Woody Allen's Annie Hall is the quintessential indie romantic comedy. Much like Psycho, it set the stage for all the parodies and homages to come (When Harry Met Sally, 500 Days of Summer). And watching it 35 years later, it loses none of its humor or warmth. It is still as engaging and moving as the day it came out. The bevy of flattering imitations and cheap knock-offs to emerge from the bowels of Hollywood since have only made me more nostalgic for the original. Because none of the replicas have the same charm that made this a classic; none have the same inventive curiosity and ceaseless awe about love that peppers every scene.
The film's structure jumps back and forth in time, focusing on the emotions of relationships rather than the chronology. This has been attempted in romantic stories since time immemorial, but never have I felt it as keenly as in Annie Hall. We see their moments of happiness, vivaciously experience that pure exhilarating joy. We cringe at the anger and resentment that builds up as their relationship falls apart, comes back together, and continues to breed turmoil. We want them to be together, because we love both of them, but life isn't always so sweet. Sometimes it's bittersweet.
There is so much about the directing to love. I'm constantly amazed that Allen put so much creativity into this film; anybody lesser would have spaced it out over several movies to keep people coming back for more. Annie Hall is filled to the brim and delightfully overflowing with ingenuity and novelty. He breaks down common filmic conventions--like split screen, subtitles, and the fourth wall--then rearchitects them for his own purposes. He has so much to say, and doesn't care how he gets his point across, so he uses anything and everything film has to offer.
But what makes this movie so good is none of that. It is the people. In Alvy Singer, Woody Allen both created and perfected the neurotic Jewish New Yorker; Harry Burns and Jerry Seinfeld are nowhere near as compelling or fulfilling to watch. There is something about how wiry and wimpy he looks, how piercing his voice sounds when he whines, that manages just the right amount of pity and sympathy. And Annie Hall is played to perfection by Diane Keaton, as beautifully awkward and fiercely independent as can be. She is soft, tender, naive, mature, and strong, all in one breath. The characters are nothing special, except that they are human beings, and that makes them more special than the characters inhabiting most movies. This movie will always stay in my heart. It is the first and best independent romantic comedy.
IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075686/