Zelig (1983)

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen (written by)

Release Date:

15 July 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.

Plot Keywords:

1920s | Chameleon | Moby Dick | Song | Disappearance

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Leonard Zelig
Mia Farrow	...	Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher
Patrick Horgan	...	The Narrator (voice)
John Buckwalter	...	Dr. Sindell
Marvin Chatinover	...	Glandular Diagnosis Doctor
Stanley Swerdlow	...	Mexican Food Doctor
Paul Nevens	...	Dr. Birsky
Howard Erskine	...	Hypodermic Doctor
George Hamlin	...	Experimental Drugs Doctor
Ralph Bell	...	Other Doctor
Richard Whiting	...	Other Doctor
Will Hussong	...	Other Doctor
Robert Iglesia	...	Man in Barber Chair
Eli Resnick	...	Man in Park
Edward McPhillips	...	Scotsman

Also Known As:

Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder (USA) (working title)
The Cat's Pyjamas (USA) (working title)
Zelig (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Zelig (France) [fr]
Zelig (Argentina) [es]
Zelig (Poland) [pl]
Zelig (Finland) [fi]
Zelig (Greece) [el]
Zelig (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Brazil:Livre | USA:Approved (PCA #27066) | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | France:U | Norway:12 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Alpine, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Orion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In 2007, Italian psychologists discovered a rare form of brain damage which affects its victims much like Zelig's condition (without, of course, the accompanying physical transformations). Researcher Giovannina Conchiglia and associates have proposed the name "Zelig-like Syndrome" for the disorder, because of the parallels to the film.

Quotes:

Zelig's Wife: He married me up at the First Church of Harlem. He told me he was the brother of Duke Ellington.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in El abrazo partido (2004)

Soundtrack:

Five Feet Two, Eyes of Blue

Zelig is a masterpiece

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.