Woody Allen: The Auteur of The Struggling Artist

Paper by Alec Tracthenberg. Viewed on DVD.

Distinguished filmmakers usually range from a population of highly talented individuals who create a unique world in which they themselves could only bring to life. The one of a kind neurotic, unconfident, and flamboyant characteristics from the American film director, Woody Allen are presented in all of his films. Born in Brooklyn, New York on December 1st 1935, Woody Allen was raised into a Jewish family in which comedy was an important part of their culture. Starting to sell one liner jokes to gossip columns and doing stand up, Allen found his niche in making people laugh and telling compelling stories. Woody Allen directed his first film What’s Up, Tiger Lily? in 1966 and from that point on, conceptualized and executed a library of films including his most known Annie Hall, Match Point, and Manhattan. In all of Allen’s films, he has incorporated an auteur approach with his use of themes and styles that make him the unique director that he is. One of Allen’s themes that are consistently in his films is the theme of the struggling artist. The backgrounds of the protagonists, the cinematography and lighting, and the similarities and differences between Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick can all be identified when observing the struggling artist theme in the films Manhattan, Annie Hall, and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask).

In Manhattan, the 1979 film about a struggling television writer who finds himself dating a high-schooler and developing feelings for his best friend’s mistress, Woody Allen explores the theme of the struggling artist using the main protagonist, Isaac. Isaac is a television writer who is fed up with the garbage that he is forced to write for audiences and on top of that lacking in the field of a solid intimate relationship with a woman, around his age. One scene that really captures this is the scene when Isaac is complaining to the television producers who are controlling the cameras on the television show that Isaac is dreading to write for. Isaac confronts them with all of his unhappiness about it and ends the argument by quitting his job. Just as the audience thinks it couldn’t get worse, Isaac continues to struggle between his love for Mary and Tracy. Isaac motivates Tracy to explore the world and take a trip to London for her school and that she shouldn’t settle with him. The internal and external struggle of Isaac Davis could be found in his “plea for personal integrity—but rather by a spontaneous intuition for what the moment demands (Rubin-Dorsky, pp.6)”. In a way I believe Isaac was attempting to synchronize an elaborate plan to win Mary over even though their initial greeting went terribly. They had nothing in common and their indifferences on everything made Isaac sick to his stomach. All of these are examples of Isaac Davis being the struggling artist in one of Allen’s masterpieces.

In Annie Hall, a 1977 film about a New York neurotic comedian named Alvy Singer, who falls in love with a woman named Annie Hall and finds himself, conflicted with relationship problems in the city of Manhattan. Alvy Singer is your perfect example of a struggling artist who finds himself questioning the world around him. Annie Hall “examines and extols this whining comic persona, and the film seems to have come at a time when Allen realized that the best way to examine his own life was to find out why his audience has always found it so funny (Librach, 165)”. Bringing a sense of his own persona into the film, Allen reveals a suffering in Alvy, himself, in finding someone who truly understands him and appreciates his presence. This historical document of romance between Alvy and Annie reveal many examples of times in which Alvy is considered to be struggling. One example of a scene from the movie would be the scene where they are waiting in line at the movie theatre. Alvy can’t stop from listening to the guy going on about his opinions of a Fellini film, waiting behind him. Alvy expresses his discontentment to Annie and then the argument switches to the topic of their sex life. The man behind them stands as the driving force that enacts the unsettlement between Annie and Alvy. This causes Alvy to do a very unconventional move in Hollywood films in which he talks straight to the camera about his problems as if we the audience is partaking in a standup comedy act. Alvy carries many traits of the struggling artist and through that Allen is able to include his own sense of style into the film.

In Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), a 1972 comedy that explores the wonders of sex using a comedic approach in forms of mini skits, Woody Allen truly broadened the spectrum of his characters. The character of the Fool, a medieval entertainer, risks his life by attempting to make love with the Queen. In the medieval time period the fool was considered a comedian who would present his art form to royalty. An example of a scene in which the fool is struggling, is the scene where he comes in to entertain the King and Queen at dinner. When asked to make them laugh, the fool completely fails in receiving any kind of reaction from anybody but blank stares. Nervously laughing at himself, the fool is put into a situation in which he is truly struggling. Later in the skit, the fool gets his hands on a potion that will make the Queen fall for him and he takes it to the castle to give to her. Finally being able to seduce her, the fool encounters the problem of the Queen’s highly secured underwear. Between the intense conflict of knowing what they are trying to achieve inside the Queens room and watching the King get up from his nap and run towards the room is incredibly entertaining. Allen conjures a whacky persona for the fool and puts this artist right in the middle of battle and suffering.

