Symbolism in Annie Hall

Woody Allen’s Annie Hall is a film about a man looking back on a key romance in his life and how it affects him. Alvy Singer is constantly in conflict with the world due to the fact that he perceives himself to be more intellectual and superior than most people. This causes conflict within his relationship with Annie Hall as he is intimidated by finally meeting his match. These problems cause an inner conflict within him as he analyzes his past relationships, including Annie, to find out what it is that causes the relationships to fail. The film presents the idea that life and love are not always ideal or perfect, but worth the trouble. Allen also suggests that all relationships offer opportunities for growth, even if they don’t work out.

            The tone is humorous and absurd. Most situations in the film are presented in a comical manner and Allen uses a narrative out of chronological order as well as direct address, exaggerated flashbacks, and animated fantasy sequences to underscore how ridiculous he views his own place in life.

            Alvy is shown through flashbacks as literally growing up under a rollercoaster. The rollercoaster is how he feels about his life. It is full of ups and downs and can cause stress or uneasiness, but is ultimately thrilling. The flashback sequence also lets us in on the fact that what we see is uniquely Alvy’s perspective of the story and may be littered throughout with other half-truths and exaggerations. His childhood education is presented as being populated with dunces, including the teachers. This lets us in on Alvy’s sense of being above the rest. He can’t imagine that any of his former classmates have gone on to something greater than he has. His condescending manner is presented with a lot of self-deprecation, which keeps him from being unsympathetic or unrelatable.

            Alvy has spent his entire life in New York, which serves as an extension of himself. His personality is energetic, dark, and full of intellect; much like New York City. He feels anxiety whenever he is out of town and leaves as little as possible. His religion is also key to his identity. Although he is not shown to be overtly devout to the practice of Judaism, he still considers it an important part of his life. His temple is the art house cinema, where he regularly attends screening of The Sorrow and The Pity. Rather than celebrate his heritage, he chooses to constantly be reminded of the dark chapters of Jewish history, even confiding to Rob that he often feels passively persecuted. This reveals his cynical side, along with his morbid fascination with death. From a young age, he has been preoccupied with death. He struggles to find meaning in life due to a lack of immortality.

            The cynical side of Alvy is offset by his imagination and dream of an ideal world. Whether he is conjuring Marshall McLuhan to take his side in an argument or imagining the people of New York as being able to be approached for advice at any moment, he believes there is a magical potential to life.

            We are first introduced to Annie Hall in the film as the middle to late stage of her relationship with Alvy. He awaits her arrival wearing a green Army combat jacket, ready for the argument that has come to define their lives together.  Alvy looks to his previous marriages for clues to what might be going wrong. His first marriage started off strong. When they met, she was wearing a red necklace and he a red tie. This shows the passion he had for her and is a color motif that reappears throughout the film. The passion doesn’t last though. When we next see them, they are in a darkly lit apartment, dressed in grey and beige.  Alvy uses the JFK assassination as a form of intellectual stimulation which is missing from his relationship with Allison. His second wife is also shown to wear dark, mournful colors. This reflects her cold personality, more interested in her place in society than with passion.  Both his former spouses were New York liberal, intellectual types with nightstands full of books. This would be a seemingly good match for Alvy, but we learn from that that he needs someone from a different background to provide a challenge.

            These are qualities that Annie has. She is a mid-western photographer whose book collection largely consists of cat books and high school curriculum level literature. She is not of the same world as Alvy, which he finds exciting. He is thoughtful and well read whereas she being a photographer is more interested in the visual aesthetics of life. They meet while playing tennis with friends. Following the match, she appears to formally introduce herself dressed in a man’s suit. Both the tennis game and the clothes represent that Alvy has met his match. He suspects she is someone he could easily fall in love with. When she drives him home, she proves to be a reckless driver. This shows the excitement Alvy feels about Annie.  He feels a frightening, but exciting feeling that he never felt about his previous wives and more than likely hasn’t felt since his childhood days of roller coasters and bumper cars.

            Their relationship starts off great. During a weekend at the beach, they attempt to cook lobsters for the first time. Like the red lobsters, Alvy feels passionate and alive. He is comfortable enough with her to leave the safety net of New York and try new things with her. The waterfront is in the background. Most of their shared romantic moments take place near water, including their walks at night and the tennis match at the pier. The water is calm and represents how tranquil Alvy feels. Red roses line the balcony of Annie’s apartment, again a symbol of warmth.

            The rosy times don’t last, however.  They slowly become more argumentative and Alvy resorts to using a red lightbulb to light the now cold, depressing bedroom. This is his attempt to recapture the fun and glory of their “honeymoon” phase. An Easter dinner with Annie’s family highlight that Alvy no longer feels connected to Annie. Annie’s family is distantly polite and in a stark, white dining room. Alvy thinks of his family, warmly lit and equally warmly argumentative with each other. He speaks to Annie’s brother in his bedroom. The ceiling is slanted much like Alvy’s view of Annie and her family. Dwayne confesses his suicidal thoughts and gives them a ride to the airport. Like his first car ride with Annie, this one  is equally terrifying, but the sense of fun has been replaced with dread. The once tranquil waters of life are now a violent thunderstorm.

            Annie performs in a night club twice in the film. The first time, her performance is mousey. She stares toward the ground and almost whispers the song into the microphone. The second time is long into her relationship with Alvy. She is now in command of the stage, confident and captivating. This shows Annie’s change in personality. She seeks growth in life and because of her relationship with Alvy, feels more emboldened to try new things, such as college classes and cocaine. Alvy is set in his ways and doesn’t feel like major change is something he wants. They both learn this during their visit to Los Angelos. L.A. is shot with blinding light bouncing off the buildings and windshield. This shows the disoriented, nauseous feeling being away gives Alvy. Annie, however, takes to it naturally. She is excited to try new things and meet new people.

            Their relationship ends and Annie moves to L.A. Alvy still doesn’t have closure, though. He attempts to take control of the situation by trying to win her back by travelling to L.A. and driving. This trip shows that Annie is important enough to Alvy to try and drive, but the car and his attempt crashes. When this doesn’t work, he writes a play based on their relationship. The ending is changed to a happy one, hoping to feel fulfillment through revision.  It is a chance lunch with Annie that finally brings him closure. As they rehash their past, flashes of the film’s key scenes are shown. This is the healing that is happening to Alvy. When they say goodbye for the last time, a crosswalk signal changes from “Don’t Walk” to “Walk”. This signifies that Alvy is satisfied with this chapter of his life and can now move on; taking what he has learned from Annie, as well as the memories, with him to the next one.