{"id":26621,"date":"2012-07-23T13:22:41","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T20:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26621"},"modified":"2021-01-10T10:23:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T17:23:32","slug":"hannah-and-her-sisters-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26621","title":{"rendered":"Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Millions of books written on every conceivable subject by all these great minds, and in the end none of them knows anything more about the big questions of life than I do.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Poster-195x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"195\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-26622\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Poster-195x300.jpg 195w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 195px) 100vw, 195px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn accountant (Michael Caine) married to an actress (Mia Farrow) falls for his wife&#8217;s sister (Barbara Hershey), who&#8217;s involved with an older artist (Max von Sydow). Meanwhile, Farrow&#8217;s other sister (Dianne Wiest) struggles to find both romantic and personal happiness, and Farrow&#8217;s ex-husband (Woody Allen) &#8212; a successful television producer &#8212; suffers an existential crisis when he learns he may have a brain tumor.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barbara Hershey Films<\/li>\n<li>Infidelity<\/li>\n<li>Maureen O&#8217;Sullivan Films<\/li>\n<li>Max von Sydow Films<\/li>\n<li>Mia Farrow Films<\/li>\n<li>Michael Caine Films<\/li>\n<li>Sam Waterston Films<\/li>\n<li>Siblings<\/li>\n<li>Woody Allen Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary notes that while <em>Hannah and Her Sisters<\/em> (&#8220;Woody Allen&#8217;s most acclaimed film&#8221;) remains a &#8220;sweet&#8221; movie in many ways, it&#8217;s nonetheless &#8220;startling how mean [many of] his characters can be to one another&#8221;, given that &#8220;they say vicious things&#8221; and &#8220;betray each other&#8217;s trust&#8221;, and they &#8220;are insensitive, they lie, [and] they are accusatory&#8221;. He points out that &#8220;every character is deeply wounded at some point, finds himself or herself on shaky ground, and fears the future&#8221;. However, given Allen&#8217;s structuring of the film to cover three consecutive Thanksgivings in the lives of Hannah and her family, we also see that &#8220;within brief periods of time&#8230; lives can change to a miraculous degree, people can mature&#8230;, [and] sad people can find the happiness that one year before seemed out of reach&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>(As in his review for <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26546\"><em>The Purple Rose of Cairo<\/em><\/a>, Peary&#8217;s overview of <em>HAHS<\/em> oddly contains quite a few spoilers, so I&#8217;ll refrain from quoting more specifics here about the narrative arc.)<\/p>\n<p>Peary points out that &#8220;Wiest, Farrow, and von Sydow stand out in the wonderful cast&#8221; (I agree); however, he notes that he wishes &#8220;all the characters were a bit more developed&#8221; &#8212; though it&#8217;s difficult to see how this might even be possible, given the limitations of such an abundantly cast, intricately overlapping script. Indeed, there are so many narrative threads interwoven across <em>HAHS<\/em> that one wonders at first how Allen will balance it all &#8212; yet everything eventually comes together, with all the characters&#8217; lives intersecting in decidedly &#8220;incestuous&#8221; ways (perhaps no great surprise). Peary concludes his review by stating that &#8220;having Mickey [Allen] convert to Catholicism, although funny, is overdoing it a bit&#8221;, but I disagree; several of the script&#8217;s laugh-out-loud visual gags come courtesy of this narrative jaunt (which feels entirely realistic, given the character&#8217;s literal soul-searching). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> It&#8217;s interesting to learn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/77299\/hannah-and-her-sisters#articles-reviews\">how much of <em>HAHS<\/em> was apparently inspired by Farrow&#8217;s own life<\/a> (the film was shot largely in her NY apartment, included several of her actual children, and cast her real-life mother &#8212; Maureen O&#8217;Sullivan &#8212; as her on-screen mother). Being involved with Woody Allen to any extent seems like a guaranteed ticket to creative &#8220;exploitation&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dianne Wiest as Holly<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Wiest.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Wiest.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26625\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Wiest.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Wiest-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Wiest-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Michael Caine as Elliott<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Caine.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Caine.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26626\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Caine.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Caine-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Caine-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Barbara Hershey as Lee<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Hershey.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Hershey.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26629\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Hershey.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Hershey-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Hershey-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Mia Farrow as Hannah<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Farrow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Farrow.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Farrow.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Farrow-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Farrow-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Max von Sydow as Frederick<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-von-Sydow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-von-Sydow.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-von-Sydow.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-von-Sydow-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-von-Sydow-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Carlo di Palma&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Cinematography.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Cinematography-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Cinematography-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Allen&#8217;s Oscar-winning script<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Screenplay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Screenplay.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"873\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26623\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Screenplay.png 873w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Screenplay-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/Hannah-and-Her-Sisters-Screenplay-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 873px) 100vw, 873px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as one of Allen&#8217;s best films. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0091167\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s333hannah.html\">DVD Savant Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=398&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/77299\/hannah-and-her-sisters#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/71687\/hannah_and_her_sisters.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Millions of books written on every conceivable subject by all these great minds, and in the end none of them knows anything more about the big questions of life than I do.&#8221; Synopsis: An accountant (Michael Caine) married to an actress (Mia Farrow) falls for his wife&#8217;s sister (Barbara Hershey), who&#8217;s involved with an older artist (Max von Sydow). Meanwhile, Farrow&#8217;s other sister (Dianne Wiest) struggles to find both romantic and personal happiness, and Farrow&#8217;s ex-husband (Woody Allen) &#8212; a&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=26621\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26621"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62722,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26621\/revisions\/62722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}