2012 Movie #22 - Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) For my first viewing of the film in over 12 years, I was lucky enough to watch it in 35mm at the BFI in London. On second viewing, I’m less enamored with the Elliot (Michael Caine) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) storyline, but hugely charmed by the journeys of Hannah (Mia Farrow), Holly (Dianne Wiest), and Mickey (Woody Allen). The film features some of Woody’s best work as a dramatist, with impeccable scene and sequence construction. This is exemplified by the restaurant scene with the three sisters. The construction of this scene is simply incredible, with the dialog showing both clarity and subtlety, an unfortunately rare combination. Each sister has something they want to get out of the scene, and despite all of them having the best intentions towards each other, their goals are at odds. We see this in what the sisters are saying, and in what they are obviously struggling not to say. The scene serves to propel the narrative, give insight into character, shift the character arcs, and still remains highly compelling and entertaining. And it’s just three sisters talking at a table. Too many writers don’t understand the narrative point of a scene. Characters interact with each other to advance their personal goals, and we see a scene because the outcome of that interaction advances the narrative. If you don’t have a sense of character goals and you don’t have an interaction and you don’t have a resulting narrative drive… then it’s not a scene! Cut it from your script or figure out a way to turn it into a real scene. It’s astonishing how many films have scenes that serve no narrative or character purpose. This can be fine if the artistic point of the scene is to undermine traditional narrative expectations, or the filmmaker is seeking an alternative impact, but the problem is that you see it all the time in films that are ostensibly traditional narratives. If you don’t have a proper scene, it just becomes “stuff happening” which is the path to audience disinterest. What I’ll take away: Woody Allen sure knows how to write. High-res

2012 Movie #22 - Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

For my first viewing of the film in over 12 years, I was lucky enough to watch it in 35mm at the BFI in London. On second viewing, I’m less enamored with the Elliot (Michael Caine) and Lee (Barbara Hershey) storyline, but hugely charmed by the journeys of Hannah (Mia Farrow), Holly (Dianne Wiest), and Mickey (Woody Allen).

The film features some of Woody’s best work as a dramatist, with impeccable scene and sequence construction. This is exemplified by the restaurant scene with the three sisters. The construction of this scene is simply incredible, with the dialog showing both clarity and subtlety, an unfortunately rare combination. Each sister has something they want to get out of the scene, and despite all of them having the best intentions towards each other, their goals are at odds. We see this in what the sisters are saying, and in what they are obviously struggling not to say. The scene serves to propel the narrative, give insight into character, shift the character arcs, and still remains highly compelling and entertaining. And it’s just three sisters talking at a table.

Too many writers don’t understand the narrative point of a scene. Characters interact with each other to advance their personal goals, and we see a scene because the outcome of that interaction advances the narrative. If you don’t have a sense of character goals and you don’t have an interaction and you don’t have a resulting narrative drive… then it’s not a scene! Cut it from your script or figure out a way to turn it into a real scene.

It’s astonishing how many films have scenes that serve no narrative or character purpose. This can be fine if the artistic point of the scene is to undermine traditional narrative expectations, or the filmmaker is seeking an alternative impact, but the problem is that you see it all the time in films that are ostensibly traditional narratives. If you don’t have a proper scene, it just becomes “stuff happening” which is the path to audience disinterest.

What I’ll take away: Woody Allen sure knows how to write.