What makes Woody Allen an Auteur?, What makes Woody Allen an Auteur?, Textual analysis of MANHATTAN, Annie Hall and HUSBANDS AND WIVES

1. WOODY ALLENVarshini Yogaeswaran

2. What makes Woody Allen an
Auteur?Allen has wisely grasped for the large themes of love and death, nevertheless handed it to us in the
most simple yet unique manner, especially small-scale movies - such as ''Annie Hall,'' ''Manhattan'' and
''The Purple Rose of Cairo.'‘
In 2002 Woody Allen got the prestigious Palme des Palmes, the Cannes Film Festival's lifetime
achievement award. His profession spans five decades and has earned him 14 Academy Award
nominations and 3 Oscars personally; his cast and crew have won 6 Academy Awards. Allen has
received 8 BAFTA (British Academy of Film) honours and his movies have steadily won prizes and
recognition from the New York and Chicago Film Critics Circles, the Writers Guild of America, the
Cesar Awards in France and the Bodils in Denmark. His movies are taught in the departments of
philosophy and additionally film in universities in Europe and North America.
Aside from the substantial collection of feature film work (more than thirty movies with director and/or
screenplay credits) Allen has composed various plays and short stories. In 2002 Time film critic Richard
Schickel produced Woody Allen: A Life in Film for the 'Turner Classic Movies' station on cable TV.
Allen does not have a particular signature style but in an interview he has stated that he prefers taking
mater shots and will try to use it wherever he can, if fits. ‘The scene usually dictates it. If I can play a
scene in a master shot, I always prefer it. And the actors always prefer it.’ Taking a master shot helps
the actors get a chance to sink their teeth into something substantial, and it’s economically helpful. You
also wouldn’t have to consume a lot of time with unnecessary coverage.
REFERENCE:www.woodyallen.com.

3. What makes Woody Allen an Auteur?
He has repeatedly downplayed idea of symmetry between himself and his filmic persona yet
Allen is certainly an auteur, serving as a chief, screenwriter and star of majority of his movies.
He consistently utilizes a same key crew– cinematographers Sven Nyquist, Gordon Willis (7);
He is best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather series as well as
Woody Allen's Annie Hall and Manhattan. Carlo DiPalma (also a cinematographer); producer
Jean Doumanian, and his actors, among them Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Dianne Weist, Judy
Davis and Alan Alda. In a situation abnormal for Hollywood cinema, Allen prefers to have a
tight control over all parts of his work – casting, writing, shooting and editing – and, past this, is
exalted to the point that he is not required to present a script for studio approval. After an awful
experience on 1965's What's New, Pussycat? (which he composed however felt he lost control
of amid shooting) Allen has requested and gotten virtual autonomy.
REFERENCE: See Sam B. Girgus, The Films of Woody Allen, p. 2; Marion Meade, The Unruly
Life of Woody Allen, p. 94.
The late film critic Pauline Kael proposes that the reason New York critics adore Woody Allen is
that “they’re applauding their fantasy of themselves”. In some of his films, including ‘Startdust’
Memory (1980) and ‘Deconstructing Harry’ (1997) Allen has explored being a prisoner of his
own persona (whilst denying the likeness). Even though the persona gained Allen a loyal
audience, he has fallen in and out of favour with the film community partly. In recent years
‘criticism’ of Woody Allen’s films has virtually forsaken content wherever it does not fit into a
discussion of what seems to become more important: his scandalous personal life.

4. (1979
)It is written, directed and starred by the prolific yet controversial Woody Allen, it is a fairly straightforward story of love and loss. In “Manhattan,”
Woody Allen’s New York is a world filled with artists, poets, musicians, writers, intellectuals and psychoanalyst. It’s an oasis of art galleries,
museums, books and neurosis. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” takes over as Gordon Willis’ superb black and white photography paints a majestic
world of urban beauty.
The plot does take credit, however it is its unique mise-en-scene that earns all credits. The city itself is the main character in this film with
everyone else in a supporting role. In the movie, the mid-40s Woody Allen is dating a 17-year-old. Eventhough the movie addresses the plot
point’s strangeness, it is quite disturbing in the context of Allen’s personal life and the controversy that was going on.
Woody’s duplicitous opening, which has fascinated critics into swallowing its illusions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o6QKpNK9Cc
• Not wasting any time, Woody makes this apparent
from the very first shot, in which Isaac is busy at
his book.
• When listening to the voice over it does not sound
professional which flies in the face of a later scene
where Isaac ends up quitting his job and could
stop writing crap television, and focus on
something ‘serious’.
• There is an irony, a futility, that most viewers do
not catch. The stunning visual of fireworks is
probably of Isaac’s feelings and ideals, indicating
that it has very little to do with realist and more of
Isaac’s internal life.
Manhattan holds a special place in cinema,
even as, 35 years later, it carries on to
outshine films, while inspired by Woody’s,
are restricted by the genre conventions he
absolutely defies. The film obtains in depth
situations, deeper dialogue, better and more
daring visual, and fuller character.

