BBBBB
(out of 5)
One of Woody Allen’s most fascinating achievements as an artist, and he has never made anything like it before or since. Filmed as a documentary (though entirely fictional in content) it deals with the mysterious life of the shadowy title character, a man from the roaring twenties considered to be a chameleon and famous for his ability to blend into any characteristic around him. Mia Farrow appears as the psychiatrist who thoroughly examines Zelig in hypnotherapy in order to unravel the great mystery. The film’s most fascinating quality is the authentic recreation of the period, particularly the grainy black-and-white photography by Gordon Willis that was painstakingly degraded so as to look like it was stock footage abandoned in a vault for decades. Witty and clever, this film stands completely on its own in the master’s canon.
Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions, Orion Pictures
USA, 1983
Directed by Woody Allen
Screenplay by Woody Allen
Cinematography by Gordon Willis
Produced by Robert Greenhut
Music by Dick Hyman
Production Design by Mel Bourne
Costume Design by Santo Loquasto
Film Editing by Susan E. Morse
Academy Awards: 1983
Golden Globe Awards: 1983
