Zelig
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Movie Reviews of Zelig
Movie Review: No More Pancakes...
Summary: 4 Stars
I really liked this movie. My favorite part is when Zelig (Woody Allen), in a hypnotic state just insults Mia Farrow (and her cooking...those pancakes really must have traumatized poor Zelig). A lot of the historical aspects were just lost on me, because I have no memory for history. But Woody was hilarious. He's great at improvising and you can always tell when he's just ad-libbing some jokes. I liked the documentary style and all of the interviewees were really believable and really funny. And how crazily funny was that Chameleon dance? My only complaint is I would have LOVED to see more of Eudora's mother; I died laughing every time she set that reporter straight. Everyone in this movie was really great and this was Woody & Mia at their best together. Now, I feel compeled to finally read (and actually finish) Moby Dick.Movie Review: If one seeks to be well-liked, one may sacrifice their soul.
Summary: 4 Stars
How far would you go towards being well liked? Would you sacrifice your own identity? This is a deeply philosophical film, one in which it questions certain fundamental assumptions we make on a daily basis. When we're with others, we can choose to be quite similar to the person we're speaking with, or we can choose the path of self-reliance, and be our own man. In this bitter and ironic film, Woody Allen asks us the question -- what is our choice? Individualism or collectivism? To be a yes man is to give away one's identity -- with no apparent benefits.Movie Review: The unsaid joke(s)
Summary: 4 Stars
What I love most about this movie are the jokes (sight gags, situations, etc) that are alluded to but remain unsaid or unseen. The way that they are simply spoken about by the announcer of this "documentary" in a straight manner invokes a scene that could have been shot and included, but is so much funnier in your mind. (My review lacks eloquence, but I think the effect of Allen's interesting presentation of the comedy must be seen. It had me laughing out loud.)Movie Review: offbeat and funny
Summary: 4 Stars
"Zelig" is one of the lesser seen movies of Woody Allen. His wit shines throughout. If you have a place in your heart for nostalgia and laugh out loud funny, get this movie.Movie Review: The desire to fit in
Summary: 3 Stars
Zelig, a short mockumentary, is perhaps one of Allen's lesser known movies. It is something of a novelty piece, a diversion from his major efforts. It is a one trick movie, though the conceit is fantastic: the idea of a man who changes his appearance, as well as his personna, to fit in with the varying company he finds himself in. Shot in grainy mock 1920s film with subtle and wickedly inventive special prosthetic effects, Leonard Zelig is a man who wants to fit in. He is noticed by Scott Fitzgerald at a house party, one moment hobnobbing with the social elite, the next a scruffy worker 'saying he was a democrat' amongst the serving staff. Amongst negroes - he is one! Obese people - he piles on the pounds accordingly. Zelig's chameleon ability to change his appearance to fit in earns him national fame as 'the lizard man', with an accompanying 1920s Charlestonesque dance, and a series of songs to celebrate his talent. Of course, freaks who find fame often pay a personal price, and Zelig becomes withdrawn and alienated. All he wanted to do was fit in, but he finds himself unloved and withdrawn from society.
The beautiful psychiatrist, Eudora Flether (Mia Farrow) takes up Zelig's case, and sees an opportunity to make her name by investigating this phenomenon, and attempting to cure him Initially she is baffled by Zelig, but by turning the tables on him: 'I'm not really a doctor, I just pretend to be one because my friends are', she unravells the deception at the heart of Zelig's personality disorder, destabilising his mental state. Improbably (the second half of the movie is one improbable farce after another) the pair fall in love. Zelig disappears, and Fletcher searches the world to find him. She catches him, where? At a Nazi rally. Their eyes meet, interrupting Hitler 'telling a good joke about Poland' and their harebrained flight (literally) back to America ensues.
The film is most noteworthy for its original premise and amusing prosthetic special effects. The level of humour is about a b-minus by Allen's standards, though it was fun to see the likes of Saul Bellow and Susan Sontag commenting on Zelig's life as if it were a real intellectual documentary.
The idea of the social chameleon is an interesing one to investigate. Was Allen commenting on the Jewish immigrant experience in America? The need to assimilate? or maybe the multi faceted nature of 20th Century society, with its powerful iconography.
A simple film, that leaves much to ponder.