Der Stadtneurotiker

An unusual film about usual stuff, but I can’t say I’m very thrilled about it. Even ignoring my slight personal antipathy towards Allen, I feel that this film wants to appear very original and smart, but it’s just ordinary and unsilly. Sure, writing and directing a film about traditional and unoriginal stuff in a way that a lot of people will see as a treat for the intellectual elite must be quite hard work, but Annie Hall is only pretending. It’s artificially interesting and, for me, unpleasant. (23.09.2009)

From pondering why Diane Keaton wants to have intercourse with him only under the influence of marijuana to the super humorous scene in the queue, I was amazed at Woody's intellect. This is the biography that the Master wrote for us guys. Thank you. (12.12.2005)

In the majority of his films, Woody Allen leaves an imprint of himself. It is not just that he has played the lead roles in them for a long time. We can clearly read his views on the world, political preferences, value hierarchy, and especially snippets of his own life experiences from them. Annie Hall, however, goes much further. Woody Allen decided to basically make an autobiographical film about himself and his relationship with Diane Keaton. Intriguingly, both former partners act alongside each other, portraying themselves, and they worked together on the script and dialogues. In the film, Woody speaks to the audience, thinks out loud, comments on his life so far, and satirizes his weaknesses, failures, and mistakes. It is a chronicle of a relationship from which one can still draw because it has to a large extent a universal character. Both partners are quite different and, as is usually the case, it is precisely their differences that attract them the most to each other. On the other hand, the same contributes to the breakdown of their coexistence, especially when neither of them is patient or tolerant enough. Woody, in the form of his alter ego Alvy Singer, cannot get rid of his desire to re-educate his partner and reshape her in his own image, and Annie Hall, alias Diane Keaton, cannot get rid of her bohemian lifestyle and flighty nature. Woody Allen attached great importance to this film and did not just try to stuff it with enough suitable jokes and gags, but had ambitions for a deeper artistic statement about a particular partnership and life in general. This film is definitely at the above-average level within his body of work, although it is not his complete artistic peak because the screenplay is not completely coherent, as the film is just not quite compact enough. That's just how it goes when there is a lot of effort put into something. Whatever the case may be, Woody managed to make a film that is one of the most famous among his fans and the broader audience. Overall impression: 85%. (24.02.2014)

Allans Beziehungsfilme gleichen alle wie ein Ei dem anderen, es gibt haufenweise intellektuelle Bezüge von überall nach überall, scharfen Humor, mehrere Gefühlsebenen, Lieblingsschauspieler und Lieblingsthemen für Gespräche und zum Nachdenken. Ich habe oft das Gefühl, dass es sich nicht um einzelne Filme handelt, sondern um Episoden der Serie "Woody und seine Ansichten über Frauen". Man muss dazu in Stimmung sein und die eigenen Beziehungen aus der Vogelperspektive betrachten, um den Film anschauen zu können. Dazu kommen die "witzigen" formalen Kniffe und Ansprachen an den Zuschauer und wieder einmal der endlose Haufen von Verweisen auf Bergman, Fellini, McLuhan, Chaplin, Groucho Marx, Freud, Visconti/Mann... Diese Filme zu kommentieren gleicht eher einem Sport, und die meisten Punkte bekommt derjenige, der jedes Mal einen Strich macht, wenn er lachen, gerührt sein oder "aha, das habe ich auch verstanden" hätte sagen sollen. Die Menstruation in der Konversation ist auch absolute Spitze. Jedes Mal. Immer. (30.05.2017)

Ein wunderschöner Film. Ich übertreibe nicht, wenn ich sage, dass es wahrscheinlich einer der schönsten Filme ist, die ich je gesehen habe. Alles passiert sehr natürlich und glaubhaft, Humor und Gefühle sind im Gleichgewicht, die Regie ist in einer Reihe von Szenen ungeheuer einfallsreich… Und Woody Allen und Diane Keaton sind ein toll eingespieltes Paar! All die Filme, die versucht haben, Der Stadtneurotiker nachzuahmen (z. B. (500) Days of Summer) wirken so minderwertig und kurzatmig. Dieses Werk hat mich unglaublich bezaubert. (29.05.2013)

Allen is truly an extremely talented filmmaker and each of his films is unique in its own way; they are smart, uninhibited, wholesome, and we don't watch them because we want to, but because we simply need to. Annie Hall is a life story told in pure Allenian fashion, or rather the insertion of his person against the background of partnership problems and their overcoming, not from the point of view of Alvy Singer, but of Allen himself. And that's why this film is so distinctive, original and delightfully humorous, as is all of his work. I hope that his other films, which have eluded me so far, will also be like this. 85% (07.02.2013)

Woody Allen just rocks. He is an incredible force and a brand. His humor is very specific and doesn't appeal to everyone, just like his approach to filmmaking, which may not be your cup of tea either. But I enjoyed those unique performances, so natural yet so peculiar, that simply must entertain people. (27.10.2015)