Detailed Analysis of the Key Scene in the Movie Anni Hall Essay

The movie Anni Hall is considered to be one of Woody Allen’s greatest movies. It is a romantic comedy. It is known that this movie was released in 1977 and had a great success with the public. The main peculiarity of the movie is focused on its storyline which represents events out of chronological order.(Feeney)
The love story is told by the main character Alvy Singer. The major problem of the narrator is concluded in his relationships with women. Anni Hall is the only woman in the life of Alvy whose personality impressed the young man to a great extent. The relationships between men and women are rather difficult because each of the partners wants to play the leading role. However, not all the women are ready to obey their partners. Moreover, women seek true relations based on mutual understanding and love. Although Alvy is a comic, his life principles are too pessimistic. Anni Hall is not ready to marry Alvy.
My goal in this paper is to make a detailed analysis of the key scene in the movie Anni Hall.
DESCRIPTION OF THE KEY SCENE
The movie is full of different scenes each of which gives a lot of information concerning the main characters. However, the key scene in the movie is the one which describes Alvy’s conversation with Anni in Los Angeles. This conversation is the most important in this love story because Alvy is ready to marry Anni. He realizes that he cannot live without her. The man goes to Los Angeles by plane although he hates traveling by plane as he always has some health problems when he goes by plane. He knows that Anni lives with another man but he tries to persuade her that she should go back to New York City. However, Anni rejects his proposal. She says that she feels happy in California. She meets new people and goes to different parties, plays tennis and has fun. She does not want to return to New York because she is satisfied with her life in California. It means that she does not want to marry Alvy. She says that New York is “a dying city” and that she does not want to live there. Anni accuses Alvy that he is incapable of enjoying life. He is like “an island” in this world. She also compares him with New York City which is always gloomy and cold. Anni does not accept his proposal to marry him. She says: “Let’s remain friends”. (Anni Hall, 1977)
She asks him about his job and his plans. Alvy says that he writes and does his usual job. However, Alvy insists on Anni’s return to New York. Anni leaves saying that she has much to do. Her new friend Tony is a successful musician.
This scene is a key scene in the movie because it defines Alvy’s relations with Anni Hall – their break of relations.
This scene takes place in one of the cafes of Los Angeles. Alvy is sitting at the table and waiting for Anni. He orders something to eat and drink. There are a lot of people around. Some of them are eating, others are having a conversation. They do not pay attention to Alvy and Anni who are strangers to each other. It is clear that Anni cannot accept Alvy’s proposal to marry him because she does not want to live according to his rules. She does not want to read books about death, she does not want to have sex without marijuana which helps her to relax and so on.
Anny looks happy in Los Angeles. She wears white clothes which symbolizes purity and honesty. She does not want to tell lies to Alvy. That is why she refuses to return to New York.
Los Angeles is a so-called symbol of freedom for Anni who makes up her mind to change her life and to break relations with Alvy. However, Alvy hates Los Angeles, its clean streets, its beautiful architecture, its sunny days. New York is Alvy’s city. It is his home, his culture, his lovely place which he will never leave. Alvy Singer feels free in New York but not in Los Angeles. It means that Anni and Alvy are different people. They have practically nothing in common. The above mentioned scene proves this fact. (Feeney)
FILM TECHNIQUES USED IN THE KEY SCENE
It is known that different film techniques such as the choice of shot, camera work, lighting play an important role in the structure of the scene in the film. In the scene described in this paper, the film maker uses closed-up shot which shows tension. Close-up shot concentrates on the object but very little on background. It is clear that the conversation shown in this scene is a serious one because it completely breaks relations between two partners. Moreover, Anni displays initiative in this scene but not Alvy. She puts the end to their relations refusing the young man.
The other important film technique used in this scene is camera movement which helps to make meaning. It is used to produce image in the scene. In our case, neutral shot is used by the film maker. There are no any special techniques such as special effects and special lighting because the filmmaker has the major goal – to show an ordinary meeting of two people who had intimate relations not long ago.
One more film technique used in this scene is diagetic sound which is represented by the cars zinging down the highway. The main characters are located in the open air cafe opposite the highway. So, the noise of the cars’ engines is heard clearly. It gives impression of motion. It means that life does not stop no matter what Anni is going to respond to Alvy. Every person in this world has his right to choose his fate. Anni decided to leave Alvy Singer. It was her choice.
Music is not used in this scene.
Narrative meaning created by the film is represented by different symbols which help to understand the main ideas of the story. In our case, there are such symbols as New York City which stands for Alvy Singer, and Los Angeles which stands for Anni Hall. As the film has close ending, the key scene explains the major reasons of it. Anni and Alvy did not marry, they remained friends.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is necessary to say that the above mentioned formal element reflect key issues of the Romance and Love Story genres. If a man has a great desire to make a proposition to his sweetheart, he should buy flowers or some present to her. In our case, Alvy cannot be called a romantic character as he came to his woman without flowers. He did not present her a ring or some other present. Moreover, he chose a wrong place for such a serious conversation. A cafe at the side of the road is not a romantic place.