Home \ Signature Roles \ Annie Hall (1977) — Diane Keaton
DIANE KEATON · 1977 · SIGNATURE ROLES
Annie Hall is a singer from Chippewa Falls who moves to New York, falls for Alvy Singer, and leaves him — and Diane Keaton plays her as the most original character in 1970s American film.
Annie Hall is a singer from Chippewa Falls who moves to New York, falls for Alvy Singer, and leaves him — and Diane Keaton plays her as the most original character in 1970s American film. Annie’s wardrobe (vests, ties, wide trousers, hats) became a fashion movement; her way of speaking — the “la-di-da” laugh, the sentences that trail off and then find their point — became a way a generation of women recognized themselves.
Keaton won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the film won Best Picture, but the performance’s real achievement is its balance: Annie is funny and sad, confident and insecure, and her decision to leave Alvy is played not as cruelty but as growth. She is not a muse. She is a person, and the film knows it.
