1983

Zelig.
Premiered July 15th, 1983.
Directed Woody Allen.
Staring Woody Allen, Mia Farrow.
Music by Dick Hyman.


Before I start, I recommend you open this link and listen to this while you read the review below.

   
     You can't do a marathon of 80's movie reviews without mentioning at the very least one Woody Allen film. He's one of the most prolific filmmakers ever, and his hay day was in the late 70's/early 80's. I'll address the elephant in the blog right now. I believe that what Allen does in his personal life is a) none of my business and b) has no bearing on the art he produces. If we rejected the art work of people who did immoral things, we'd lose so much great work. The subject matter he depicts in his films has nothing to do with what he's been accused of outside of them, so I don't see a problem in enjoying the work he does. Any way, here's what I got from one of his lesser known but equally brilliant films, Zelig.

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     Everyone's a little insecure. Everyone. Some people are more so than others, but some are so concerned with their insecurities and being accepted by their peers, that in order to blend perfectly, they become whoever surrounds them. This the plight of Leonard Zelig (Allen), the human chameleon of the 20's and 30's. When he's introduced to a new group of people, he takes on their thoughts, feelings, accents and even appearance in order to be liked. This film follows his relationship with  Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Farrow). She's a psychologist who's fascinated by Zelig's condition, in who's company Leonard assumes the characteristics of a less educated but still convincing psychologist (exampled in this scene). She ends up becoming an activist for his care, taking him on as a patient at her home when his position at the hospital is threatened. During the course of treatment (with the end goal of discovering who Leonard Zelig actually is and breaking his chronic adaptations), they fall in love. The film ends in a wedding. That's all I'll give you plot wise.

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     It's important to mention that the film is a mocumentary. It's a fake documentary. It uses actual film and photos from the time as well as new and altered materials. All the new content, however, was recorded on authentic cameras and microphones from the time in which the film is set in order to match the film qualities between new and old material. Woody used a different D.O.P. (director of photography or, more commonly, cinematographer) than he usually does, and that's most likely due to the unique photographic requirements of the film. The technical focus was to match the new footage to the old stuff and to have someone who understood the old technology, hence the change for his usual D.O.P. Sven Nykvist. The stylistic effect is very convincing, so, good call, Woody. This scene here is a good example. Almost all of the footage in this bit is new. There are only a few vintage shots. You can hardly tell the difference (other than the fact that you know Woody Allen and Mia Farrow were not alive in the 20's). Fun fact: the film contains about 7 or 8 seconds of the F. Scott Fitzgerald writing on a wooded backdrop. It's the only footage of him ever taken.   

     Woody Allen and the 1920's/30's were made for each other. He outlined the relationship a lot of us have with the past perfectly in his 2011 film Midnight in Paris. Everyone wants what they can't have. We often even want time that has passed and that we never experienced. Look at the 50's revival that happened in the 80's. Or the 80's revival that's happening right now. I have a theory that everything works in 30 year cycles (but that is a theory too long to explain at this time. Seriously, it's really long and windy. It's my own theory, and I stand by it, but I don't even like the way I explain it). Anyway, Woody has this long standing love affair with the time setting of this film, so it's only fitting that this is where he puts his story. A lot of the music in the film is original composition, and of course, you'd be hard pressed to identify that it wasn't recorded in the 30's. In this clip, you see that they make a really convincing case that Leonard Zelig was an actual cultural phenomenon.

     Of course, the film is funny. My god, the film is funny. It has the same brand of wildly intelligent and also ridiculously out-of-left-field humour that Allen employs so masterfully. The whole story concept is funny, but it's loaded with little throwaways that would dash right past you if weren't paying attention. There's a scene where they describe Leonard's reaction to a certain kind of treatment. He's so traumatized that he won't speak, and for days, he won't come down from off the wall (cut to a shot of Zelig standing horizontally on the wall, refusing to come down). Throughout the course of the film, you get gems like the following: The Narrator describes Zelig's public reception racially; "The Ku Klux Klan, who saw Zelig as a Jew, who could turn into a Negro and an Indian, saw him as a triple threat." The Narrator also has this to say about Leonard's life growing up; "As a boy, Leonard is frequently bullied by anti-Semites. His parents, who never take his part and blame him for everything, side with the anti-Semites." The whole quote that this is embedded in is here.

     The film, in my opinion, ultimately makes a really smart and important statement about the lengths a person will go to in order to hide who they are for fear of rejection. I was also toying with the idea that there could be a statement about the lives of Jews in Allen's experience. It's never been popular to be Jewish, and maybe he himself felt that at some point in his life that that was an important thing to cover up. Leonard is able to come out of shell and be himself by the end of the film, and that finally allows him to be happy, which suggests the message includes the notion that you've got to be happy with yourself before you can be truly happy with anyone else.


7.8/10. A veritable laugh riot with some seriously impressive technical techniques used in the most effective ways possible.


     Films to mention honorably this year are Local Hero (very"stranger in a strange land" charming, very Scottish), Flashdance (she is a maniac on the dance floor),  The Hunger (every Bowie is a sexy Bowie, but vampire Bowie? Come on. That's just too good), Valley Girl (featuring a young and, defying all logic, beautiful Nicolas Cage), Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (a still sexy Bowie, just in Japan in the 40's this time), and I can't stress enough how important this film is, The Big Chill (a perfect cast featuring Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, and an as of yet unknown Kevin Costner as a corpse , a script that's funny, sad and sophisticated all in one fowl swoop, and a house that is out of this world beautiful. What more could you honestly want?). And that is only a few among so many others. 83' was a very good year, as far as I'm concerned.


Peace,
Gang.