Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

7 February 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Plot Keywords:

Thanksgiving | Actress | Writer | Painter | Ex Husband

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Barbara Hershey	...	Lee
Carrie Fisher	...	April
Michael Caine	...	Elliot
Mia Farrow	...	Hannah
Dianne Wiest	...	Holly
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Norma
Lloyd Nolan	...	Evan
Max von Sydow	...	Frederick (as Max Von Sydow)
Woody Allen	...	Mickey
Lewis Black	...	Paul
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Mary
Christian Clemenson	...	Larry
Julie Kavner	...	Gail
J.T. Walsh	...	Ed Smythe
John Turturro	...	Writer

Runtime:

103 min | Spain:106 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | France:U | Peru:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (PCA #27862) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Kay Lenz was offered the lead role, but turned it down. Instead, Lenz starred in the horror B-movie House (1986).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Dolly tracks visible when the camera pulls back in the living room.

Quotes:

Mickey: I had a great evening; it was like the Nuremberg Trials.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Runaway: A Road Adventure (2002) (VG)

Soundtrack:

I Remember You

One of Allen's best films and definitely his best performance...

"Hannah and Her Sisters" is a comedy/drama (though mostly drama) about a dozen characters and their stories, all connecting back to three sisters: Hannah (Mia Farrow), Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest). Hannah is the favorite, talented and kind, Lee is almost equally favored, but Holly is the outcast, with a past of drugs and always asking for money. Other characters include Hannah's hypochondriac ex-husband Mickey (Woody Allen), her current husband Elliot (Michael Caine), Lee's boyfriend Frederic (Max von Sydow) and Holly's friend April (Carrie Fisher).

Like I said before, this is not so much a comedy as it is a drama. The comedy that's in it fits, and is good, but the drama is better. Elliot's secret love for Lee is handled in a romantic way, but their infidelity is still seen as wrong, and you feel their guilt and inner turmoil. Mickey thinks he has a brain tumor, he finds out he doesn't and then he feels worse, and starts desperately searching for a purpose to live. All the other stories are equally dramatic, with comedy fittingly sprinkled in places too.

The acting is quite good, everyone playing their part perfectly, whether it's big or small. The film's best performances come from Allen (in what's no doubt his best performance) and Dianne Wiest as the extremely under-confident youngest sister. Allen and Wiest don't necessarily carry the film, as there's no need to, but their segments were certainly the best, for me at least. The rest of the cast put forward too, especially Max von Sydow and Michael Caine in his first (and so far his only deserving) Oscar win.

Woody Allen's direction is at the top of its form here too, much like "Annie Hall" and his other greats. The camera work and use of voice overs are excellent. For instance, there is an intensely dramatic scene where the three sisters have lunch together and for the entire scene the camera rotates around the table, the speaker not always in the frame. His script is great too, it knows when to be dramatic and when to be funny and when to be both.

One of Allen's very best, 8/10.