OVP: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Film: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Dianne Wiest, Barbara Hershey, Maureen O'Sullivan, Max von Sydow, Lloyd Nolan, Carrie Fisher
Director: Woody Allen
Oscar History: 7 nominations, 3 wins (Picture, Director, Supporting Actor-Michael Caine, Supporting Actress-Dianne Wiest, Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Art Direction)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

Woody Allen movies, at least those made prior to the past ten years, always remind me of my adoration for New York.  There are few things that I love more than that city-always alive, always a bustle.  Paris, London, San Francisco-I've been to (and adored) a lot of "eternal" cities, but New York inspires me in a way nowhere else does.  I feel energized, alive, electric, and since I can't always get there for inspiration, it's nice that Woody Allen and his magical filmography can so easily transport me to the streets and neighborhoods I just adore in the City that Never Sleeps.

Hannah and Her Sisters is one of those movies that truly transports you to New York.  I sort of wonder if the art direction nod was just as much to the actual city streets as it was to the beautifully-furnished apartments (an Allen staple-you have to love the shelves bristling with books, the cramped kitchens, the minute touches that litter his upper-middle class world).  I kept going-oh, they're in Chelsea or the Upper West and being struck how recognizable everything is 25 years later.  It's romantic and dreamy, just like New York.

But I digress (Woody Allen's New York is my New York, so I always have to take a moment to stop and appreciate).  We should be getting to the film at hand, his classic 1986 movie Hannah and Her Sisters.  The film, up until Midnight in Paris, was his highest-grossing movie, and it's easy to understand why-it's one of Allen's most accessible films.  I don't know if the inspiration was Anna Karenina, but you could see the touches of that novel everywhere in the incestuous cheating going on in the family.  The film is about three sisters (Hannah, Holly, and Lee, played respectively by Farrow, Wiest, and Hershey), and how they are constantly trying to find themselves romantically and occupationally throughout the film.  Farrow's Hannah is the together one-she has four children, is on her second marriage to Elliot (Caine), but is still on good terms with her first husband Mickey (Allen), and has it all-great apartment, a successful career, and a seemingly wonderful home life.  Her sisters are not nearly as together-her sister Lee doesn't work, and is constantly trying to find herself, and lives with a much older man (von Sydow, in a smallish role, but he does his best with it-and in a side note, why can't Blogger figure out a way to have more than 200 characters in the labels, as I had to cut poor Max to fit everyone?).  And the middle child is Holly, who is a struggling actress constantly borrowing money from her sister and switching occupations.  Just so I don't forget later, their parents are well-played in small roles by Lloyd Nolan and Farrow's real-life mother, Maureen O'Sullivan, a twinkling bit of casting.

(Spoilers to come) The film progresses with Elliot confessing his love for Lee, and they start an affair, with her eventually moving out of her love nest with von Sydow's Frederick and going to Columbia.  The affair doesn't last long, but lasts long enough for Hershey to have a terrific breakup scene with von Sydow and for Caine to have some hilarious crises-of-conscience (Caine is playing the Woody surrogate almost better than Woody is playing the Woody character in this film).  Wiest's Holly eventually meets a man (Sam Waterston) that she falls for, but he dumps her for her frenemy April (Fisher), but uses that inspiration to eventually write a great screenplay, and she discovers finally the talent she has been searching for the whole movie.  And Mickey ends up being the film's comic relief-after he spends the first half of the movie in a tailspin because he thinks he has cancer (which turns out not to be the case), he tries to find the meaning to life, quits his job, and in the film's most hilarious scenes, tries out other religions (including Catholicism and exploring the world of the Hare Krishnas).  Eventually, because this is an Allen movie and what you expect can't come to pass (that he'll end up with Farrow, seemingly the lead though she's definitely part of an ensemble here, despite being the title character), Mickey ends up going out with Holly, and in the final scenes (and in an uncharacteristically happy ending), Mickey marries Holly and despite him being pronounced infertile earlier in the film, they have a child.

That's a lot to take in in one paragraph, and it makes the movie seem busy, but it really isn't.  It also takes time to really explore these characters in a way that Allen's films don't seem to do anymore (I'm not going to start yapping about how Woody's latest films aren't as good as they used to be, because that's what every critic who discusses Allen's films in retrospect does, but there's something to be said for the way that you are able to not only see all of the big cast, but truly feel their lives in this film).  Mickey, Hannah, Holly, Lee, and Elliot are all very realistic people-imperfect, lying, bargaining with their inner selves, and that's what makes them so interesting.  Allen's film unfolds as you get to see the dynamics between the characters, how it truly mirrors the way people's personalities change based on whom they are with, and how we are constantly trying to find something that might not exist, or perhaps we already have but just aren't willing to admit it.

