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Hannah and Her Sisters

Hannah and Her Sisters

List Price: $14.95
Your Price: $11.21
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Sumptuous Feast
Review: I agree with the previous reviewers' lamenting over the fact that this lovely film of Woody Allen's is no longer availabe on VHS or DVD. This is my all-time favorite Woody Allen film, and in fact is on my top 10 list of American movies. It is Romantic in every sense of the word...and so 80s. All of the Woody Allen concerns are there: the search for happiness; infidelity; anxiety; adoption versus conception; which major religion, if any, is best; how marriages can survive the roaving eye; how to live successfully in a godless universe... The soundtrack is beautiful and typical of Allen's musical choices, and the film's theme song, the Rodgers and Hart melody, "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" is haunting and mournfully played throughout the film. I do own the soundtrack to this film, but it too is no longer available. I own it on tape and, unfortunately, not on CD--I found it at a clearance sale for a ridiculously low price about 10 years ago at TowerRecords, and I've never stopped listening to it. If you ever find it, make sure you snatch it up! Other beautiful numbers come from Harry James's big band of the 40s; as well, Bobby Short, in a cameo role as a piano player at the Carlyle Hotel--during a hilariously catostrophic date scene between one of Hannah's younger sisters, Holly (played by the marvelous Dianne Weist)and Allen (Micky Sacks)--sings "I'm in Love Again," a musical number appropo of one of the film's major themes. (Just a note to the reader: Short's music is available from amazon.com, and if you like jazz balads from America's greatest lyricists--Gerswhin, Arlen, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, etc., then an investment in Short's music would be a wise choice).

The characters in this film are dissolute and full of anxiety in 80s America. This film will force you to think of Chekov and Ibsen and Bergman--all influences on Allen's narrative style/technique and thematic concerns. Mia Farrow plays Hannah, a sometimes-actress (she was victorious as Nora in Ibsen's "A Doll House," and, by the end of the film, will be cast as none other than Shakespeare's Desdamona) whose husband, Michael Cain (who, I believe, won the best supporting actor Oscar for his role as Hannah's husband)cheats on her with Hannah's sister, Lee, played by the unimpressive Barbara Hershey. What would a Woody Allen film be without infidelity? The characters here are cloying and saccharine, but I guess that's my cup of tea--at least for this beautiful film which is as rich and sumptuous as a Thanksgiving dinner, the holiday in this film around which the characters' lives revolve--and the thanksgiving scenes are shot in Farrow's real Manhattan apartment (read what she has to say about that in her biography, "Things Fall Away" available from amazon.com).

Allen plays Micky Sacks, a hypochondriac--what else?--whose lease on life is restored by nothing less than a Marx Brothers movie. This movie has a more upbeat ending than it probably should have--even Allen was not entirely happy with the ending. Nevertheless, this is an artistic film which deserves recognition, in spite of its flaws.

There are some marvelous supporting actors in this film: Don't blink, or you might miss Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus. As well, Julie (aka Marge Simpson's voice) Kavner and Daniel Stern make appearances. Farrow's real-life mother, Maureen O'Sullivan, plays Hannah's mother--"just a boozy old flirt with a filthy mouth."

This is a film to savor and enjoy over and over again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I have a copy of this movie!
Review: This is a WONDERFUL movie! I've read most of the previous reviews and I agree whole-heartedly with generally all of them. Except, that I actually do have a VHS copy of this movie. I believe my mother bought it for me many years ago as an x-mas present and I've treasured it ever since. I think I have memorized every line, but have NEVER tired of it. I didn't realize it was so hard to find. But I am looking for the soundtrack! Let me know if anyone out there can locate it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Allen's Masterpiece
Review: Oh my God what a tragedy that this film is not available! Hannah and Her Sisters is a brilliantly crafted film, from the individual performances, to the extremely well-balanced script, to the very effective cinemetography (especially the circular tracking camera in the during the lunch scene). It's also refreshing to see Allen write a character for himself to play that actually *grows* during the movie. The final scene with Allen and Wiest shows an optimism that makes this one of his best films ever.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Woody's Best
Review: It is a high crime that this film is not available on VHS or DVD. Its soundtrack is wonderful, but that is also unavailable in the United States. Does anyone know how go get a copy of the soundtrack on compact disk?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What a wonderful movie, shame I can't buy it.
Review: Really a crime that this movie isn't out on DVD, let alone VHS. Since someone else mentioned favorite lines, my favorite is delivered by the man who play's Woody's father. When his wife asks him to explain to Woody (er, his character) why there are Nazis, he says, "How do I know why there were Nazis? I don't even know how the can opener works."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This film is brilliant. Max Von Sydow has the best lines.
Review: This movie is ocasionaly shown on the cable channels Bravo and the Independent film channel. This film should be available at Frys Electronics or at Suncoast . Blockbuster videos also special orders hard-to-find tapes(To those wondering about the availibility)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Woody at his best
Review: This is my favorite of Woody Allen's films, for a few reasons, but I think the single biggest one is a line delivered by Max Von Sydow: "I turned on the telivision today for the first time in years, and just changed the channels. It was horrifying. Deoderant ads, soap operas, professional wrestling. There are people that watch professional wrestling as an entertainment? But the worst were the televangelists: 'Jesus says' this and 'Jesus says' that. 'Give money for Jesus.' If Jesus came back and saw what was going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: His Best Ever, but Not Available!
Review: Because I feel Hannah is one of Woody's best, I have been searching all yaer for a copy. Alas, it is not available, not even through Amazon. What can I do about this situation? Anybody have a used one?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Ending of a Film in Movie History
Review: Woody Allen has made so many spectacular films and shown such tremendous range it is ludicrous to try to determine which is his masterpiece. This is clearly a contender. I just think it is important to note that in this one when he asks his wife if being married to one sis and then falling for another would make a great movie, her reply is more than just a heartfelt ending, but a profound statement that hits the viewer on so many levels it must be considered the greatest ending in movie history. Interestingly, Allen suggests this later in Bullets over Broadway when the gangster is dying and he tells the playwrite on his deathbed to tell the actress to say she is pregnant. He follows with, "It would make a great ending."-Chris Coffman

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: THE McGRATH SISTERS REVOLT
Review: So what? The three McGrath sisters turn on the McGrath men. It's just a family custom. My name is McGrath, and my deranged sisters turned on me long ago. They're so vain, they'll probably think this thing's about them. They're so vain...


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