Hannah and her Sisters ***** (1986, Mia Farrow, Dianne Wiest, Michael Caine, Woody Allen, Barbara Hershey, Max von Sydow, Sam Waterston, Carrie Fisher) – Classic Movie Review 1796

Writer-director Woody Allen’s triple-Oscar-winning 1986 crowd-pleaser Hannah and her Sisters is one of his best and most enduring movies. Some even say it is his finest work. Allen’s then partner Mia Farrow stars as famous actress Hannah, who is beautiful, intelligent and the calm centre of the storm of a problematic family of Manhattan dwellers. But it was Michael Caine and Dianne Wiest who won Oscars as Best Supporting Actor and Actress, and Allen who won for Best Original Screenplay.

Hannah and her Sisters is an affectionate, witty portrait of three New York sisters and their relationships over two years between Thanksgiving dinners. The bitter-sweet main stories about Hannah’s two sisters Lee (Barbara Hershey) and Holly (Wiest) are fleshed out with funny subplots in typical Allen style.

One of the two central tales is about Hannah’s husband Elliot (Michael Caine) falling in love with her youngest sister Lee (Hershey), who then leaves her partner, the misanthropic old painter Frederick (Max von Sydow). The other one is about Hannah’s hypochondriac TV producer ex-husband Mickey (Woody Allen), who rekindles his relationship with Hannah’s troubled sister Holly (Wiest). Holly would actually like to date David (Sam Waterston), even though he would rather date her friend April (Carrie Fisher).

What makes Hannah and her Sisters extraordinary comes down to two things – script and performances. It’s a delight to experience the inspired level of the ensemble acting (including Allen’s fired-up performance) and the beautifully honed screenplay with its sharply witty one-liners and general air of quality and wisdom. Maureen O’Sullivan (Farrow’s mother), Lloyd Nolan, Daniel Stern, Tony Roberts, John Turturro, Julie Kavner, J T Walsh, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Richard Jenkins and Joanna Gleason also star. Happy days!

When von Sydow and Hershey finished their break-up scene, the crew gave them a standing ovation.

Soon-Yi Previn appears as a Thanksgiving Guest.

Mia Farrow and Woody Allen made 13 marvellous movies together: A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982),  Zelig (1983), Broadway Danny Rose (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985),  Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), September (1987), Radio Days (1987), Another Woman (1988), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), New York Stories (1989), Alice (1990), Shadows and Fog (1991) and Husbands and Wives (1992).

Farrow never won an Oscar nor a Bafta, and her only Golden Globe was  a shared 1965 award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1796

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