'Max, you see conspiracies everywhere'

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  "I used to be a heroin addict, now I'm a methadone addict." — elementary school girl in Annie Hall (1977) 'reflecting' on her future.

    I was 23 when Annie Hall came out (I saw it with a certified, desperate self-esteem seeker) and I left the theater thoroughly thrilled and depressed at the same time. I realized I had just witnessed the 'perfect' movie and it was no longer necessary to continue with film school.
   It was as if Woody Allen said, “I’m going to make a movie which contains every possible narrative facet and have it make sense at the same time.”
   Among the storytelling elements in Annie are foreshadow, flashbacks, split-screen, repetition, subtitles, tracking shots, still shots, animation and, of course, he talks directly to the audience at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the film, tying it all up neatly at the end with a montage of scenes from the film (and other shots that otherwise would have ended up on the cutting-room floor).
   [And how many people notice that the airplane flys to the left when heading to the west and is pointed to the right when the action is returning to the east coast? I cannot believe how often I have seen 'misdirection' of vehicular movement in motion pictures; such as having a beach on the right side in a scene that is supposed to depict the west coast or vice versa regarding the east coast. It most likely has to do with what light the cinematographer has to deal with at the location, but it also underscores Mr. Allen's attention to detail.]
   If Annie Hall is not shown in every introductory university-level film class then it is a crime because it is an American masterpiece. There’s a reason the American Film Institute has Annie Hall listed as the 35th best film in their Top 100 (a little low) and 2nd best Top 100 Romantic Comedy movie of all time. It even spawned a fashion craze and (as Allen has done for so many actors) catapulted Diane Keaton to fame. [more on the AFI listings to come in another entry]
   Despite what one may think of Mr. Allen’s personal life, we can all thank the Creator for placing him in our midst. He is a true artist-as-filmmaker in that he produces movies that work within a modest budget and focus on storytelling rather than an all-out assault on the senses. What shies me away from seeing movies in theaters these days is not the cost, but the attack on the eyes and ears because Hollywood cranks out films aimed at a global audience that doesn’t speak English as a first language, hence the emphasis on pretty faces, soundtracks and crash, boom, bang.
   With that in mind we should also thank Robert Redford for his inspirational Sundance phenomenon that gives hope to independent filmmakers and joy to the rest of us. Were it not for Sundance I doubt films such as Restrepo or American Movie would receive the recognition they deserve.
   If you haven’t seen American Movie, check it out. I’ve said to friends and fam before that had my mother married a factory worker in Wisconsin — rather than a lieutenant in the Air Force — that I would be the lead character (Mark Borchardt) in American Movie.
   Such is life.