The List: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

For me, there is no better Thanksgiving movie than Woody Allen's 1986 masterpiece Hannah and Her Sisters. Set over the course of two years, three Thanksgivings bring us into connection with a wealthy Manhattan family, rife with neuroses and indecision, navigating quests for meaning and purpose.

At the center is Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her husband Elliot (Michael Caine, in an Oscar-winning performance). She is the strongest sister, firm in her choices, but off-putting in her seeming perfection. Elliot pines for Hannah's sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey), an aimless perennial student in a relationship with a much older artist (Max Von Sydow). Meanwhile, the youngest sister, Holly (Dianne Wiest, also an Oscar winner), remains the classic baby of the family, relying on good looks, marginal talent, and loans from Hannah. One day she's a struggling actress, the next a fearful drug addict, sometimes a successful caterer, then a would-be writer. 

Circling the periphery of their lives is Mickey (Woody Allen), Hannah's ex-husband, who spends most of his days an over-worried hypochondriac, unsatisfied with his existence as a failing sketch comedy TV producer, lost in a search for answers. 

At once, Hannah and Her Sisters is a story of family and giving thanks, a romantic melodrama, a mediation on purpose and faith, and an often hilarious slice of New York intellectual life. The entire range put forth here lands, due to Allen's script, his very best work as a screenwriter, which is brought to life by Allen's immersive direction. He finds perfection on all levels. From Juliet Taylor's brilliant casting to the cozy clutter of Carol Joffe's set decoration, all captured with simplicity by director of photography Carlo Di Palma's camera and finally woven together by Susan E. Morse's Oscar-nominated editing.  

One of my very favorite films and what I consider to be Woody Allen's finest, I add, in honor of Thanksgiving and the 30th anniversary of the its release, Hannah and Her Sisters to The List. 

Allen structures this film with title cards, almost as chapter titles for a novel. Each title card, in essence, acts to set up a vignette that feeds into the whole by the end of the film. This first one is a knockout...

The First Thanksgiving

"Easy. You're a dignified financial advisor. It doesn't look good for you to swoon." - Elliot (V.O.)

Right out of the gate, Allen gets right into the inner thoughts of his characters. Dissatisfaction and indecision are classic Allen themes and will be at the forefront of almost every scene in this film. 

"I wonder if he and Hannah are happy. It's funny. I still feel a little buzz from his flirting." - Lee (V.O.)

"My stupid little roller skating joke. I should never tell jokes." - Holly (V.O.)

Another use of voiceover and an almost replica of the shot Allen used to introduce Lee's first inner thoughts, the sequence with Holly on a would-be date with architect David (Sam Waterston) and her business partner (Carrie Fisher) also serves as another example of New York as an almost character in itself. Taxis and buildings and city streets abound. 

"Nothing's gonna happen to you. You're in the middle of New York City. This is your town. You're surrounded by people and traffic and restaurants. I mean. My God! How can you one day just vanish?" - Mickey (V.O.)

That Mickey directly uses New York City as his harbinger of hope is fitting during his first interior monologue. And there's the street and that architecture again. Only in New York does a hospital look like that. 

Discussions of famous literature were not new to Allen's films at this point, but they are everything to this movie. The E.E. Cummings poem used as this portion of the film's title is the single most memorable thing about the entire film. 

"I want so badly to kiss her." - Elliot (V.O.)

There are shelves all over this movie, which is another of its comforts. Like its characters, I pride myself on shelves stocked with books and records. The sharing of books and music and the use of the Bach piece that Lee puts on in this scene, a piece that will become a motif for the duration of their affair.....

"Look at all these people jogging. Trying to stave off the inevitable decay of the body." - Mickey (V.O.)

Mickey's quest for answers, religion, begins here with a memory of a date he had with Holly, after his divorce from Hannah. This is where the ingenious editing comes in. Here is a scene that works as a comedic interlude. The two argue about the punk rock show Holly has chosen, resulting in the film's best one liner, "After they sing, they're gonna take hostages." 

The Second Thanksgiving

"I don't want to bother anyone." - Hannah to Holly

"It's hard to be around someone who gives so much and needs so little in return." - Elliot to Hannah

The only major character in the film not given an interior monologue is the title character, Hannah. She is the rock of the family, which makes her easy to resent, but she is not without her flaws. We don't get her thoughts because she wouldn't be the type to complain. This is brilliant. 

Mickey's reconnection with Holly spawns the films finest use of voiceover, but this time it is not interior monologue, but Mickey opening up in an off-screen conversation with Holly about his darkest day. Another stroke of genius.

"Look at all the people up there on the screen...what if the worst is true and there is no God...Don't you want to be part of the experience..." - Mickey (V.O.)

We are never gonna find the answers. We have only to bow down and be thankful for what is already within our grasp. 

The Final Thanksgiving

"Marriage agrees with you." - Elliot (V.O.)

The happiest ending of any of Woody Allen's serious films. That is something to be thankful for, that a film can so easily shift so often into things we can't possibly expect. 

Girl Week 2016...Hosted by Wendell over at Dell on Movies...in which we salute the great leading ladies of cinema....

Here's to Mia Farrow for being light and fierce at the same time! Here's to Barbara Hershey for being such a sincere, beautiful screen presence! Here's to Dianne Wiest for being an absolute powerhouse, especially in her Oscar-winning work here! Three of the screen acting's finest! Go Girls!

About The List

The List is a series of essays in quotes and screen caps covering re-watches of my all-time favorite movies. It is named after an actual list I once made of all the movies I wanted to show my girlfriend (now wife) when we first started dating. It is now an ever-growing list of movies we've both seen and love and that I, particularly, find important enough to recommend as essential viewing for any movie lover.

More Movies from The List

The Sandlot (1993)