Annie Hall (1977)

Alvy Singer: "I feel that life is divided into the horrible and the miserable. . . So you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's very lucky, to be miserable."

Annie Hall: "Alvy, you're incapable of enjoying life, you know that?" 

Two unique qualities of this film stand out right away: the non-linear story telling, and the surreal/sarcastic commentary toward camera throughout the movie.


PLOT:


The time jumps seem random at first, but looking closer they actually have a very specific pattern: starting at the present time/the end, we jump directly to the earliest point: Alvy's childhood, from there we alternate jumping forward and back in time, getting progressively closer to the pivotal event -


1. Present: Alvy speaks to the camera, he was in love with Annie; now they're broken up.
<-- jump back to:
2. Childhood: We see that Alvy's defining characteristics, a pessimistic outlook and a love of women, both began when he was 9.
-->jump forward to:
3. Alvy and Annie mid-relationship, troubled and arguing.
<-- jump back to:
4. Alvy's  first wife: we see how he met her, and their sex life was bad
-->jump forward to:
5. Alvy and Annie early relationship, happy and playful.
<-- jump back to:
6. Annie's first relationships, and Alvy's second wife
-->jump forward to: 
7. Alvy and Annie as they first meet . . .


We can even make a neat chart:

Alvy describes his situation in the opening lines of the movie, raising the obvious question: If he and Annie were in love, why did they break up? What went wrong?

Alvy Singer: "Annie and I broke up and I still can't get my mind around that. You know, I keep sifting the pieces of the relationship through my mind and examining my life and tryin' to figure out where did the screw-up come"

 Jumping back and forth through his memories, Alvy is trying to locate the exact point where all this began . . . he lands on his meeting with Annie - from this point the movie plays out in chronological order, jumping over some sections but no more flashbacks.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

At first I found this a bit annoying, it's jarring, and pulls you out of the story . . .  but I think that's the point. from the beginning Alvy tells you the end result, and it's very clear that we (the audience) are not meant to be experiencing these events "as they are happening", we are instead looking back into Alvy's mind and experiencing his memory of those events.

We are following Alvy's thought process, he's stepping through his whole relationship, trying to make sense of it - and so are we. The difference is that as an audience, we can take a more objective view of the story. By the end of their relationship, it's pretty clear that Alvy continues to sabotage his relationships; he is relentlessly pessimistic, he uses sarcasm to avoid responsibility and commitment, and is unwilling to change or try new things.
   
Alvy however, looking at these same events, comes to a different conclusion; Consistent with his pessimistic outlook, he's willing to believe that the situation is hopeless, he takes no responsibility for his own role in the failed relationship(s), and is still unwilling to believe that changing his behavior would improve his life. The ending is a sad one, as Alvy misses the point entirely and assumes that relationships are crazy, and that's just how life is. 

Alvy Singer:"Well, I guess that's pretty much how I feel about relationships, you know they're totally irrational, and crazy, and absurd and ... but, uh, I guess we keep goin' through it because, uh, most of us need the eggs."