American lifestyle consists of extravagant luxuries, aggressive decisions, complex realities and a lot more. It could be because of the ideology that it is in America that started it all: education, ways of thinking, philosophies, technology and the likes. America is sometimes figuratively taken as a country of modern cities, with modernized people. And this is where Woody Allen’s masterpiece had taken place.
His movie, Hannah and Her Sisters, is a story with different episodes in the life of the main protagonists – Hannah, Lee and Holly and the stories of the people around them.Hannah and Her Sisters tells us about the lives that centered in Hannah’s own life, who is an artist or actress herself, her not-so-good relationship with her husband Elliot and the different turn out of events in connection with her sisters, Lee and Holly. Elliot and Lee had an affair that lasted for several months after the former found his self discontentment with his relationship with his wife Hannah. Meanwhile the other sister, the cocaine addict Holly, had an interesting story of her own. She finds to value her existence after having a second date and help of Mickey, who had recently had a religion conversion.
The story progresses along with the episodic scenes of Hannah’s parents (Norma and Evan), Holly’s struggle to compete with a fellow actress and business partner, Lee’s eventual departure from Frederick (her husband) for Elliot and their relationship’s conclusion before the second Thanksgiving get-together. At the final act of the movie, another year had already passed showing the three sisters now all happily married and contented. Main Analysis The story itself shows the different phases in one’s life: the success, downfall and the struggle to make things be in their right path again.Hannah’s struggles started following her abandonment with her career as an actress and her continuous search to find the contentment she wants in life. The trials in her life was simply devastating, her sister Lee’s secret affair with her husband Elliot and her ex-husband Mickey’s great effort to surpass his personal and spiritual crisis (which later made him into a different person and find love with Holly). These happenings surely tested her personality and faith.
Both his former and recent husband also contributed to Hannah’s character’s establishment as a well-rounded protagonist in the movie.Elliot’s character let us see how Hannah could cope up with the crisis of the adulterous affair of her sister and husband as well as Mickey doing his part showing Hannah’s lighter personality in the midst of the threatening circumstances of death. The secondary plots satisfied us with much enthusiasm just like the main storylines: Hannah’s parents appeared as showbiz as their daughters, that as their father although old, could simple manage to charm the people around them at any other opportunity while their mother being frustrated to keep her youth flirts with the other guests in the Thanksgiving.The story goes on ending with all the three protagonists having adjustments that gave them their much awaited contentment. Thorough Analysis Allen’s writing is noted to be as same as Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and yet it tells us some stories that are closer even possible in the reality.
Allen emphasizes the strong bond called a family. This idea of a family is what Allen had incorporated in his movie, touching each and every delicate issue evident as in a real family life.Upon watching the movie, we could notice the different views expected on the main plot delivered. The movie itself happens to illustrate the sensibility of Allen and his views in the modern lifestyle of a family living in the center of a city which shares the same issues as the other normal families had.
His movie shares different opinions about one’s life existence either it is in a bright approach, ironic, or of a fearful outsider to the writer’s constant complaint being visible in the movie.We could see in the movie how Allen had manage to question a very sensible query, that is how some people manage to engage in one’s personal and of other people’s lives, plans and affairs just for the reason that they do not feel and share the problems they are having. This is followed by his idea that everything (or every problem) is consequently followed by death and disappointment, if not been coped up properly. Allen’s writing gives very strong emphasis about different matters that even no person could not mistakenly tell what he (Allen) wants to show in his movies.
The movie, although there had been scenes brought in the lighter side, is not a matter of joke or comedy at all and it is not also considered as a form of tragedy. The movie suggests the idea of the lifestyles of the family living in the modern big-cities. How these lives lived in completely busy rush, distracted with the arising problems every now and then and full of aspirations causing complications. The writer-director-actor Woody Allen accentuates that the time never stops running and no one could even stop and glance back in awhile, no one manage to take in the meaning or existence of things and of life. Realizations.
Simply, among any other outsiders showed in the story, Mickey’s character is the one that catches attention. All other characters simply accepted their fate and go on with their lives, something that is completely the opposite of Mickey’s character. His continuous complaints about how his future would be clearly shows the times we, humans, wished more than what we already had. Mickey is afraid of disease and death, just like the many of us who feared to be contacted with the incurable diseases that would only give us agony, as well as with death that would depart us from our earthly possessions, relationship with people and our earthly self.
Mickey’s uncertainties made his life miserable not until he found Holly and developed feelings for her. This development of his journey (in life) made a great 360 degrees turn in his personality, beliefs and faith in life. He found love, and he also found the answer to his envious perception that “anyone could be actually happy enough and lucky enough to make such statements”. In this point, Mickey himself had found contentment, something not far similar to what would happen to the rest of the characters in the end of the movie.Another character that showed great advancements in the movie is the character of Holly. From a strong competitor to a cocaine addict and to someone who had found love in the most distinct tragic days of her life, we had seen her developed into a character that everyone learned to love.
She struggles and eventually succeeds. Her independence with her sister Hannah, although she disgusts the idea, taught her a lesson she never knew. That is to trust the people that she need to trust her life with (in the rest of her existence). She had discovered the underlying secret in everyone’s existence, that is, to enjoy life.
She had found the strength in enjoying life and found contentment in it – a lesson that even a modern person needs to learn. Other Themes. One evident dilemma in this Allen movie is the continuous pursuit to find the exact right person which would eventually complete your sense of being. It is so significant that it causes destruction of someone’s life and social relationships.
The disturbing events of betrayal, infidelity and disguises in this movie made it to look somehow so tragic and yet Allen resolves these downfalls into completely unexpected clarifications and solutions.Although everyone in the story turned out to be well-contented and happy, there had been a disturbing question on how these people manage to have lasting relationships despised of what had happened before. How a wife could fully face her sister who once had an affair with her husband, or how an ex-wife manage to talk and exchange pleasantries with her in-law that used to be her former husband. Allen leaves us a very distinct idea of possibility for these instances. Allen’s writing showed some realities happening in the urban lives of the families living in a modern city.
Hannah and Her Sisters raised concerns not just of the emotional and physical aspects but also to the idea of exploring one’s depth personality and soul in the confrontational moments in his / her life. His (Allen’s) honest storytelling lets us travel from one’s view point into another. There had been complex twists yet showing simple truths. We are all made to realize that even the simple thing could make our lives to be the most meaningful.
That we are all living a day that could follow another simple day yet with so much happiness.That we could all pursue for something we want if we really want to, even love, because it is all we could do and have. A movie by Woody Allen that stars Barbara Hershey (Lee), Michael Caine (Elliot), Dianne West (Holly), Woody Allen, himself (Mickey Sachs), Max von Sydrow (Frederick) and Mia Farrow as Hannah is a great film that everyone should watch. A movie of comedy yet full of tragedy, Hannah and Her Sisters brought so much lessons about mortality, social and personal relationships, disguises, art and intricacies of family connections.
