Hannah and Her Sisters
That Chekhovian title may have promised Woody Allen at his most pretentious, but this 1985 roundelay became his biggest ever box-office hit. The film shuffles interconnecting storylines concerning three Manhattan sisters: the warm, well-meaning Hannah is married to the bumbling Elliot, who is in turn attracted to her sister, Lee. As an affair begins between the two, Lee’s own relationship with the tormented artist Frederick comes under strain, and light is brought to an otherwise dark canvas by Hannah’s ex-husband, fussbudget TV producer Mickey, who becomes involved with Hannah's other sister, the jittery Holly. The film, with its chapter headings, aspires to a novelistic structure, each part favouring a different character or storyline. And the performances are uniformly subtle, especially from Michael Caine (who won the Oscar for best supporting actor) and the underrated Mia Farrow, who was then an allen regular as well as his off-screen partner. (Ryan Gilbey)
- Barbara Hershey - Lee
- Carrie Fisher - April
- Michael Caine - Elliot
- Mia Farrow - Hannah
- Dianne Wiest - Holly
- Maureen o’Sullivan - Norma
- Max von Sydow - Frederick
- Woody Allen - Mickey
- Woody Allen
- Carlo Di Palma
- Tod Maitland
- Susan E. Morse
- Stuart Wurtzel
- Jeffrey Kurlan