Woody Allen has been called the greatest comedic filmmaker of the 1970s and 1980s. The most original and brilliant screen conic since Charlie Chaplin, Allen has achieved success and notoriety in a relatively short period of time (Sinyard 8). Film critics and film buffs have tracked his growth as a writer, actor, and director and have seen him become more proficient and clever with the medium while constantly changing and surprising them with a variety of stories. The purpose of this research will be to compare two of his 1970 films, Bananas, 1971, and the Academy Award-winner Annie Hall, 1977. The comparison will center on the main characters, their neuroses, relationships and sexual attitudes and actions. In undertaking this analysis, however, a look at Woody Allen himself, his background and point of view, are necessary for understanding his films. In addition, a look at Allen's other filmmaking as relates to both Bananas and Annie Hall and his developing sophistication and style will be included.
Born Allen Stewart Konigsberg in Brooklyn, New York, in 1935, into a Jewish family, Allen didn't have it easy growing up. He was short with red hair and a big nose, but he was also a fighter who loved baseball and basketball. He now jokes, "When I vas playing baseball, I could run real fast. But I had a conscience. I used to steal second base and then feel so ashamed I'd run back to first" (Zolotow 96).
Allen first fell in love with comedy when he saw Bob Hope in The Road to Morocco (Sinyard 8). Encouraged by his teachers, he began to send jokes to columnist Earl Wilson and Walter Winchell and soon was working after school as a gag writer for two dollars an hour (Zolotow 96). Able to write up to fifty good jokes in two hours, Allen also began to establish himself as somewhat of an eccentric for he refused to wear a suit when at work. And, though many of his early jokes were not really that funny, to those who have watc...