Annie Hall + Sleeper

The Chauvel cinema in Sydney is once again presenting some quality double features. Over December/January they are having regular Woody Allen doubles. First up is two of his films featuring Diane Keaton.

I came to the Woody Allen fan club a little late with the first film of his that I saw being 'Bullets Over Broadway'. It was my love of this film that made me go back and see most of his back catalogue as not all is available. I try to go see his new film each year if I can. However not all get a cinema release in Australia. I admit that not all of his films are great but he does have an excellent track record of making some brilliant comedies.

One of the most highly regarded of these is 'Annie Hall'. Most consider this to be his best film and rightly so. While it does not have a terribly complex story, with it just being about the relationship between a guy and a girl. However it is how the story is told that makes it so brilliant. There are so many brilliant one liners that you have trouble remembering them all in just one viewing. The story is also told in a non-linear way so you see the relationship from different points. The characters, mostly Alvy, break the fourth wall and talk to the audience as well as background characters. It is a wonderfully unique way of commenting on the action and letting us see what characters are thinking.

While 'Annie Hall' has very little plot, 'Sleeper' has a lot more plot. It is always interesting to see what people of the past think of the future. None more so than in this film. This film has more visual humour than verbal jokes which is its strong point. The plot is quite weak and only a loose excuse for Woody to play it silly, which he does quite often. There are many great visually funny sequences in the film that are well staged. Thing do get a bit silly at times but you don't seem to mind.

As an actor Woody is a great comedian. His strength is in the verbal humour as seen in 'Annie Hall' as opposed to the visual kind seen in 'Sleeper'. He tends to over act in the visual scenes using really broad gestures instead of smaller movements. Dianne Keaton is much the same. She seems more self assured with the verbal humour than the outrageous comedy of 'Sleepers'.

'Annie Hall' is one of the best romantic comedies ever made and probably the best Woody Allen film. 'Sleeper' is good and has many funny scenes but is not quite as good.