Woody Allen's 1970s New York Movies
Annie Hall, Interiors and Manhattan: Funny, Dreary, Nostalgic
Apr 16, 2009
Though while Lumet focuses mostly on blue-collar life, Allen focuses on middle- and upper-class intellectuals -- their dreams, insecurities and egocentric eccentricities.
Even though the characters in his most prominent 70s New York character studies -- Annie Hall, Interiors and Manhattan -- come off as self-centered, they have just as many weaknesses as they do lofty notions of their own intellectual and sexual prowess.
Annie Hall (1977)
It won the Oscar for Best Picture and for many has become the quintessential Woody Allen comedy, pretty much establishing his New York story style: urban intellectuals in search of love and obsessing over their own lots in life, Allen plays the lead, a stand-up comic and intellectual type whose quest for love has led to several dead-end relationships, often torpedoed by his overanalyzing the relationship. He hooks up with Diane Keaton, an artistic type. Although she aspires to be as intellectual as Allen, she also gravitates toward shallow show biz types, being an aspiring singer. The film follows the roller coaster ride that is their relationship, with Allen the film's spiritual core as a man who lives and breathes New York.
Interiors (1978)
Allen's followup to Annie Hall is a dramatic departure, literally. The story follows a family that has been decaying from within for years and how the decay bubbles to the surface, leading to tragedy. The family began the way many post-World War II families did. Mom, dad, three daughters, nice house, nice everything. Except that the mother, played by Geraldine Page, a rigid, artistic type who transfers many of her neuroses onto her daughters, gradually pushes her husband E.G. Marshall away with her obsessive-compulsive habits and fragile emotional state. He stayed with her for the sake of the family, but wants out. The three daughters have varying functions: the eldest, played by Diane Keaton, is jealous of her middle sister, played by Mary Beth Hurt, and distant with her parents. Hurt is her father’s favorite, and the other sisters entrust her with watching out for their mother, a job she resents. The youngest daughter, played by Kristin Griffith, is a vain, self-centered actress who loves her relatives, but keeps them at a distance. The tone is bleak, and there is no room for happy endings. But the difficult material is worth sitting through for these reasons: Life is rarely a Norman Rockwell painting, and not even the hustle-bustle of the Big City can make up for an empty existence.
Manhattan (1979)
Allen closes out the 70s with a return to Annie Hall form, but this time it's a comedic triangle of love. Two triangles, really. Allen's Alvy Singer character in Annie Hall was going through a mid-life crisis of sorts, but in Manhattan, the midlife crisis is magnified about 10 times as Allen essentially plays the same character with a different name. Isaac Davis is a divorced TV writer who is dating a 17-year-old, played by Mariel Hemingway, as the film begins. He meets his friend's mistress, played by Diane Keaton, and soon falls for her. He's torn between his ego, which enjoys Hemingway's adoration for his worldliness, and Keaton, who he can relate to more because she's in his age group. Filming this time in black and white, Allen paints a wistful, nostalgic picture of the city as a whole, opening and closing the film with George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" playing as the Manhattan skyline is shown, with Allen doing a voiceover about New York's character.
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