In terms of the cinematography, lighting, or mise-en-scene of all of these films, the theme of the struggling artist can be found through the lens of the camera, the angle of the shot, and the design of the film set. In Manhattan, “it particularly shows how the cinematography underscores the themes of distortion and deception that are endlessly discussed (Gottlieb, 56)”. Allen uses a very bleak and dark lighting to reflect Isaac’s state of mind and position among the many other characters who are also suffering. “The black and white of his film-within- a-film world alone is exchanged for grey-ochre that works in the sepia tone of Woody Allen’s simulated reality, without fitting into it completely (Schwarz, 20)”. The scene where Isaac and Yale are arguing in the classroom, the skeleton stands parallel to Isaac serving as a symbol of distress and death. “As they argue, each cut to Isaac reveals the skeleton of a large ape on a stand behind him; while Isaac himself does not refer to the ape or draw any of the obvious moral analogies until late in his oration, the audience cannot help but beat him to it, since the over-explicit presence of the ape is also being played for incidental laughs (Librach, 180)”. In Annie Hall, the scattered medium and long shots of both Alvy and Annie together paint a picture of it’s own. It represents the physical and mental separation between the lovers and the many trials and tribulations in their relationship. One example of a scene worth noting would be the flashback to Alvy as a child. Alvy recalls the time with his mother where he shares his depression about the universe expanding. The child’s demeanor, the mise-en-scnee, and the lighting are all elements that play a pivotal role in expressing the struggle in Alvy’s confidence. In Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask), simply looking at the Fool’s wardrobe provides the audience with the idea that this is a man who is truly struggling in all areas of his life. The scene where he is getting his limbs cut off, which isn’t shown on screen but created through the imagination, is a perfect example of the struggle of the artist in terms of mise-en-scene, cinematography, and lighting.

When analyzing Woody Allen with the great American film director, Stanley Kubrick, who is known for movies like A Clockwork Orange, The Killing, and, The Shining, there are many similarities and differences in terms of the struggling artist theme. The main characters in Kubrick films tend to revolve around the theme of power and control. For example, in A Clockwork Orange, Alex attempts to control the world around him by leading his group of friends and rebelling against society. In Woody Allen films on the other hand, Allen’s main characters like Isaac Davis in Manhattan, tend to carry weaker traits and are put into depressing situations. This difference is easily identified with understanding both directors’ auteur style relating to themes, cinematography, and mise-en-scene. The similarities between the mastermind filmmakers, Kubrick and Allen can be discovered in both of their visually impressive cinematography and mise-en-scene design. Both directors dress their film sets to create a real authentic world for the narrative along with incorporating wardrobe that describes a backstory to the movie’s characters. Films like Full Metal Jacket and Interiors have noteworthy mise-en-scene characteristics. The lighting and use of certain shots like long takes, extreme close-ups, and point of view shots are also present in both of their films.

The struggling artist is one of the many themes you can find in Woody Allen movies. Whether it’s presented through the character of Alvy Singer in Annie Hall, located in the cinematography in Manhattan, or looking at the differences between Woody Allen and Stanley Kubrick. It’s known that “when an Allen character is in a particularly morose state of mind, he may feel moved to announce that life is meaningless (Lapidos, 2011)”, in the form of the struggling artist. When you look at present day Hollywood directors you will notice that Woody Allen’s style has influenced a great deal of movies and television shows. Shows like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm carry that very neurotic mindset with an artist in distress as the protagonist. The great film auteur Woody Allen has not only provided audiences the novelty of laughter but he’s introduced and opened the world to creative styles and techniques that truly mark him as a unique contributor to the filmmaking industry.

Works Cited

Gottlieb, Sidney. “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock by David Sterritt; The Films of Woody Allen by Sam B. Girgus.” Film Quarterly Vol.47, No.3 (Spring, 1994) : Pp.55-56.
Lapidos, Juliet. I’ve Seen Every Woody Allen Movie. 31 Mar. 2011. 23 Jul. 2013 .

Librach, Ronald S. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Neurotic: Studies in Interior Distancing in the Films of Woody Allen.” The Missouri Review Volume 9, Number 2, 1986: Pp. 165-185.

Rubin-Dorsky, Jeffrey. “Woody Allen After the Fall: Literary Gold from Amoral Alchemy.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Volume 22, Number 1, Fall 2003: Pp. 5-28.

Schwarz, Michael Viktor. “On the Construction of Reality and Imagery in Jan van Eyck and Woody Allen.” Artibus et Historiae Vol. 25, No. 49 (2004) pp.19-31.