HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is an intricate, well thought- out ensemble drama from Woody Allen, who began with this movie a string of adult dramas like CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, SEPTEMBER and ANOTHER WOMAN. This one follows the loves and ambitions of one extended family, all of whom are connected by a woman named Hannah (Mia Farrow). Michael Caine, her current husband (and probably the only man who looks goofier than Woody Allen), is infatuated with Hannah's sister Lee (Barbara "Collagen Lips" Hershey), who is married to a moody artist (Max von Sydow).
Then you've got the two other sisters, Holly (perennial Allen favorite Diane Wiest) and April (Carrie Fisher), in competition for the same man, along with Farrow's ex-husband (Allen), the hypochondriac producer of a sketch comedy show (In a rare moment that reveals a little too much of Woody, he complains about a sketch that the censors have ordered cut, wondering why they could be so narrow-minded, when his head writer Julie Kavner replies, "Child molestation is a very touchy subject.) who comes face to face with death and eternity when he finds out he may have a brain tumor.
As if all these story lines weren't enough, Allen manages to work in a few of his customary flashbacks, one a scene in which he and Mia find out he's infertile and have to ask two of their best friends if they wouldn't mind donating some sperm for a worthy cause, and the other a comic sequence of a blind date from hell with Allen and Wiest. The latter is loaded with the usual Woody Wit and figures into the plot toward the end, the former is unnecessary and is never resolved. We see the friends react in disgust at the comment, "All you have to do is masturbate into a cup" (which Woody would no doubt videotape), but later we find out Woody and Mia had two kids together. Who's the father, out of curiosity?
Although the whole sperm storyline is out of place, the others are delicately balanced so that we retain interest in all of them as they develop and eventually intertwine. Allen has an obvious talent for juggling multiple story lines even if the resolutions for some of them aren't ideal. In HANNAH AND HER SISTERS, he tackles his familiar topics of adultery and the philosophical mysteries of life as his character receives a reprieve and gets a new lease on life for only a little while before realizing death is still inevitable and life is still as meaningless as ever. He tries to convert to Catholicism and later Hari Krishna, but to no avail. Only Woody could make so many serious points about an issue like that while also keeping the comedy going. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS marked the beginning of a new era of large scale seriousness in comedy from Mr. Allen.
By : Andrew Hicks
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 5
One of the very best films in Woody Allen's considerable career, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS is an utter delight from start to finish. Allen's observations of family life and relationships have rarely been sharper, funnier or more honest.
Like so many of Allen's films, the setting is once again in New York. But it's a testimony to the universality of his writing that the location, while certainly inspiring, doesn't really matter in the end. One doesn't have to have even set foot inside the USA, let alone the Big Apple, to find these characters so real, so familiar, so achingly lifelike.
The film focuses on the lives of three sisters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne West). Though a quite a few different plots run simultaneously though the film, Allen's screenplay tells two principal stories. Firstly, the secret extra marital affair between Hannah's husband Elliot (a wonderful Michael Caine) and his sister-in-law Lee. Secondly, we follow the trials of Hannah's ex-husband Mickey (Woody Allen), a hypochondriac who undergoes a major personal and spiritual crisis about the meaning of life after seemingly staring death in the face.
Caine's multi-faceted character is one of the film's standout performances. He's both refreshingly honest and oddly calculating in his agonising over his long-held feelings for his wife's sister and the passionate affair that follows. Also outstanding is Allen himself, playing a variation on the same neurotic character he's done a million times before but investing the character with real pathos and humanity. He's also very, very funny. Sample: in a flashback discussing his just diagnosed infertility with his then wife. Farrow: What have you done that could have caused this, was it excessive masturbation? Allen: Hey, now you're knocking my hobbies!
The smaller details and the secondary plots in this film are equally as satisfying is the principal storylines. The sisters' parents are two showbiz types with big egos; dad trying to grow old gracefully, mum trying to keep her youth and flirting with men at every opportunity, much to her husband's disgust. There's the brain-dead rock and roller who wants to buy "big art" for his mansion and who finds himself in an explosive encounter with Lee's first lover Frederick, an ageing artist and snobbish intellectual played superbly by the Max Von Sydow.
This is a remarkable, richly textured film, full of warmth, humour, sadness, and a touching humanity. The cast of stars is sensational, taking to their well-defined roles with focus and, it seems, some humility. There's no scenery chewing performances here. And Woody Allen's script as near to flawless as one could possibly hope for.
HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. In a word: brilliant. See it at all costs.
By : Mike Watson
more Hannah and Her Sisters reviews: <<prev 1 2next>>
