hannah and her sisters

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could this be woody allen's best movie? i think it might be. man, is it well-written (look at the scene where woody's fretting about his test results and remembers the last time he got bad news from a doctor, when he found out he was infertile, giving you all of his and mia's backstory). the architecture tour (what a great scene, the way it's set up in the kitchen is so perfect)! max von sydow! the showbiz parents! best woody allen or what?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:17 (twenty-one years ago)

what say you? btw i got this and annie hall for $10CAD each last week! whatta deal!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:17 (twenty-one years ago)

It is top ten for sure (it has maybe his best ending too.) 80s Woody Allen is really underrated IMO. Radio Days, Broadway Danny Rose, Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters. So much good stuff.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:48 (twenty-one years ago)

AND Crimes and Misdemeanors and Zelig. . . actually compared to that I guess the 90s have been kind of eh for him.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:51 (twenty-one years ago)

i saw this in someone's apt in new york but mysteriously i don't remember exactly where or when.

what i remember abt the movie are long floating takes of people around tables talking.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:52 (twenty-one years ago)

This was, I think, the third Woody Allen movie I saw (I was 15), after Husbands and Wives and Manhattan Murder Mystery, and even though I could tell you lots about those two movies (to be fair, I saw MMM twice), I remember absolutely nothing about Hannah and Her Sisters. Nothing!

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Max Von Sydow was fucking funny in this flick

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 05:00 (twenty-one years ago)

There is a character called Hannah, and she has two sisters.

Is Woody Allen married to Hannah? Doesn't he have an affair with one of the sisters?

I can't quite recall, but I remember enjoying it.

― supercub, Tuesday, 7 September 2004 05:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Isn't it that Woody Allen is divorced from Hannah (Mia Farrow), who is now married to the Michael Caine character but Caine is having an affair with Hannah's sister?

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 05:05 (twenty-one years ago)

(Hannah's sister who is with Max Von Sydow, and I think Woody ends up with Hannah's other sister played by Diane Weist, right?)

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 05:06 (twenty-one years ago)

The only thing I remember from this movie is Woody being upset with something and saying he's going to kill himself, but then realizing that would destroy his parents so he'll have to kill them too.

And this is the only movie I've ever seen the day it opened.

― nickn (nickn), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 05:24 (twenty-one years ago)

its about the only movie i can stand michael caine in - his performance is amazing, painful to watch - i swear i sweat with him when he's at the bookshop with his sister-in-law, and he's likeable as well as pathetiic, until that final chilling scene where he's reassuring himself he's happy now. is he the only character with an audible interior dialogue? its been a while since i saw it.

we watched manhattan murder mystery again the other day, that's a peach of a movie.

― stevie (stevie), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

BARBARA HERSHEY IS KIND OF DELICIOUS AT TIMES IN THIS PHILM. IN W00DY'S T0P 3 4 ME

― Vic (Vic), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 08:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i think alex in sf is right about '80s woody allen; actually i think the '80s was really his peak--maybe his best decade.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm sad that not many people remember anything about this movie! do yourselves a favour (should that be "do yourselves favours"?) and rent it, it's really wonderful and will make you happy

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

absolutely one of his best, only a slight notch below Annie Hall and Manhattan. About even w/Husbands & Wives.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Dominique is spot on there. It's a wonderful film, and I think it's easily Caine's best performance.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The thing I remember most about "Hannah and Her Sisters" is that I looked at my watch about three hours into the movie and it claimed only 30 minutes had passed. The thing lasted at least 12 hours. Woody Allen discovered a way to warp time and extend audience suffering.

― Hey Jude, Tuesday, 7 September 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I think it's pretty lame, as Woody Allen films go. I have a bit of Michael Caine aversion, though.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

explain (why you think it's lame, not the michael caine aversion, which seems to rampant on this thread)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't remember now. I saw it again about a year ago and I think I explained it then, when it was fresh in my mind. It just didn't seem to get at things in the way superficially similar Allen films do. I just remember Caine's character being annoyingly empty-headed, meaning I couldn't give a stuff about his stupid predicaments.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

i watched it again about a month ago, really really great. not THE BEST, but up there, yes.

― m. (mitchlnw), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

is he the only character with an audible interior dialogue?

Not at all - most of the main characters do. For example Dianne Weist in the car after the Architecture tour: "... well it's clear he likes her more. How could i have ever said that about the Guggenheim? my stupid rollerstaking joke" Haha! Also Barbara Hershey thinking about Caine "is it my imagination or does Elliot have a little crush on me" then reading to herself that Cummings poem "somewhere i have never travelled, gladly, beyond" that ends "No one, not even the rain has such small hands" (now a fairly famous Poem and i think it's mainly as a result of this film). And of course Allen himself has a hilarious interior monologe "i probably have a brain tumour" !

One of Allens very best, it has a great supporting cast including the woman who played Rhoda's sister in the TV Series. It had a ton of great lines. I agree about Caine being pretty much unwatchable in most films but he's great here (and won an oscar?).

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

And Carrie Fisher and Sam Waterstone are both great in the film too.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:32 (twenty-one years ago)

you know, i don't mean to be snarky in saying this, but i don't really have strong memories of any woody allen films outside of a few isolated gags or nice pictoral moments. i certainly don't remember the plots. i actually remember the most stuff from everyone says "i love you" which i hated at the time, but think i might like a little more with suitably diminished expectations.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm a big fan of that movie

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Now that was a great film, all the better for my being very unsure of the idea of it before I watched.

