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Annie Hall is a 1977 film directed by Woody Allen from a script by Allen and Marshall Brickman, in which Allen plays Alvy Singer, a comedian obsessed with death, attempting to maintain a relationship with the ditzy title character (played by Diane Keaton), who loves life.
The film makes pioneering use of various experimental techniques such as split-screen imagery, double exposure, and breaks in character to speak to the camera directly, breaking the fourth wall. In one instance Allen's character, standing in line with Annie Hall and listening to someone behind him expound on Marshall McLuhan's work, leaves the line to speak to the camera directly. The man comes to speak to the camera in his defense and Alvy Singer/Woody Allen resolves the dispute by pulling McLuhan himself from behind a counter to tell the man that his interpretation is wrong.
The film won the following Academy Awards:
It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role - Woody Allen.
At one point in its development, the film was titled Anhedonia. This title was considered unmarketable, and was changed to Annie Hall.
The film is consistently in the top 100 on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It is widely regarded as one of the best comedies ever made and is considered one of Allen's best films and the first of what we now call romantic comedies.
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