Annie Hall (DVD)

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In both New York and California, Allen derides shallow pretension, probably why he likes Annie initially--her seeming ingenuousness--and why he grows to resent what he thinks she later becomes. In this regard, it's hard to see how or why Alvy continues to maintain such a good rapport with Rob, the most shallow and pretentious person in the film, but he does. Then there are Carol Kane, Janet Margolin, and Shelley Duvall as some of the other women in Alvy's life; Paul Simon as Tony Lacey, a rich and famous singer; Colleen Dewhurst and Donald Symington as Annie's mom and dad; and bit parts by Marshall McLuhan, Jeff Goldblum, even Sigourney Weaver, whom one can barely make out.

Allen has never been afraid of experimenting in his films, things like his mock-documentary technique in "Take the Money and Run," an actor walking off the screen in "The Purple Rose of Cairo," a human chameleon in "Zelig," Kafka-like overtones in "Shadows and Fog," and so on. In "Annie Hall" Allen uses a variety of storytelling methods: lots of flashbacks, animations, subtitles, split screens, characters directly addressing the audience. None of it is overdone, however, and it all contributes to a surprisingly smooth flow of scenes and ideas.

Video:
The picture quality and sound are also quite smooth, not the most impressive from a modern audiovisual standpoint but acceptable. MGM present the screen in two sizes, standard and non-anamorphic wide on two sides of the disc. Both versions are cropped differently from the same master print. The standard full-frame provides more top-to-bottom material, and the widescreen (1.66:1) offers more left-to-right information. Flip a coin. Colors are refined and natural, although they are not very bright, even subdued much of the time. It's a good transfer, nonetheless, with hues rock steady, even if the picture is somewhat soft and fuzzy.

Audio:
The monaural sound only needs to convey dialogue, which it does in an admirably understated way. Expect no more.

Extras:
The keep case says the DVD comes with trivia and production notes, and this must be a reference to the printed booklet insert because I couldn't find anything like it on the disc itself. There is a theatrical trailer, at any rate, plus a generous forty-nine scene selections, English and French spoken languages, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
Alvy sums up his romance with Annie when he says to her, "A relationship, I think, is like a shark; it has to constantly move forward or it dies. And what I think we got on our hands is a dead shark." Woody Allen has been criticized for continually portraying his own real self in films and indulgently repeating variations of the same themes throughout his movies. That may be so, but in "Annie Hall" it still seems fresh and moving. This is no dead shark.

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