``Hannah and Her Sisters'' Life is meaningless. That is the ultimate conclusion reached by humans.

Three actresses who support the movie

I feel like there are more directors in America who are good at shooting male actors (rather than actresses), but Allen is a rare person who can demonstrate his skills as a ``director of actresses.''

In this work, Dianne Wiest, a regular in Allen's films, plays the role of Holly, the third daughter who fails to find success as an actress. In the books and reviews, the third daughter is Holly. American critic Roger Evert also wrote, ``Lee and Hanna have a third sister, Holly,'' so here we adopt the theory that Holly = three women.)

She is an actress who can show a soft and gentle nature, but in this movie she charmingly plays a character who is also eccentric.

Allen is originally known for liking jazz and hating rock, but Allen's taste in music is shown in the scene where Holly goes on a date with Hanna's ex-husband, Mickey. When Holly, a rock fan, takes Allen to a punk rock club, he looks disgusted. Meanwhile, when Mickey takes Holly to a jazz club, Holly seems bored. Cole Porter 's number ` `I'm in Love Again' ' is being played at the jazz bar. It's interesting that Allen (Mickey) calls himself a ``Cole Porter addict,'' so when a woman refuses to go to a club where this song is played, he is even more shocked.

Wiest is one of the character actresses who have supported Allen's films, winning two Oscars for ``Hannah and Her Sisters'' and `` Broadway and Bullets '' (1994). However, this is the only movie in which the two played lovers. Their congenial acting is a sight to behold (Wiest's punk sense fashion is also cool).

"Broadway and Bullets" preview

On the other hand, Barbara Hershey is the big discovery of this movie. She plays the role of the second daughter who lives with a painter (Max von Syd) who is older than her. In the 1970s, Hershey had a hippie-like image, and in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece `` Executed Tomorrow' ' (1972), she played the heroine who goes on a wandering journey, but in Allen's films, she plays a mature adult. Demonstrate the charm of Even though she always wears casual sweaters and P-coats, she has a certain sex appeal. In his autobiography, Allen wrote of Hershey: "She was a truly wonderful actress and I had always wanted to work with her. There was something so magnetic about her on screen."

Actually, when I was making `` Annie Hall '' (1977), I offered her the role of the main character's ex-wife, but she was not accepted (she was replaced by Janet Morgolin from `` The Thief '' (1969)). "I was really disappointed when she turned me down, because I was fascinated by the depth of her acting skills and thought she would enhance the script that Marshall Brickman and I had written." However, in ``Hannah and Her Sisters,'' she was finally able to team up with Hershey. "She had the power to change the meaning of the word 'eros,'" Allen wrote in his autobiography, praising her performance.

The eldest daughter, Hanna, who is set up as a successful actress, is played by her destined partner, Mia Farrow. In her autobiography, her acting skills are praised, saying, ``She was an actress with a wide range of talent.'' However, she also talks about the scandals in her private life, which makes me feel sad when I read about them.

The second Allen book that I translated, `` Woody '' (written by David Evanier, published by Kinema Junposha in 2017), already contains a detailed analysis of the relationship between the two, both in their public and private lives, and especially with their adopted daughter Dylan.・The part surrounding the incident with Farrow was spectacular (Evanier interprets the issue of abuse of his adopted daughter as a result of Mia Farrow brainwashing Dylan, which led to the tragedy, and he seems to believe in Allen's innocence.) is).

In this review, the author wrote, ``Below the surface of (' Hannah and Her Sisters'), you can actually sense a kind of hostility toward Hanna.'' The conversations between Hanna, played by Mia Farrow, and her husband, Elliott, mirror real-life interactions between Farrow and Allen, and it appears that the disintegration of their relationship has already begun.

Farrow's 11-room Central Park West home was used as the film's location. Hanna's mother, an actress, is played by Maureen O'Sullivan, Farrow's biological mother (who shows the cruelty of growing old). Also, one of Hanna's children is played by her adopted son Moses Farrow, who later defends Allen in the sexual abuse scandal (although he says there was no abuse). The appearance of Farrow's family in the film makes it easy to see more of her personal life, but eventually her voyeuristic curiosity vanishes.

Although it appears to be a work with a romantic and happy tone, there are deep questions surrounding life, sex, and death. It can be summarized in the words. ``Hannah and Her Sisters'' is a very strong work.

Text: Sawako Omori

Movie journalist. His books include "Lost Cinema" (Kawade Shobo Shinsha) and other books, and his translations include "Woody" (by D. Evanier, Kinema Junposha). Contributes to magazines such as ``Weekly Women'', ``Music Magazine'', and ``Kinema Junpo''. A research book based on the web series, `` Mini Theater Revisited, '' is also scheduled to be published.

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