Zelig

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Brad S. R Quite possibly Woody Allen's masterpiece. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/05/25 Full Review Alec B Easily one of Allen's best movies. The faux documentary format is practically seamless especially with the use of cameras from the 1920s. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/24 Full Review Audience Member Woody Allen makes a fascinating mockumentary about him playing someone iconic filmed and shot with artificial black-and-white footage and scripted interviews They called him a phenomenon of the 1920s A man who could become anyone he met during the Jazz Age Some found him fascinating others a triple threat affecting other races and worker's and religious communities Leon Zelig had a talent for mimicry ingratiating himself with every person from society No one could find him but he catches the eye of Eudora Fletcher, a psychiatrist believing he needs serious cognitive analysis Their relationship evolves outside of medical research Zelig's psychological condition might be the source of his odd behavior This is one of the shortest works by the talented director Yet it's still amusing, thought-provoking about the work of psychiatry Quite the mediation on American society and individuality Several people exist self effacing themselves much like Allen as this faux sensation Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/23 Full Review Taylor L "He was, of course, very amusing. But at the same time touched a nerve in people, perhaps in a way that they would prefer not to be touched." Though he wrote it for one of his characters, that's an oddly apt description of Woody Allen himself. Allen discards most of the neurotic intellectual persona that he used to such acclaim on his other work in order to create one of the most successful faux-documentaries that had been made to date. Using bluescreen technology, Allen and longtime cinematography collaborator Gordon Willis got very creative with the techniques that could convincingly edit old newsreel footage in the pre-digital era. With an eye towards lampooning the dry nature and even the practical design of traditional documentaries, the script gives plenty of short-form comedy to get the quick laughs. But as usual, there's also some creative subtext mixed in, as Zelig serves as a way for Allen to explore his own nervousness and social coping mechanisms, just taken to the extreme. Zelig is definitely dated on the race jokes, which might make some people turn it off early, but for the world before Christopher Guest and This is Spinal Tap, the film is groundbreaking in the development of mockumentaries. Not as emotionally involving or consistent as some of Allen's other comedies, but definitely a creative departure featuring a lot of solid gags. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 12/04/22 Full Review Audience Member Yes, a masterpiece. The entire premise of the movie is wildly original, even coming from WOODY ALLEN who continually cranks out one interesting film after another to this day. The label of mock-umentary just doesn't do justice to the uniqueness of this film. ALLEN and his amazingly talented staff created a movie that no other director could have made nor even thought of doing. Some of the humor is rather modern like the forward references to self-gratification during the psychiatrist scenes with MIA FARROW. But mostly, it's filled with humor from another time and place which we'll never return. To me, one of the wonderful aspects of this is the period music dispersed throughout with joyful admiration. We are lucky that ALLEN has continued to use music from the early part of the 20th century. I think no other director has so consistently had such a reverence for this wonderful music. Perhaps no other director has such a strong knowledge of it either. That WOODY ALLEN normally portrays himself as a nebbishy character in many of his own movies works so well in this movie. A more aggressive person who becomes a chameleon would not have worked as well at all. I am glad that MIA FARROW was still associated with him when he made this film, I think no other modern actress could have pulled this off as well as she did. She has that timeless look that is appealing but has a far-off feeling. The flavor of the period-looking cinematography and photography is part of the genius of the implementation here. It is so right on the money. The flickering of projectors, the out-of-focus look to so man scenes shot today meld amazingly well with the contrived shots. THINK ABOUT THIS - this is years before CGI took over Hollywood...years before FORREST GUMP and countless of other knock-offs have proliferated in movies. Gee whiz, there is CGI in so many movies these days. I watched a DVD of a recent movie recently which used special effects in the most unexpected, unlikely and unnecessary parts you'd be surprised. Yes, ZELIG is a masterpiece and I only feel sorry for those who cannot see the astounding piece of cinema this is. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/02/22 Full Review peter w Zelig is a brilliant look at identity in a time of mass media, with particular resonance to actors. On the musical side, Bruce Cockburn expresses it equally well in "Pacing the Cage" "I've proven who I am so many times The magnetic strip's worn thin And each time I was someone else And everyone was taken in." Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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