Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Family Thanksgiving Woody Allen style.

No one can bring dysfunctional families and ill-fated relationships to the screen like Woody Allen. Hannah and Her Sisters bring to life, Allen’s cynical view of love and happiness. Each sister has her own angst and unique issues. Hannah (Mia Farrow) is married to Elliot (Michael Caine) who unbeknownst to Hannah has fallen in love with her sister Lee (Barbara Hershey). Lee is living with Frederick (Max von Sydow), an aging and dogmatic artist who refuses to associate with her family because they are not clever enough for him. Holly (Diane Wiest) can’t seem to find herself or a vocation, but she has managed to snort cocaine and borrow money from Hannah on a regular basis. The parents of the trio are Evan (Lloyd Nolan) and Norma (Maureen O’Sullivan, Farrow’s real mom). Dad is quiet and loves to play the piano while reminiscing about old show biz days. Mom has a drinking problem. Then there is Hannah’s neurotic and hypochondriac ex-husband (Woody Allen) who quits his job because he thinks he is dying. The film is funny, ironic and complex.

The scenes have titles like chapters of a book or a series of vignettes and give a hint to what you can next expect. This film is pure Woody. When we first see Hannah’s husband at the family Thanksgiving dinner, he is looking longingly at his sister-in-law. Later in the film, we see him waiting for Lee to leave her building, then running for blocks so he can casually ‘bump into her”.

Other’s in the cast are Carrie Fisher, Julie Kavner (the voice of Marge Simpson in The Simpson’s), Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Bobby Short as himself. Several of Mia Farrow’s children can be seen at dinner, Moses Farrow; and Daisy and Soon-Yi-Previn. Bobby Short is in this movie because Woody Allen loves Short and Cole Porter and his ilk. The movie soundtrack is amazing. The audience is treated to old standard tunes, “Isn’t It Romantic”, “You Made Me Love You”, “Bewitched”, “Where or When” and more. The music threads through the film and gives warmth to Woody Allen’s troubled characters.

Hannah and Her Sisters is a slow-paced, low-key film that begins and ends with the family coming together for Thanksgiving dinner. The film garnered three Oscars; they went to Woody Allen for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Dianne Wiest, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Michael Caine, Best Actor in a Supporting Role.