18 great Woody Allen films, from early comedies to modern dramas

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Today the famous comedy director with sad eyes turned 83 years old.

1. Grab the money and run

• USA, 1969.
• Comedy, crime.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Virgil Starkwell was born a sweet and cheerful child. But even before he turned 25, he was already wanted by the police in six states. Virgil tried time after time to crank up criminal cases, but constantly got into trouble, earning more prison sentences than money. It would seem that love can fix him, but Virgil still returns to the path of crime. Either by force, or simply by stupidity.

Formally, this is not the first work of Woody Allen. Previously, he had already managed to rewrite the script of the film "What's new, pussy?" and, taking advantage of the position, greatly expanded his own role in the film. He is also called the director of the movie "What's up, Tiger Lily?" But in fact, it is made from two Japanese films, on which Allen added his own voiceovers, which have nothing to do with the original text.

Therefore, it is "Grab the Money and Run" that can be called Woody Allen's full-fledged debut in directing. He wrote the script for the film himself, directed it himself and played the main role himself. This approach then became his tradition for many years, since Allen believes that he must completely control the process of work at all stages.

2. Everything you wanted to know about sex, but were afraid to ask

• USA, 1972.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Seven short and slightly absurd stories about sex. Through a playful phantasmagoria, Woody Allen talks about orgasm, perversion, scientific research and sodomy. Each plot is a separate scene on a specific topic.

Seventies - the period of crazy comedy in the work of Allen. He loves to joke about sex, sometimes going far beyond the bounds of decency. And at the same time he parodies classic cinema and television. In the film "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex …" the attentive viewer will see many references to the works of Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni and other famous directors.

3. Sleeping

• USA, 1973.
• Comedy, fantasy.
• Duration: 89 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Miles Monroe went to a simple operation, and woke up 200 years later in a completely changed world. All this time, he was in freeze, and now scientists want to use him to fight the dictatorship of the ruler. But they didn't take into account that Miles is a real walking disaster.

A fantastic, even dystopian theme did not prevent Woody Allen from adding his trademark humor to the film and turning the story of a totalitarian future into an absurd comedy.

But it is much more important that Diane Keaton starred in this picture. It is through her friendship, work and relationship with her that Allen will move on to deeper and more complex stories, leaving eccentric comedies behind.

4. Love and death

• USA, 1975.
• Comedy, military.
• Duration: 85 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Boris Grushenko is in prison awaiting the death penalty and recalls his past. Once he was in love with his cousin, then he went to war with Napoleon and quite by accident became a hero. And after the war, he could not find happiness and even thought about suicide.

And Woody Allen's early comedies were distinguished not only by their wit, but also by their frequent references to classical literature. In the future, he will refer to great writers in almost every picture. And in Love and Death, he clearly parodies the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, caricatured playing popular plots of typically Russian tragedies.

5. Annie Hall

• USA, 1977.
• A romantic comedy.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

In the life of the comedian Alvy Singer, suffering from neuroses and everywhere looking for anti-Semitic conspiracies, there were several lovers. But Annie Hall remained the main one among them. He himself humorously recalls the beginning and end of their relationship, as well as his constant failures.

Annie Hall is considered by many to be Woody Allen's best film. It was even said that in the late seventies, Bergman moved into Allen. The director diluted the pure comedy with drama and reflections on life and death, although they are all served with the same irony and lightness.

The film won Oscars for Best Picture (overtaking Star Wars), Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress.

Viewers and Allen himself noted that the film was a success primarily due to the amazing acting performance of Diane Keaton, and many considered it almost autobiographical, because Keaton's real name is Hall.

True, it was on the set of Annie Hall that the relationship between the actress and the director ended.

6. Manhattan

• USA, 1979.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

An intelligent television screenwriter can’t figure out what he wants from a relationship. Wanting to break the circle of meaningless everyday life, he starts an affair with a young lover of a friend. And all this takes place against the backdrop of the bustling life of Manhattan.

Another film that many call autobiographical. Even the young Tracy, with whom the hero begins to meet, is very similar to Stacy Nelkin - Allen's young lover.

In general, the director considers this picture one of his worst works and, according to rumors, even asked the producers not to release it. They did not listen to him, and the film became a real hit.

7. Zelig

• USA, 1983.
• Comedy, mock-documentary.
• Duration: 79 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A strange Jew Leonard Zelig lives in the USA of the 1930s. He has a wonderful gift to adapt to his interlocutors: with overweight people he gets fat, with blacks - he changes skin color, with fascists he begins to shout racist slogans. The film is presented in the form of historical footage and eyewitness accounts.

Woody Allen had often made pseudo-documentary inserts in his paintings before (this was even in "Grab the Money and Run"), but here he completely built the action on memories and supposedly real recordings. In fact, he created a witty parody of the conformist society.

8. Broadway Danny Rose

• USA, 1984.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Fussy manager Denny Rose takes on the task of helping the once popular and now almost forgotten performer Lou Canova. It seems that things are going well. But when the singer is given a benefit performance, he agrees to perform only if his beloved Tina is in the hall. Since Lou Canova is married, Denny will have to marry her off as his companion. And everything would be fine, but a fan of Tina sends his gangster friends to teach a new boyfriend a lesson.

Woody Allen became interested in music in his youth. He plays the clarinet very well and sometimes even performs at jazz festivals. Therefore, the picture, where his character should help the musician, turned out to be very lively.

