Then For ages, the only copy of Hannah and Her Sisters I owned was a scuzzy ex-rental VHS which I bought at a car boot sale at the multi-story car park in St. Helens. I have a vivid memory of watching the film on my 14” portable raised way about the ground on a chest of drawers in an attempt to recreate the impression of being in the cinema. The dvd I watched tonight is the third copy I’ve since owned. In other words I love this film.
From the opening shot. She is beautiful.
Spoilers ahead. Again.
Now The memorable quotes page for Hannah and Her Sisters at the IMDb says everything you need to know about the film. I can quote Star Wars. I can quote Adventures in Babysitting. I can also quote Hannah and Her Sisters. At various points in life I’ve actually been able to work into conversation: “The heart is a resilient little muscle.” “Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?” “I have my answer, I have my answer, I’m walking on air.” “How the hell do I know why there were Nazis? I don't know how the can opener works!” Yes, really, even that last line. I didn't say there was anything fluid about it.
Is there anything more life affirming in Eighties film (setting aside the dance in The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Twist and Shout) than the flashback near the climax when Woody’s character at the apogee of his hypochondria and religious confusion attempts to take his own life then regains his balance by watching Duck Soup? During my teenage years, and later during those low ebbs in life, I always think back to his final remarks. I’m sure they’re why I can quite honestly say I’ve never been suicidal:
What if there is no God and you only go around once and that's it. Well, ya know, don't you wanna be part of the experience? You know, what the hell it's not all a drag. And I'm thinking to myself, Jeez, I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I'm never gonna get, and just enjoy it while it lasts. And after who knows, I mean, maybe there is something, nobody really knows. I know maybe is a very slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that's the best we have. And then I started to sit back, and I actually began to enjoy myself.Simplistic perhaps, and the very ill might disagree with the sentiment that there is always something to live for, but if you’re not here, think of all the things you’re going to miss and all that you could potentially contribute to the world. That’s not something you can just throw away on a whim. Sometimes I might think that I’m wasting my life, but at least there are enough other things to keep me entertained. Not least, Hannah and Her Sisters.
Woody’s aim was to ape the structure of English classical novels, the likes of Dickens or Fielding, various storylines running in parallel. Inevitably that meant the film fell under consideration when I was writing about hyperlink films for a dissertation and ultimately helped me to crystalise the difference between those and ensemble films. In ensemble films there is always some very direct connection between the characters, a work place, or in this case the spine of the family and the three sisters, whereas in the hyperlink or multi-stranded film, the connections are far vaguer or synchronous and all of the characters rarely meet in the same room at a party as happens here, for thanksgiving.
They’re also rarely tied up in story terms at the end; reflecting on the final scenes, Allen says that the conclusion of Hannah is too satisfactory, and that he wished he’d had the confidence to be vaguer. But there are some loose ends, not least the emotional time-bomb of Elliot’s infidelity which is unlikely to be kept secret and is likely to crush Hannah, especially since this is the second time that she’s turned a man away from herself and (eventually) into the arms of one of her sisters. How is she to react when she finds out Holly is pregnant with Mickey’s child demonstrating once again her impatience? And what of Federick the intellectual painter? I like to think that he now spends his days watching cage fighting on television and muttering to himself about the degradation of society.
Having not seen the film for a few years and certainly not on a screen this huge I was rather stunned by Woody’s manic first scene were he appears at the epicentre of a television comedy show. In quick succession, there are young versions of John Turturro, J.T. Walsh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who’d just finished her spell on Saturday Night Live), Julie Kavner and Christian Clemenson who wouldn’t arguably become a household name until he played Jerry in Boston Legal. Such talent montages would become more prevalent later in Woody's career, but in most cases – Deconstructing Harry or Celebrity – they feature actors who are already proper household names you are desperate to work with the director. Here he captures a group of actors at the dawn of their long careers. He would eventually work with most of them again.
Finally, here are some students from Syracuse University recreating one of the scenes for a class project. It's a very good measure of the brilliance of the script in that you can remove everything but the text and still find a compelling piece of storytelling. Hollywood films rarely seem to be this literate any more:
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