Hannah and Her Sisters [Blu-ray]

This movie is so well done; written, acted and scored. I watch it it frequently and always enjoy it. Perfect dvd and great price. Michael Caine is particularly charming in this.

`Hannah and Her Sisters' by writer/director Woody Allen is certainly among the top five of Allen's best films, along with `Annie Hall', `Crimes and Misdemeanors', `Manhattan', and `Take the Money and Run'. It is certainly one of my favorites, although I think it is just a bit less tight than the later `Crimes and Misdemeanors' with which it shares a lot of themes and a similarly enormous cast of familiar faces. One of the most important similarities between the two movies is that there are two parallel, but connected plots and Allen's character is central to the lesser of the two plots, given as much to provide comic relief as to move the story onward. Also in both movies, Allen plays an only modestly successful entertainment business creative player who is not incompetent, but who is not doing well. Both `Hannah...' and `Crimes...' give Allen's character a major love interest and I am very pleased with the fact that `Hannah...' ends with a happy resolution to all the movie's issues. One can be certain that new crises will arise for these characters the day after the final scene, but at least for us, they are all in a good place. That sentence has unwittingly shown an important fact about this movie. We care for these characters. We may not be too concerned about the fate of Carrie Fisher, Max Von Sydow, Tony Roberts, Daniel Stern, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, or John Turturro who appear on the screen for just a few minutes. But, we really develop a strong interest in the fates of the characters played by Allen, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest. While Allen is simply playing his usual nebbish, I cannot for the life of me see how the Academy Awards singled out Wiest from the performances of Caine and Farrow, which I think are equally strong. Like all of Allen's movies since `Manhattan', the jokes are much better integrated into the story and they are much less predictable than the sight gag of Allen's pistol carved from a bar of soap turning into a handful of suds in the rain in `Take the Money and Run'. This makes them both more fun and droller, as when the very serious Max Von Sydow says he does not sell his paintings by the yard. Allen also continues to use wordless visual gags as when he empties a sack of Catholic religious items, finishing up with a loaf of Wonder bread and Hellman's mayonnaise. New York City plays almost as big a part in this movie as it does in `Manhattan', with the gimmick of an architect's showing off his favorite buildings as a way of giving us a tour of some of Manhattan's more attractive sights. Even the gritty Greenwich Village streets give up some of their charm as Caine chases down Barbara Hershey in order to bump into her with a rationale for her to show him to a nearby used book shop. We can also add this to the list of the many Allen movies where one or more characters, especially Allen's character, end up in a theatre watching a classic film. In this case, it's the Marx brothers in `Duck Soup', arguably one of their funniest. If you are not a rabid Woody Allen fan, I would recommend this movie above almost all others for purchase. Like all his films, there are virtually no special features, but the movie is longer than average and has one of his very best stories and very best collection of characters.

Thanksgiving with the family is always a time of unrest and uncertainty. And, in this film, it starts slowly, but soon we are engrossed in the entire lives of Hannah and her sisters and their men. Hannah played by Mia Farrow, is an actress, stay at home mom, married to an accountant played by Michael Caine. They hold the Thanksgiving dinners where everyone meets. Lee, Hannah's sister, played by Barbara Hershey, lives with an eccentric artist. The other sister, Holly, is played by Diane Weist, she is a recovering cocaine addict and always needs money. Elliott, the accountant thinks he is in love with Lee, though he really loves Hannah. He and Lee have an affair that drags on. Holly finally finds her place with script writing. The entire family is upset, and the issue becomes unsettling. Carrie Fisher plays a small part as Holly's partner in a catering service. What we have is a mess, here, sheriff. Each of the sisters is trying to find her way. Woody Allen plays Hannah's ex husband, a neurotic as always, but he is at his best in this film. As each member of the family tries to find their way, life has more meaning. Secrets are told, and secrets kept, and in the midst, wonderfully revealing stories and solutions are found. This is said to be Woody Allan's best film, and it was a captivating afternoon. Recommended. prisrob 12-28-16

This is Woody Allen's best film in an extraordinarily creative, accomplished career. Its blend of tears and laughter is perfect, with every scene hitting its mark with acuity. The remarkable cast portrays a group of New Yorkers that act like so many of Chekhov's characters (although Manhattan is the farthest thing from Moscow): miserable on the surface, but real swingers underneath. I won't go so far as to say Woody's inspiration was the play "Three Sisters," but I find a deep similarity in there somewhere. I loved Roger Ebert's insight about the titles that precede certain scenes. He said that the reason Woody used this device was to demonstrate how much we want to organize our lives into neat chapters, but that life always manages to upend all our plans with the unpredictable. Many lives are indeed upended in Woody's brilliant story, and where they will all land is what keeps us engaged and fascinated by what is happening on the screen. This film has my favorite of all of Woody's endings, too. I went back and forth for years debating whether this film or "Manhattan" was Woody's greatest. Now I'm sure. If you own only one Woody Allen movie, make it this one.

