The Inventive Woody
Added 12/22/2008
"Zelig" is presented in such a straight documentary format that you have to remind yourself this is not about an actual historical subject. Patrick Horgan so typifies the refined British narrator that he is able to incorporate some old gags with great ease.
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Humoristic dissection of the human mind
Added 6/15/2008
Woody Allen stands, by far, as my favorite director of all times. I have seen all his movies, since I was a kid. Of course, there are the big ones, the masterpieces, but I find a great pleasure in some of his -for the mainstream- less known plays, such as Zelig.
This not comedy, this is pure genius in the understanding of human nature. It is Allen's essay of the desperate need of people to fit into society, to be accepted, to belong. This is the kind of movie that separate Allen for the ordinary and make him of the greatest genius of cinema.
Psychology in cinematic therms, I always consider Zelig as the ultimate dissection of the social distress: how an person needings to be part of something drive him to the point of eliminate his own individuality.
The movie's approach as a fake documentary is also one of the biggest achievements of Allen, a brilliant portrait of humanity.
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SHOWING ONE'S TRUE COLORS
Added 3/26/2008
Uproariously funny spoof of one Leonard Zelig, a totally ubiquitous sort,who effortlessly turns into types with whom he is associating. Filmed in 1930's newsreel style, with appropriate background music, and third party narration, it's Allen at his best, treading waters that anyone else would fear for slander. As psychiatrists attempt to diagnose his condition, Zelig is busy annnoying a Pope, coming between 2 presidents, changing nationalities, changing races,and stupifying the entire planet. It's a film for those who are still able to laugh at themselves and the human condition, at least for 90 minutes. This reviewer is surprised by the relative paucity of reviews, but not the qualityof the film thereof. Lighten up and enjoy!
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The Only Woody Allen Movie I Like
Added 3/8/2008
This was the original Forrest Gump -- The technique of superimposing the character into historical settings. Perhaps because the movie was filmed in B&W, the special effects have held up even after all these years. I saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out when I was a teenager. It was the first time, and only time, I ever thought Woody Allen made a good movie. It is about a man who has no self-esteem and overcomes this by turning into the same people as those around him. When he is with doctors, he becomes a doctor; when he is with Chinese peope, he becomes Chinese; when he is at a Greek restaurant, he becomes Greek. Naturally, he joins the Nazi Party for a time. The movie is about his struggle to become his own person, and the plot and message are timeless.
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What's in a name?
Added 2/14/2008
Trying to figure out a header for this review epitomizes the problems that I have with this very middling Woody Allen film. Readers of this space know that I have done many reviews of Allen's films, as actor, director or both but this one annoys me no end. In short, not all Woody Allen movies are created equal. The premise behind this one is potentially interesting, perhaps more so today than when the film was originally produced- a send up of our celebrity-crazed society.
With Allen playing the role of a human chameleon in the Jazz Age there certainly were possibilities for a funny look at how the geeks look at a fellow geek but it falls flat. Why? I believe that here Allen just went back and found every sight gag and cliché that he had already used in many previous films- the bow (or finger) to Freud, Marx, the New York intelligentsia (here Irving Howe and Susan Sontag), Jewish childhoods, fascination with gentile women (here Mia Farrow, as an chain smoking experimental psychiatrist) and so forth.
If this list sounds familiar to Allen fans then you have the sense of my feelings on this film. Woody flat ran out of steam on this one. Fortunately there is plenty of other work by Allen to pick from. Do so.
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The Inventive Woody
Added 12/22/2008
"Zelig" is presented in such a straight documentary format that you have to remind yourself this is not about an actual historical subject. Patrick Horgan so typifies the refined British narrator that he is able to incorporate some old gags with great ease.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Humoristic dissection of the human mind
Added 6/15/2008
Woody Allen stands, by far, as my favorite director of all times. I have seen all his movies, since I was a kid. Of course, there are the big ones, the masterpieces, but I find a great pleasure in some of his -for the mainstream- less known plays, such as Zelig.
This not comedy, this is pure genius in the understanding of human nature. It is Allen's essay of the desperate need of people to fit into society, to be accepted, to belong. This is the kind of movie that separate Allen for the ordinary and make him of the greatest genius of cinema.
Psychology in cinematic therms, I always consider Zelig as the ultimate dissection of the social distress: how an person needings to be part of something drive him to the point of eliminate his own individuality.
The movie's approach as a fake documentary is also one of the biggest achievements of Allen, a brilliant portrait of humanity.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
SHOWING ONE'S TRUE COLORS
Added 3/26/2008
Uproariously funny spoof of one Leonard Zelig, a totally ubiquitous sort,who effortlessly turns into types with whom he is associating. Filmed in 1930's newsreel style, with appropriate background music, and third party narration, it's Allen at his best, treading waters that anyone else would fear for slander. As psychiatrists attempt to diagnose his condition, Zelig is busy annnoying a Pope, coming between 2 presidents, changing nationalities, changing races,and stupifying the entire planet. It's a film for those who are still able to laugh at themselves and the human condition, at least for 90 minutes. This reviewer is surprised by the relative paucity of reviews, but not the qualityof the film thereof. Lighten up and enjoy!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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