interesting themes. In fact the conclusion it comes to is one I genuinely found moving. Great film, second only to Annie Hall in my ranking of Allen's work.
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"Your personality left something to be desired, namely a personality."
Somewhat brisk romantic drama that ends a little too neatly. Worth it for the Catholic grocery bag scene alone, however.
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One of Woody Allen's best movies, Hannah and Her Sisters is a wonderful and affecting comedy-drama. Superb performances and script.