#244 Annie Hall (Allen) at Berkeley Pacific Film Archive
If you can separate the art from the artist, this is a hell of a film. Woody Allen's first is often remembered for its jokes, style, and how credibly it portrays a relationship as it falls apart as a result of cultural incompatibility.
Alvy’s Jewishness is central to how he experiences the world. Annie, a gentile woman from Chippewa Falls, Ohio, comes from a distinctly different place. The movie constantly contrasts their formative experiences: Annie's "Norman Rockwell" childhood and presents from "Grammy" versus Alvy’s grandmother who "never gave gifts. She was too busy getting raped by Cossacks." The jokes land because they’re sharp, but also because they expose a real divide.
Annie Hall (1977) is a film about the exhaustion of having to translate yourself to the person you love.
Alvy’s narrates the failure of their relationship. Throughout the film, Annie grows --- artistically, emotionally, stylistically --- while Alvy largely remains the same, deeply neurotic. Her growth ultimately pushes the relationship past its breaking point, but it isn’t the only reason it ends. Even if Annie had stayed the same, the cultural divide would have remained. That’s the tragedy. They try, but in the end, Annie’s growth drives the split, but their differences make it inevitable.
Diane Keaton’s performance is so specific it created an archetype. Diane Keaton walked so Zooey Deschanel could run. But Annie, as the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, isn’t there to save anyone. She’s just a young woman who changes—stuck in a relationship that was never meant to be.