The screenplay, and the wonderful camerawork (constantly panning over New York like someone gazing helplessly at its beauty), are the film's best attributes, but it would be foolish to ignore the rich acting on display throughout.  One of the odd things for me was that, despite Caine and Wiest getting the lion's share of the praise for the film, the movie truly is an ensemble piece, and every actor has their moment-Wiest gets probably best in show, but just barely.  You could tell me that it was Allen/Farrow or Hershey/von Sydow who received the nominations, and it'd be just as believable.  I have decided in these write-ups not to focus too much on the comparing and contrasting with the actors they competed with for the awards (as that will ruin the anticipation when we count down 1986 in the official ballot writeups), but I will say that both Caine and Wiest will be in the positive end of the write-ups.

I don't have too much more of a snap judgment to say-Allen's films tend to unfold on you, and you realize later the excellence on display in the film and the little nuggets and goodies he hid in the interplay between the characters (like how Hannah is both her parents favorite child, but clearly for different reasons), but I would love to hear from you (I know the comments button worked I checked it this morning)-what did you think of Hannah and Her Sisters?  Where does it rank on your personal Woody list?  Who was "best in show" in this ensemble film?  And on the subject of Oscar nominations, how many of the seven were deserved, and how many of them should have been kicked to the curb?

OVP: Last Summer (1969)

Film: Last Summer (1969)
Stars: Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davison, Catherine Burns
Director: Frank Perry
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Supporting Actress-Catherine Burns)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Occasionally, Oscar throws some uncharacteristic films in your way.  The movies of Frank Perry are not what you would consider "Oscar-Bait," even when the little gold man was going through a bit of a rebellious stage in the 1960's and 1970's.  And yet, Oscar deemed his classic David and Lisa worthy of two nominations, and seven years later, they threw another look his way by nominating Last Summer for Best Supporting Actress.

For those unfamiliar with the film (which I would imagine would be most people-this isn't a well-known film, and honestly I didn't know going in that it had three "name" actors starring in the movie until Robert Osborne told me right before the show), it's a coming-of-age story of three teens on the threshold of adulthood (Hershey, Thomas, and Davison), who slowly develop strong feelings (in a variety of directions) for a fourth member (Burns) who desperately wants into their tight-knit clique.

The film, despite it's 43-year-old date, ages fairly well-the cruelty of Hershey's character in particular is oddly reminiscent of some of the bullying stories that have come out in the last year.  Even at a young age, the beautiful Hershey was able to find that wicked blend of malice and allure that she would later exhibit in films like The Natural and Black Swan.  You can't help but be drawn in to her.

Thomas looks like a cross between Nic Hoult and Taylor Lautner in this movie, and aside from Burns, is probably the best actor on display.  He plays teenage angst with the most believable share of uncertainty, drawn to both the girl that he's supposed to fall for (Hershey) and the girl he is falling for (Burns).  As the film continues, sex and violence start to sneak into the natures of Hershey's and Davison's characters.  (SPOILER ALERT) Toward the end, the film moves back to Hershey's true nature, which is exposed when she kills the bird at the film's halfway point, when she convinces Thomas's and Davison's characters to rape Burns character as punishment for encroaching on her territory.

While the others are all strong, Burns is the obvious reason to invest yourself in the film.  In the best scene in the movie, she does a superb monologue about her mother's drunken drowning death, alternating between confused anger and, in a need to feel accepted, a casualness that only a teenager can muster when faced with emotions they cannot understand.  Burns was making her screen debut in the movie, and after only two more films and a couple of television appearances, would disappear from acting completely.

She also, obviously, received an Oscar nomination for the film, and if you want a smirky treat, go look for her rolling her eyes as Fred Astaire announces her name as a nominee.  Clearly, she didn't care that Goldie Hawn was going to take the eventual trophy.  While Burns is excellent, and I'm still missing two performances (the aforementioned Hawn and Dyan Cannon's spouse-swapping wife in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), don't worry Catherine, I'm not going to be choosing you as the winner.  That slot for the time being is held by Susannah York, whose excellent and eccentric Alice in They Shoot Horses Don't They? still resonates years after I've seen it (the fifth nominee, blink-and-you-miss her Sylvia Miles, seems destined for fifth place).

What about you-who is your favorite supporting actress of 1969?  Does it seem odd that Richard Thomas never got the Oscar nomination that his three costars eventually did?  What was with the seemingly random gay make-out scene on the beach (were we supposed to recognize those characters?)?  And do you think that Katy Perry has seen this (or any film) in her great uncle Frank's filmography?