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

i like the idea of it, at least now i do--a sort of DIY musical. but the film itself is so dull and uninvolving. sort of like godard's a woman is a woman i guess.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 19:07 (twenty-one years ago)

And the decade of the 80s is bracketed by Stardust Memories and Crimes & Misdemeanors. 80s Woody Allen could do no wrong!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Hannah and Her Sisters had a guest spot from the Montreal band 39 Steps, therefore CLASSIC. I pretty much like all of Woody's 80s movies, esp Crimes and Misdemeanors. But you know, I liked Husbands and Wives and Bullets Over Broadway too, so I liked the 90s stuff too.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:38 (twenty-one years ago)

My favorite Woody Allen movies from the 80s are Purple Rose of Cairo, Another Woman, and Crimes and Misdemeanors. Not as keen on Stardust Memories, Zelig, or Broadway Danny Rose. I think I saw about a half hour of Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, so I have no opinion, and obviously, as I've said before, I remember nothing of Hannah, but maybe I'll have to rent it soon. Oh, also, I've never seen September.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 20:44 (twenty-one years ago)

If he only made Stardust Memories, Hannah and her Sister, and Crimes and Misdemeanors, the 80s would still have been a great decade. they are all so classic. Barbara Hershey is gorgeous and Max Van Sydow has one of my favorite quotes from any movie.

"If jesus came back and saw what was being done in his name, he would never stop throwing up."

BTW, Daniel Stern is great in HaHS and Stardust Memories. what happened?

― Magic City (ano ano), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 21:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Hannah and Her Sisters had a guest spot from the Montreal band 39 Steps, therefore CLASSIC

haha! i'm friends with the lead singer of that band (now defunct, obv)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

also jaymc why do you not like zelig? (i ask cuz it's one of my favourite movies ever)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

haha! i'm friends with the lead singer of that band (now defunct, obv)

Unfortunately. Though I definitely liked the first album better than the second...better not point him to my reviews at allmusic because it probably wouldn't come across just how much I loved the song "Slip Into the Crowd". I actually pestered David Wisdom for so much information on that one that he eventually sent me a copy.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't own any of their albums! (my boss was in one of their videos tho!)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

oh i do remember the *look* of purple rose of cairo, which i liked a lot. the story conceit was kind of dumb though if i recall.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 01:03 (twenty-one years ago)

i have never heard anything positive about september or shadows and fog.

god, woody allen has made so many movies. i need to look at his filmography just to remind myself of which ones i've seen.

― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 01:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I dunno, I like Zelig well enough I guess, but it just seemed more lightweight than I'd been expecting.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Jeff Daniels is totally charming in Purple Rose of Cairo (an experience he loved so much he named his Michigan-based theatre company after the film).

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 04:25 (twenty-one years ago)

amateurist i think it's a 1-a-year deal.
like a sorta FELT thing
(only that was lps)

― piscesboy, Wednesday, 8 September 2004 12:53 (twenty-one years ago)

i remember reading woody allen always hated the ending to this movie, felt it was a big pandering copout to the audience. he mocks it pretty well in bullets over broadway.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah - I think he said that when I saw him give a talk at the NFT. I'd forgotten that. He said he didn't know how to finish it or something.

― Alba (Alba), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 14:36 (twenty-one years ago)

i remember reading woody allen always hated the ending to this movie, felt it was a big pandering copout to the audience. he mocks it pretty well in bullets over broadway.

haha me and my friend were just talking about that! that's a really funny scene!

i'm a big purple rose of cairo fan. probably my favourite jeff daniels performance, and... VAN JOHNSON!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 8 September 2004 15:07 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

WTF?

http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/12681_37032_3.jpg

― G00blar, Thursday, 16 August 2007 15:14 (eighteen years ago)

one of the best moments of the ten (which was incredibly uneven) was the little hannah parody/homage

― ghost rider, Thursday, 16 August 2007 15:51 (eighteen years ago)

hahaha wtf with that cover art!!!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 15:53 (eighteen years ago)

The USA tie adds a whole other level to it.

― Eazy, Thursday, 16 August 2007 16:16 (eighteen years ago)

a light comedy about an American clown and his butt-trapeze act

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 16:17 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe they think all Americans are like that in Germany.

― The Real Dirty Vicar, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:27 (eighteen years ago)

amazing film. how did he get such amazing performances from supporting actresses all the time? all those oscars, and all those career-bests and such. hmm, it's weird.

― pisces, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:32 (eighteen years ago)

love love love Dianne Weist in this

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:34 (eighteen years ago)

shes a great cokehead

― chaki, Thursday, 16 August 2007 21:39 (eighteen years ago)

five years pass...

Saw this film last night.

It was quite droll, episodic (which helped), felt very Woody Allen (which I wanted), had some good lines (though not constantly).

But Michael Caine? Best Supporting Actor? wtf was that about? The best thing I could say is that he was 'creatively miscast', deliberately put in something in which he would be stilted, inappropriate and ill at ease.

― the pinefox, Sunday, 17 March 2013 10:57 (thirteen years ago)

I like him in Hannah, but the obvious winner that year should have been a performance that wasn't even nominated: Hopper in Blue Velvet. (They nominated him for Hoosiers instead.)

― clemenza, Sunday, 17 March 2013 12:52 (thirteen years ago)

It's a good one (actually, I always thought this one was considered as one of the "classics") but I find 'Husbands & Wives' did it better. Should re-watch both obv

― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Wednesday, 27 March 2013 13:37 (thirteen years ago)

one month passes...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/f702dbf0e94b6bdf4e16ee044eeebd33/tumblr_mn8ck8lCSk1r0bf1no1_500.jpg

thanking u, mark s

― j., Sunday, 26 May 2013 21:09 (thirteen years ago)

"And don't forget the poem on page 112. It reminded me of you."

― Oulipo Traces (on a Cigarette) (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 27 May 2013 00:46 (thirteen years ago)

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