Very enjoyable
Added 5/5/2009
I thoroughly enjoyed this Woody Allen movie. A great study of a disfunctional relationship among three very different sisters who are very close to each other. This is definitely the best Allen's movie I've seen so far. Excellent script, wonderful acting, and feel-good ending. I'll definetly continue exploring Allen's works.
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If you've viewed any of MGM's other DVD editions of Allen films, you'll know what to expect from this one. The A/V quality is excellent: the beautiful 35mm visuals are well served by a fine transfer from a clear, sharp print. Scene selections are comprised of titled thumbnail images. The dubbed French dialogue track is just fine. The Spanish track is equally well-voiced, but muddy, a bit too loud and ultimately artificial. The English, Spanish and French subtitles are all as good as can be expected. The theatrical trailer is also included.
For those who have seen this film, I don't need to sing its praises. For those who haven't, there are few other films in Allen's oeuvre as terrific as this one. Like its thematic successor, "Husbands and Wives," this deft character study is perfectly performed by a famously accomplished cast, and brilliantly shot with a keen, nuanced attention afforded to the film's surroundings, characters and milieu in every scene. Some of Allen's films are trite routines, some are inspired entertainment and a handful are genuine artistic achievements - this is among the latter.
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Woody can still make Good Ones
Added 3/6/2009
I'm an old guy. I saw Bananas and Alfie when they came out. Woody can write dialog with the best but it doesn't hurt to have Caine and the other talent to speak the parts. I gave this 4 stars but I liked it 4.5 or 5. But I know I'm not the herd.
Funny but when I think of Alfie with his relationships with woman and then Caine in Hannah, well... so many similarities. So this may be called a chick flick but I liked it a lot and I'm a guy.
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3.5 stars out of 4
Added 2/3/2009
The Bottom Line:
One of Allen's warmer entries and his best film of the 80s, Hannah and Her Sisters features his usual fine dialogue in addition to great acting by Caine and Von Sydow, an abundance of humor, characters the audience cares about and a suprisingly moving conclusion; if you like Woody Allen and haven't seen this one, please do.
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CLASSIC WOODY, AT HIS BEST
Added 1/26/2009
this is one of the best woody allen movies, along side annie hall. too bad they dont make movies this good anymore.
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One of my favorite movies of all time. Sweet, sentimental, atmospheric, great story telling, well cast, visually and musically gorgeous. It appears no expense and artistic effort was spared. Dozens of scenes, even brief ones often have large costumed casts in beautifully detailed sets. This movie needs to be seen on a large screen to be fully appreciated.
Little gems abound too. When Woody tags along on a date with his aunt, a trio playing for the dancing is shown for all of three seconds, but in those three seconds we get the striking image of a bored female drummer with a cigarette dangling from her lips followed by dramatic, well lit nose exhale just before the cut.
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Finger Exercise
Added 7/9/2009
This belongs to that group of Woody's films that seeks to recapture the golden years in Brooklyn, an area in the theatre covered by Neil Simon. Here Woody's unashamed of his sentimental love for bygone years in Brooklyn back at the family homestead, Jewish to the core, long before he became a sophisticated city boy living the life of Noel Coward or Truman Capote, the New York artist. The film is very well made, beautifully photographed. The Woody Allen stock company is here in form, an ensemble to be compared to Scorsese's well-cast character actors. Again, as in other nostalgic pieces, Woody seems to be exercising more than creating, preparing for bigger and better things. These are loving memories, handled well but not with great wit or perception, nothing quite like the superior later pieces that show the narrator more haunted by the past than in love with it. Mia Farrow seems poorly cast here, which is rare because she is wonderful in most everything she does. In this, however, Woody doesn't quite seem to see that she is not a bimbo type and can't pull it off. I don't believe for one second that Mia Farrow was ever a hat-check girl or a night club tart for the mob. She is a good actress but her talents don't include playing a dumb floozy. Diane Keaton, who means nothing to me as an actress, makes a brief appearance but shows more depth and concentration in her brief bit than all of Farrow's frequent appearances put together. Keaton looks like she belongs but is uncomfortable, while Farrow looks like she doesn't belong but is trying to be comfortable. Neither actress is especially sexy, although both are attractive. Woody directs the kids well; they are just bored and unhappy enough to be convincing; here, I think, we see, although it is never mentioned, how miserable the young Woody Allen must have felt being surrounded by such boring people and why he must have yearned to get out and move on in his life. Unlike Spielberg, for example, who always shows kids being happy to be young, Woody's boys are miserable and obviously can't stand the adults. This is altogether an unimpressive little piece, a mere exercise by the master as he focused his attention and moved on from nostalgia to bigger and better things.
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Very Nice Piece Of Nostalgia
Added 4/13/2009
If you are looking for the normal amount of big laughs from a Woody Allen film, then you will be disappointed here. It's not that kind of film.
I was anything but disappointed, but I knew what the film was all about before I saw it. Actually, what drew me to it was that I had read where this was a wonderful visual film, filled with rich colors and great set designs. It did not let me down. This is a great visual tribute to the 1940s, to be exact from 1938 to 1944. A real treat for the eyes.
The story centers around a Jewish family in Queens and the importance that radio shows had in that day-and-age. Also profiled in here are some of those radio performers.
It does have laughs but not as many as the normal Allen movie because the idea of this is simply to be a nostalgic piece, mainly Allen's tribute to his own family days of growing up, what it was like around his house.
It was interesting to see Seth Green playing Woody as a youngster with flaming red hair. The most interesting person, however, was Diane Wiest who played a man-chasing sister-in-law. The film gives you a real flavor of the period, of New York and of a Jewish family.
Overall, it's simply a nice film....and gorgeous to look at. Sometimes I think some of Allen's work is overrated but, boy, here is one that is definitely underrated.
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