If you like Woody Allen and consider New York City to be the Garden of Eden (it's the Big Apple after all), you will thoroughly enjoy this film. If you don't like Woody, this film is good enough you may enjoy it anyway for the story and fine acting. Plus all the neurosis you xpect and more. If you're a millennial wondering who is this Woody guy your mother raves about (Dad not so much unless he's a professor at Columbia), then try this one and 'Manahattan.' Ignore the recent stuff where Woody becomes ridiculously obsessed with and sex, and loses his sparkle.

At the end of "Hannah and Her Sisters" the Woody Allen character summarizes the film. The delightful irony is that he is right, but not in the way you thought for most of the film. Of course, given the twists of fate that awaited Allen and Mia Farrow in the years following this film there are degrees of irony in viewing this film now, albeit not as profound as watching "Manhattan." What makes "Hannah and Her Sisters" Allen's best film is indeed the way things come together at the end in a surprising way. The truly sentimental conclusion is what puts it at the top of my personal Woody Allen list: you have to admit, you are stunned to find yourself weeping at the end of one of his movies. There are dramatic moments in this film-dramatic in terms of the consequences for the characters-that are the finest Allen has crafted. They are definitely superior to the forced effort in Allen's one "dramatic" effort, "Interiors." Being able to play in both ballparks, comedy and drama, has become something of a post-modern ideal, springing forth from television programs in the "dramedy" genre like "All in the Family" and "M*A*S*H." The non-Allen characters have more depth here than you usually find in his films, which is probably due as much to the consummate acting as the writing (since Allen often gives great improvisational leeway). Favorite small moments in this film: Allen's shopping bag of religious items and Max Von Sydow's riposte on the Nazis, not to mention the request for sperm and a special appearance by the Marx Brothers. On a personal note, there are scenes in this film that continue to stick out in my memory and the ending always brings a tear to my eyes, and I can not say similar things about "Platoon," which beat out this film for the Best Picture Oscar. I say this knowing full well that Allen was not going to win having already had success with "Annie Hall," but that was a period in time when the films I thought were deserving of the Oscar were getting beat by what I considered to be lesser works.

There is a scene near the end of this film where Hannah (Mia Farrow) and her sisters Holly (Dianne Wiest) n"Lee(Barbara Hershey) meet over lunch and the camera slowly circles them as they engage in a heated emotionally charged conversation that is one of the most poignant moments I have ever seen on a screen. All 3 of these actresses are just outstanding in this movie. Mia Farrow has some scenes where her emotions are so vivdly expressed in her words and her facial expression that it is in my opinion one of the finest performances ever. The secondary story line features Woody Allen as Hannah's ex-husband who is completely neurotic and obsessed with iiness and death. However Allen is able to twist this to great comic effect. The story weaves back and forth between the emotional upheaval in the lives of Hannah, her husband(Michael Caine) and her sisters to Allen and his character's search for spiritual fullfillment. All of the characters are fully realized people , none perfect, and yet basically well meaning. (with the possible exception of Caine's character). I believe this is one of Woody Allen's finest films and have viewed it repeatedly over the years. The only weakness is the ending which is a bit contrived but that is easily forgivable in a film that is entertaining, thought provoking and funny at the same time.

Possibly my favorite Woody Allen picture. A tumultuous tale of three sisters who could not be more different from each other and how their lives are pushed apart and brought back together in strange and sometimes wonderful ways. The end of the film has possibly the most optimistic ending of any of Allen's career. I love this movie.

Una de las mejores películas de Woody

More serious than funny!

Il film più bello di Woody Allen. Tragico e comico e commovente come pochi

If movies reflect their directors state of mind, then Woody Allen must have been in a very good place when he made this movie Hannah and her sisters is a beautiful movie that makes me feel so content and peeaceful by the end. The pacing is sublime, locations are exquisite and the ensemble cast fits together like the proverbial glove. Woody Allen movies are loquacious to say they least. This movie has some wonderful dialogue with not a swear word, violence or nudity anywhere. In many ways it's an old fashioned movie with a happy ending. We follow the trials and downfall of Hannah and her sisters. We watch as they slowly and painfully turn adversity into a kind of triumph that we would all like to achieve in our lives as they put the pieces of life's jigsaw puzzle back together. Hannah and her sisters is Allens most optimistic movie. His neuroses with death is, as with all his earlier works, prevalent in this. But the difference is that for the first time, he finds resolution to his fears. We all have these same fears and uncertainties. Many of us never resolve them. Maybe that's why we have the movies. I could watch this movie every week. Finally I have it on bluray. The picture is good, if a little saturated in places. But who cares when a movie is this good. I wouldn't call this movie a comedy. It's a snapshot of life. And as such, it's very beautiful and satisfying.

Sehr schöner Film. Diese DVD habe ich längst erhalten. Eine erneute Bestellung will ich deshalb Nicht!