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  Average Rating for Hannah And Her Sisters [1986] - 4 out of 5

  
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• Hannah And Her Sisters [1986]

  Edward Howard 01 October 2007

  

  Hannah and Her Sisters is perhaps Woody Allen's warmest film, an astonishingly vital, expressive, and upbeat work from a director notoriously infected by pessimism. This is, in addition to being Woody's warmest work, his most literary work. Its structure divides the episodic story into chapters -- complete with introductory headings -- which follow one or two characters before skipping on to a new chapter and a new character. This was Woody's largest ensemble cast to date, and he assembled some stellar actors to populate it with. Mia Farrow, of course, is still Woody's leading lady, though despite playing the title character, Hannah, she's mostly sidelined here. Her character is a quiet central presence in the story, as she is in the lives of her two sisters, Holly (Diane Wiest) and Lee (Barbara Hershey). Farrow plays Hannah with a gentle but slightly awkward assuredness that is endearing but also distancing. Tellingly, she is the only major character whose head we never get inside; Woody gives all the other characters periodic internal monologues and glimpses into their thoughts, but Hannah remains always serenely apart.
  
  Michael Caine, as Hannah's husband, lusts after her sister Lee, and strikes up a passionate affair with her only to realize he still loves his wife. Lee is dreadfully unhappy in her long-term relationship with the dour artist Frederick (played with world-weary gloom by Max von Sydow). Holly drifts from one unsuccessful project to the next, constantly borrowing money from Hannah and never finding any luck with men. Wiest is phenomenal here, investing this role with an energy, sweetness, and well-hidden sadness that makes the film practically radiate every time she's on-screen. And Hannah's ex-husband, played by Woody, gets some of the film's best comic relief moments as a chronic hypochondriac who finally gets a scare when the doctors tell him he might actually be right this time. Woody expertly weaves this large cast into a dazzling story, confidently interweaving the disparate threads as if he'd always been handling such large casts and complex plotting. As always, he's concerned with mortality, relationships, meaning, and art, but this is perhaps his subtlest and most understated treatment of such themes. This is yet another remarkable pinnacle to Woody's 70s and 80s career.

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"Warmhearted, wise and fiercely funny!" -The New York Times   Brimming with laughter, tears and subtle beauty, Hannah And Her Sisters is a magnificent "summation of (Woody Allen's) career to date" (The New York Times). Winner of three Oscars, and featuring a brilliant all-star cast, Hannah And Her Sisters spins a tale of three unforgettable women and showcases Allen "at his most emotionally expansive, working on his broadest canvas with masterly ease" (Newsweek)!   The eldest daughter of show-biz parents, Hannah (Mia Farrow) is a devoted wife, loving mother and successful actress. A loyal supporter of her two aimless sisters (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Dianne Wiest), she's also the emotional backbone of a family that seems to resent her stability almost as much as they depend on it. But when Hannah's perfect world is quietly sabotaged by sibling rivalry, she finally begins to see that she's as lost as everyone else, and in order to find herself, she'll have to choose - between the independence her family can't live with… and the family she can't live without.

Woody Allen writes, directs and stars in this Academy Award-winning comedy drama. Hannah (Mia Farrow), a wife, mother, successful actress and linchpin to her family, is married to Elliot (Michael Caine), but Elliot is in love with Lee (Barbara Hershey), Hannah's sister. Holly (Dianne Wiest), Hannah's other sister, is jealous of Hannah, whilst Mickey (Allen), Hannah's first husband, is convinced he is dying of a brain tumour. When Hannah's world is turned upside down by all her relatives' behaviour, she finds she has to choose between her family and her independence. The film won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Caine), Best Supporting Actress (Wiest) and Best Screenplay (Allen).