At first glance, this article appears to be a feminist piece about the representation of women when the narratives of women are told by men.  It is ironic and surprising that the author, Christopher J. Knight, is in fact a man and not a woman.  Knight asserts that representation in any form is inherently biased and subjective.  In addition, Knight explores what happens when, “the narrative that goes by the name of ‘women’ is told largely by men,” which he argues was a common happening until recently.  He quotes Laura Mulvey’s famous response to this question as fact.  Mulvey states, “the woman comes to stand as a ‘signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live out his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command, by imposing on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as a bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning.”  At this point in the article, Knight takes an unexpected turn.  One would have expected him to continue to argue that there exists a male-dominated society in which the tendency for men to create and communicate narratives about women constructs women in a male-oriented frame.  Instead, Knight chooses to abandon that argument and reassert the purpose of his article, which is to look at Woody Allen’s Annie Hall in the context of such a framework.  Knight states that he wishes to “address the film in terms of the subtle and not so subtle ways that men impose meaning upon women.”  Despite the obvious element that since Woody Allen wrote and directed the film, the life and image of Annie Hall will inevitably have a man imposing meaning upon a woman, Knight contends that Annie Hall manages to resist this imposition.  Alvy Singer is the one who introduces and tells the viewer Annie’s story, and therefore everything that we know about Annie is told from Alvy’s point of view.  Knight argues, however, that the nature of the narrative and Alvy’s character allows the viewer to “accept Alvy’s representation as less perspectival than normative.”  This article provides a unique critical assessment of the film and, while it is somewhat narrow in scope, it provides insight into Woody Allen’s motivations as a narrator and the relationship between Alvy and Annie.   

           Douglas Brode’s updated edition of Woody Allen: his films & career begins with a concise “interpretation of Woody Allen” and then chronicles his career one film at a time from What’s New, Pussycat (1965) to Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).  Brode does not present much analysis or opinion in his description of the different films, but manages to succinctly offer an inclusive recount of the development of each film as well as a summary, though somewhat superficial.  He provides an extended cast and credit list for each film and specifically addresses the roles that many of the key players perform in the motivation and creation of each film.  As per the description of Annie Hall, the text is significantly enhanced by the inclusion of incredibly evocative and telling still photographs from the film.  The description itself addresses the renaming of the film to Annie Hall after United Artists refused to let Woody Allen use his original title of Anhedonia.  Brode also confronts the issue of feminism and the message that Woody Allen is trying to convey about the role of women in relationships through his depiction of the relationship between Annie Hall and Alvy Singer.  Alvy’s narcissistic tendencies and the allegation that Annie Hall glorifies and promotes a narcissistic culture are noted in this section, but never analyzed.  The section on Annie Hall establishes the functionof this particular film within the framework of Allen’s other films.  Brode looks at how Allen’s earlier films such as What’s Up, Tiger Lily (1966), Take the Money and Run (1969), and Bananas (1971) influenced Annie Hall.  Many features of these earlier films can be seen in Annie Hall, but conversely, Allen makes significant strides between these earlier films and Annie Hall, and therefore the film marks major progress in both Allen’s narrative and cinematic form.  Brode also reveals the way in which Allen uses inspiration from Annie Hall in many of his later films.