Woody Allen: Hannah and Her Sisters

I was surprised by this 1986 Woody Allen comedy because it feels so much warmer than most of his other films that I’ve seen. The sardonic humor is still there, as are the romantic double-crosses, the persistent neurosis and the overriding fear of death, but in spite of all that this manages to be a relatively upbeat movie, with relatively being the operative word. I think a large part of that is due to the beginning and end of the film both being set at big family Thanksgiving gatherings that feel like happy, joyous occasions. It’s almost like the reverse of the ploddingly dour Interiors. In Hannah’s Thanksgiving scenes Allen shows us, to my great surprise, his vision of “family” as a really wonderful, positive thing.

Of course, family can’t be that great all the time, or in an Allen film even most of the time. The rest of the film shows relationships falling apart, occasionally coming together only to splitter off again. Hannah’s husband finds himself attracted to one of her sisters, while the other tries desperately to find a man, a career or any measure of success. The film’s best scene is probably when all three sisters meet for a lunch date only to end up tearfully fighting with one another. Because how Allen has shown us glimpses into the life of each sister, it’s easy to understand where they’re each coming from and how deeply they are hurting each other without realizing or intending to. It’s a masterfully written and acted scene and probably one of the dramatic highlights of Allen’s career.

Surprisingly, it’s Allen’s character as Hannah’s hypochondriac ex-husband who is the weak part of the film. Sure, his performance is as well done and as funny as usual, but his scenes in the first half seem disconnected from the rest of the movie, almost like skits spliced in from another movie to provide some comic relief. But Allen’s character ultimately does reconnect with the wider plot of the film, and in the process reconnects with that great big Thanksgiving family. I suppose it’s something of a redemption arc for his character, and maybe the idea is that he had the right family but the wrong sister? It feels a bit contrived, really, like he was trying to make a film that didn’t end on a downbeat for once. But the film’s ending revelation does line up with what was going on in Allen’s life at the time, the impending birth of his first child. So maybe this movie just caught him in an unnaturally optimistic mood.

This is a fine film in its own right, but in the context of the other Woody Allen films being shown this fortnight it has the distinction of being the only one with a “happy” ending, and the only one where Woody gets (and keeps!) the girl. It also has the ending that left me feeling the most dissatisfied, but it might feel more right if seen on its own.