Curio: Hannah on Thanksgiving
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 1:00PM Alexa here. Every year on Thanksgiving I make an effort to catch Hannah and Her Sisters, one of Woody's best and certainly my favorite film with a Thanksgiving theme. Its framing of three Thanksgiving dinners hosted by Mia Farrow's Hannah resembles the three Christmases in Fanny and Alexander (while I'm at it, I may queue that one up for Christmas). Maybe it's the elegance of this structure that makes the film great, as it holds together Woody's wonderful vignettes, especially those amongst Barbara Hershey, Max Von Sydow and Michael Caine. And this scene pretty much summarizes my philosophy of life.
E.E. Cummmings by cartoonist Louie Chin.
I wish I could drag the rest of my family away from the football to watch it with me, but I usually do so as a solitary endeavor in between baking pies. Here, after the jump, are some great little homages and artistic curios in honor of this film I never, ever tire of.
Odd East German and Czech posters, available here and here.
Hannah and Elliot by Peter Mack.
Sketch of Frederick, also by Peter Mack.
Set of promotional glossies, available here.
Reader Comments (8)
Carrie's dissenting opinion on the eligible bachelor AKA Ichabod Crane gets me every time.
I no longer recall the details, I'd have to see Interiors again, but at the time of Hanna I found that the structure of the three sisters, their stories, etc., were nearly identical for both films.
Again, there was a "stong-figure" sister, the one no one thought would amount to much and the more artistic one. There was also one sister having an affair with another one's husband, etc. I'd love to find a proper synopsis of both films to be more accurate. In any case, I just wanted to mention this.
Marcos, I never thought of that before, but Iyou are right. Hanna is more like Chekhov, and Interiors is a homage to Bergman, but the plots and characters are quite similar.
i love this movie too. if i did rewatch movies regularly (i don't) i probably wouldn't get tired of it either because when i do see a scene or remember one or someone else discusses it, i'm always enthused and feeling warmly about it after all these years.
Nathan, Ms. Wiest just blows me away in this role. The scene with her and Mia before the audition is riveting. It is also one of Ms. Farrow's finest hours.
It's a wonderful film - one of Woody's absolute best. And, even though the screenplay is a classic and won pretty much every award in sight, it's also worth saying that it's one of Woody's best-directed films. The flow of the camera, the energy of the performances, the precision of the editing - brilliant.
This is my second-favorite movie of all time. I just love it so much. I must have seen it at least a dozen times, and I'll probably watch it again sometime this week as part of my Thanksgiving celebration.
It's a shame the Academy just recently started its seemingly obligatory one-film-gets-two-Supporting-Actress-nominations rule, because if there's ever a movie that deserved to hog up that category...well, I guess that would be Nashville (which could have had all 5 slots to itself), but if there's another one, it's Hannah and Her Sisters. I think all three sisters should have been nominated, although they certainly did right by giving Wiest the Oscar that year. I find something new to love about her performance every time I watch it.
Also, I'm glad somebody else appreciates Max von Sydow's performance in this movie. It's a small role (three scenes, if I'm not mistaken), but he totally nails it. It's actually quite amazing how much depth he gives to the character in his final moments onscreen. I mean, that last little bit he has says A LOT about him.
Thanks Alexa, I always like a lot your posts here, they are great!!! Even if I love so much Manhattan, Annie Hall, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days, Another Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everyone says I love You and Match Point (to name only my favorite Woody's films), I think that Hannah and her Sisters will be always my favorite Allen's film. I have watched it many times and it's so fascinating how always I can find new details to love!