The director also continued the tradition of starring his beloved. Now Mia Farrow began to appear in his films.

9. The purple rose of Cairo

• USA, 1985.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 82 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

The times of the great depression in the United States. The waitress Cecilia is unhappy with life, everything does not work out for her either at home or at work. And only films in the local cinema help her to escape from worries. One day a miracle happens: the heroes leave the screen right into the hall to the audience. But they have absolutely no idea what to do next.

Woody Allen calls this film one of his favorite works. At the same time, he himself did not act in it - he simply turned the heroine of Mia Farrow into a semblance of his traditional character.

We can say that the picture continues to tell about the history of show business, only the theme of music in "Danny Rose's Broadway" here was replaced by a movie.

10. Hannah and her sisters

• USA, 1986.
• Comedy, drama.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Hannah is a famous actress and role model in almost everything. Her sister Li lives with an elderly artist. And the third sister, Holly, works as a cook, but dreams of becoming an actress. Everything changes when Hannah's current husband realizes that he is in love with Lee and this is mutual, and her ex-husband begins to communicate with Holly.

Here it is easy to notice the similarities with the play "Three Sisters" by Chekhov, despite the fact that the structure of the film clearly refers to Bergman's film "Fanny and Alexander". All this once again proves Allen's love for the classics.

11. The era of radio

• USA, 1987.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 88 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Woody Allen recalls the era of the 30s and 40s, the times when television was not yet developed and for many the main source of information was radio. Allen talks about his childhood and about a family that could quarrel over any reason.

"The Age of Radio" can be called the end of the show business trilogy. Although this almost autobiographical film tells more about the usual life of a noisy family.

12. Crimes and misconduct

• USA, 1989.
• Comedy, drama.
• Duration: 104 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Married Judah Rosenthal cannot break up with his mistress who is blackmailing him. Then he hires a hitman to get rid of his girlfriend. And at the same time, director Cliff Stern cannot fulfill his dream - to make a film about the great philosopher. He has to work on a painting about his rich relative. In the finale, these two plots, of course, will intersect.

Crimes and Misdemeanors is a continuation of Allen's experiments in a mixture of drama and comedy, and even with the clear influence of Dostoevsky and Theodore Dreiser's American Tragedy. Contrasting the funny and the cruel, the director reflects on morality in general and the permissibility of certain actions.

13. Husbands and wives

• USA, 1992.
• Comedy, drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Writer Gabe and his wife, Judy, fight constantly, but do nothing to fix the situation. However, they later find out that their friends Jack and Sally are planning to divorce. And the couples decide to start new romances in order to somehow refresh the relationship.

The film was shot in a very unusual way. There are almost no static shots in it, the actors sometimes turn their backs to the camera or leave the frame altogether, and the scene can literally end in mid-sentence. Woody Allen embarked on such experiments in an attempt to deviate from the standards of cinematography.

14. Bullets Over Broadway

• USA, 1994.
• Comedy, crime.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Young playwright David Shine wants to stage his play, but he has no money. The local gangster agrees to become a sponsor on the condition that his mistress plays the main role. The trouble is, she's completely untalented. Unlike his bodyguard. He is a true genius of screenwriting, and David understands this, starting work on the production.

Since the mid-nineties, the director decided to move a little away from serious drama. The films of this period again returned ironic plots and lightness, close to the early works of Woody Allen.

15. Taking apart Harry

• USA, 1997.
• Comedy.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

The acclaimed writer Harry Block (Woody Allen) is mired in his many relationships with women. Plus he spent an advance on a book he hadn't even started yet. In parallel with the story about his life, the heroes of his works also appear on the screen. Often autobiographical.

16. Match point

• UK, 2005.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 124 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Chris Wilton's tennis career failed. After working as a coach, he married Chloe and got a job at her father's firm. It would seem that everything is fine in his life. But Chris begins dating the femme fatale Nola and becomes literally obsessed with her. After a while, it turns out that Nola is pregnant.

The beginning of the 21st century did not go well for Woody Allen. Five films in a row grossed a very small box office and did not receive critical acclaim. And then he decided to shoot a darker and more serious "Match Point". Although the film largely repeated Crimes and Misdemeanors, the audience liked it. This is how the director's successful collaboration with Scarlett Johansson began.

17. Vicky Christina Barcelona

• Spain, USA, 2008.
• Melodrama.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

American women Vicky and Christina go on summer vacation to Barcelona. They are delighted with the city, and besides, both fall in love with the artist Antonio. And now it is not clear who he will choose: the serious and old-fashioned Vicki or the liberated Christina. In addition, his ex-wife appears - a very emotional nature.

Woody Allen increasingly began to shoot films outside the United States, showing in films not only interesting stories, but also different countries. And the first among such works can be called "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", which takes place in one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.

18. Midnight in Paris

• USA, Spain, 2011.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 94 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Writer and romantic Gil Pender flew to Paris with his girlfriend. Left alone for one evening, he walks the streets and finds himself in a time when he dreamed of being born. He meets Hemingway, Picasso, Fitzgeralds and many others and more and more realizes that he does not want to return to modernity.

Midnight in Paris is one of Allen's finest works of the 21st century. The combination of fantasy and romance gives the film a dreamlike atmosphere that is appreciated by all art lovers.