5. Annie Hall was the start of Allen’s Golden Age, acquiring in- depth characterisations, visuals, and with a deep narrative.
Annie Hall holds many of his now-classic preoccupations with sex, death, relationships, inevitability, and intellectual
posturing (including his own), and it results in a genuine narrative out of it.
Annie Hall moves in flashbacks and symbolic events, with an early scene
demonstrating Alvy as a redheaded kid, getting scolded by his teachers for kissing a
young lady on the cheek. Annie Hall does not generally have the visual significance
of some later movies, yet it's comprised with subtle touches, regardless, for
example, Alvy's trouble difficulty recognising fantasy and reality, showing that his
classmates as if they’re already grown up. Or his claim of having lived near a
rollercoaster, wherein he's seen drinking tea, as his house shakes — exactly how a
kid would translate things, regardless of how senseless or extreme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsHwIBR6ivA
In essence, Annie Hall is a comedic look at
relationships and the people behind them,
comprising with some great characterisations- so
much that viewers may empathise with the ‘wrong’
character, or miss this or that motive, buried as
they are in anguish or fixation or relatability.
Time travel and animation are different techniques that
underscore the fantastical part of Annie Hall. In some scenes,
Alvy literally goes back to the past and at times brings buddies
with him. Other visually innovative components in the film
comprise interactive split screens, sudden physical changes, (for
example, when Alvy transforms into a Hasidic Jew), and the
sudden creation of a real-life character (Marshall McLuhan)
matched with the direct-to-camera comment “Boy, if only life
were like this." Together, these methods bolster the thought that
art can and ought to be utilized to reshape life.

6. This is Woody Allen's last unmistakably great work — and one of the in depth examination of marriage (or rather, the patterned
ways in which individuals think and act). In some ways, Husbands and Wives is the purest look at "Woody" relationships, and one
of the more intimate and best movies of his career. When looking back at Annie Hall it was a sort of adult "first" for Woody and
for Alvy Singer, and Manhattan too odd — it dealt a grown man and a 17-yearl-old girl, after all — or Hannah and her Sisters too
stained by the ‘big issues' of unfaithfulness, familial conflict, and so forth, to truly get at the center of romance itself, this film only
looks at the inner workings of 2 marriages, and what the connections in one say of the events in the other, and vice-versa.
The great opening in Husbands And Wives, wherein the film’s camera style and dramatic conflicts are at the fore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ojZxFjlFV0
This is the inverse to Manhattan – from numerous points of view. "Manhattan" is
romantic, and wonderfully shot with its profound blacks and shocking cinematography,
coordinated with its symphonic score makes everything epic. Here, cinematographer
Carlo Di Palma utilizes handheld camera work, smash zooming and documentary style.
It is his best work in an Allen film.
This film has been noted for Allen’s scriptwriting and its brutal character masterpiece. It
not a cheerful film or a crowd pleaser. In any case, it’s the dark side of film like
'Manhattan', and demonstrates the extensiveness of vision of Woody Allen.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHI
ES• Sparknotes.com. (2015). SparkNotes: Annie Hall: Themes, Motifs, and Symbols. [online] Available at:
http://www.sparknotes.com/film/anniehall/themes.html [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].
• Wp.wwu.edu. (2016). An Analysis of Manhattan (1979) Second Draft – Robbie's Rants. [online] Available at:
https://wp.wwu.edu/robbiesrants/2016/10/20/an-analysis-of-woody-allens-manhattan-1979-final-draft/ [Accessed 15 Mar.
2017].
• Feaster, F. (n.d.). The Purple Rose of Cairo. [online] Turner Classic Movies. Available at: http://www.tcm.com/this-
month/article/88988%7C0/The-Purple-Rose-of-Cairo.html [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].
• Loy, V. (2003). Woody Allen. [online] Senses of Cinema. Available at: http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-
directors/allen/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].
• Greco, J. (2012). Manhattan (1979) Woody Allen. [Blog] Twenty Four Frames. Available at:
https://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/manhattan-1979-woody-allen/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].
• Sheremet, A. (2014). Woody Allen's Top 10 Films, Analyzed And Explained | IDEAS ON IDEAS. [online] IDEAS ON
IDEAS. Available at: http://alexsheremet.com/woody-allens-top-10-films-analyzed-explained/ [Accessed 15 Mar. 2017].
• Abrams, S. (2014). Simply Do it: Talking with Woody Allen About Directorial Style. [Blog] Rogerbert. Available at:
http://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/simply-do-it-talking-with-woody-allen-about-directorial-style [Accessed 19 Mar.
2017].
• Schaefer, B. (2013). Graphic Neuroses: How Woody Allen's Movie Posters Reflect His Films. [online] MTV News.
Available at: http://www.mtv.com/news/2770934/the-art-house-woody-allen-movie-posters/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (n.d.). Gordon Willis. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Willis [Accessed 19
Mar. 2017].