Zelig

A brilliant mockumentary from Mr. Allen, it is the zenith of his satirical comedic career. It is the sort of off-beat filmmaking that he should perhaps consider exploring again these days even if he's not able to replicate the success of this one. The world still thirsts for those.

This film is one of the more successful Allen-Farrow collabs that consists of 12-and-a-third films, and in the subcategory of Mr. Allen's filmography where the two actually had screen time together, seven-and-a-third in my count, this tops the bunch in its tenderness and poignancy. Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors only comes as a close second and third in that distinction. It is worth checking out other works having a darker take on the themes addressed in this film regarding psychiatry, etc., the profound dystopic sci-fi films La Jetee by Chris Marker and its cinematic progeny, Twelve Monkeys by Terry Gilliam.

Exceptional cinematography from Mr. Gordon Willis, inserting those faux-newsreel footage with the real ones are just cunning and way ahead of its time. The soundtrack with those uproarious songs such as "Leonard the Lizard," "Doin' the Chameleon," "Chameleon Days" by Dick Hyman blends in as well and passes of a genuine thing of having made in pre WW-Two.

This film is a convergence of Mr. Allen's brilliance of different skills sets that showcases his mastery of the cinematic medium: directing, acting (the most iconic Woody Allen on display here), and writing.

Only criticism that can be thrown in this film is that it would have been better if it ended at the halfway mark, the point where Zelig mutters that pancakes quote under a hypnotic trance. That definite quote already hit the bull's-eye. The pay-off ended already there, sad to say.

My rating: A-flat.

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.

Woody can be clever. Woody can be funny. And when Woody's clever AND funny, you get "Zelig".

Telling the story of Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen, who else?) who transforms himself chameleon-like into anyone just to get people to like him, he finds himself the object of on-going observation from a kind doctor (Farrow), who eventually falls for him.

But lest you think this is simply a love story, there are also pot-shots at fame, fads, the 1930s (!!), medical conventions, product cash-ins and the joys and pitfalls of celebrity.

Then there's the sheer joy of the technical wizardry that allows Woody's Zelig to stand alongside such figures as Josephine Baker, Brickhouse, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, "Red" Grange, Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lou Gehrig and Fanny Brice. This is the same type of FX visible in "Forrest Gump", and eleven years before the fact! Nice going.

But you haven't lived till you've seen Woody trying to blend in at an Adolph Hitler speech.

There's a lot of slapstick but there's also a lot of great lines ("I have to council a group of chronic masturbators", Zelig complains, "and if I'm late they'll start without me.") Classic.

But at the center of it all is Woody himself, just like his Zelig character, wanting only to be liked, if not loved. He succeeds. Once you see "Zelig", you'll love it.

Eight stars, plus one star more for watching Woody be serenaded by Fanny Brice. He's the cat's pajamas!

Leapin' lizards! This film is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

"Zelig" was a revelation in 1983, an utterly ingenious faux-documentary, without any precedent, at least not on this scale. Hilarious then, it still is today. That quick glimpse you get of the all-Hasidic production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is priceless. It gives renewed meaning to "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Allen's technique is extraordinary. "Zelig" has the best bogus documentary footage quite probably since "Citizen Kane".

As the film urges, everyone should "Do the Chameleon", by seeing "Zelig". Woody Allen creates a trenchant comment on people's desire for conformity: "Everybody, go chameleon." We all tend to do that to some degree, but it's not usually so amusing. Try to blend in with the crowd rushing out to find "Zelig" on video.

It is probably worth noting that a Jewish Nazi is not as ridiculous a stretch as Woody makes it seem. Reinhard Heydrich, the vicious organizer of the Final Solution, fell into that category. The top Nazis were all misfits in one way or another.

My Rating : 9/10

To ME this is the FIRST EVER Mockumentary that I enjoyed and something that absolutely worked with my sensibilities!

Woody Allen is such a genius fellow, love his art and movies. 'Zelig' is supremely engaging, funny and has that old-world charm about it that makes it a classic.

Loved everything about this and thanks Woody for coming through when I was heavily bored with intellectual mumbo-jumbo movies and just needed the right kick in the teeth!