Annie Hall: 2025 Edition

I also hope to use this space to showcase some writing I wrote for school that I’m particularly proud of. I really love this essay I did recently about making an adaptation of Annie Hall for COM ARTS 313. Also, maybe a film maker will stuble across this page and make it for me and I’ll be rich, who knows?

I think they should make a modern adaptation to the 1977 film, “Annie Hall”. The reason behind this choice is twofold. One, the popularization of movies with the manic pixie dream girl trope have increased dramatically since the seventies. I think modern day audiences would possibly appreciate that aspect of the film more than the original audience. Two, Woody Allen is a creep and it makes many viewers uncomfortable to watch him (and let’s pretend that he doesn’t get any money for this adaptation), and the fact that he’d hate a remake of his film makes it even better. 

At its heart, the film wants to examine a relationship, but in order to do so one must go through the life that led up to the relationship, while giving observations about the human experience. It’s important that the protagonist is looking back, otherwise it’s indistinguishable from other romantic tales. He starts the narrative by saying “Annie and I broke up”, which makes the viewer look for signals of what could go wrong, even during moments where their relationship seems so hopeful. That start puts a dark twinge on the positive romantic aspects of the film. That darkness makes this movie so unique from other romantic comedies. 

The key aspect of “Annie Hall” that enthralled me as a viewer was the way that Woody Allen described the period of infatuation; not necessarily liking a woman for who she is but the idea of her. These movies that follow a man’s infatuation with a woman, who is almost too good to be true (a manic pixie dream girl as some have dubbed it), have become really popular among Gen Z. Movies like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or “(500) Days of Summer” describe temporary romanes and have blown up on Tik Tok and Instagram within the last couple years. I haven’t seen Annie Hall popularized in the same way, which could be because the movie is simply so outdated; they talk often about psychoanalysis, racquetball, standing in line at a movie theater, and anti-semitism (things that the youth hate). The key to all these movies is a woman who is so special that she seemingly changes the man's life but in the end leaves him. People like the reliability of lost love; it feels realer than romantic comedies. 

Much of the famousness of the film comes from the writing. So quotes that the movie is notorious for will have to stay the same. Silly things like “I’m into leather” but also more serious observations about life like the introductory monologue should be maintained. Without including these quotes, the younger generation which this adaptation targets (who probably have never seen the original) will not have the ability to experience Allen’s wit and style of comedy. Besides that, the dialogue should for the most part mimic Allen’s style. The self reflection that makes us understand Alvy’s character cannot be cut out of this variation. Even if Alvy's character changes, he still needs to recognize his own shortcomings, the shortcomings of others, and the shortcomings of the world. Allen occasionally utilizes breaking the fourth wall as a technique. I think that this should remain because it’s part of the charm of this film. The character of Alvy is keenly aware that he’s telling a story, and he wants to confront the audience with their own thoughts. What makes Allen’s writing so special is that he’s saying things that many of us have thought of ourselves, but he puts it into words. 

Also, some traits of the two main characters, Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, have to stay the same because it’s what makes the story relatable. One thing worth mentioning that might seem minute is casting. The podcast, “This Had Oscar Buzz” said, “If this movie is made today 10 out of 10 times it’s cast with someone who's way too attractive to be sympathetic” about Bud Cort in “Harold and Maude”. I cannot see a modern day Alvy Singer as an attractive type; it’s not easy for him to find romance which underscores the importance of Annie to him. Maybe it’s important to me, a regular looking person, that the person I’m supposed to sympathize with also looks regular. It’s more relatable to our actual struggles with love when the protagonist isn’t strikingly gorgeous. The same goes for Annie’s relatable personality. Annie’s character has to be quirky and awkward because that’s what attracts the audience to her. She’s not witty or particularly flirty as so many female love interests are; she’s a normal woman even though Diane Keaton is the strikingly gorgeous type.

As far as change, the obvious outdated references have to go. I feel like there can be many liberties taken with the main character’s careers, their romantic moments together, what they fight about, and even where the film takes place. Other things however must be changed in order to make a successful adaptation that improves upon the original work. 

Annie's feelings should be placed on equal footing with Alvy’s. Often it feels like the viewer is only supposed to identify with Alvy since he’s the character telling the story. Even though Annie is so relatable, the audience is never supposed to feel sympathy for her, all our sympathy is reserved for Alvy. There should be more focus on Alvy’s faults in the relationship: his attempting to change Annie and not wanting to fully commit to her. He’s partially at fault for the break up and that becomes more obvious if we stop only seeing only through Alvy’s perspective. In this adaptation, they could include more conversations which Annie has with female friends or her family relating to her relationship, simply so she can say her grievances about Alvy on camera. Important to note, the only scene in which two women interact is between Annie and her mom for 5 seconds. When Annie breaks up with him, Alvy goes on a rant about how blameless he is in the break up; he gets the chance to speak his side to the audience but she never does. In one scene towards the end, we get to hear three sentences worth of Annie’s thoughts in a voiceover, so it wouldn’t even be out of nowhere if this adaptation did utilize more voiceovers to make Annie’s thoughts known to the audience. 

Alvy being 40 years old is not crucial to the story. I think it would be equally as impactful if the character was in his mid-twenties and would appeal to a younger audience. The intention of Alvy's age was to show his experience with love; he’s been divorced twice and has become pessimistic. But modern audiences particularly find power imbalances gross, so a love story about a rich, famous older man being with a young attractive financially struggling woman reads as not ideal. Making the characters the same age would not only solve this problem but add to the narrative. He’s pessimistic not only from life experience but also from the books he reads and the television he watches, which is more representative of people now. Gen Z learns about the cruelties of the world at a young age through technology. 

The incredibly relatable “Annie Hall” should be remade to take place in 2025. Young audiences who’ve never heard of the original and old audiences who’ve seen it many times would appreciate an adaptation that maintains the original intention behind the film.