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Zelig (1983) 7.7
"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people. Director:Woody AllenWriter:Woody Allen |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Woody Allen | ... | ||
| Mia Farrow | ... | ||
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Patrick Horgan | ... |
The Narrator
(voice)
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John Buckwalter | ... |
Dr. Sindell
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Marvin Chatinover | ... |
Glandular Diagnosis Doctor
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Stanley Swerdlow | ... |
Mexican Food Doctor
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Paul Nevens | ... |
Dr. Birsky
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Howard Erskine | ... |
Hypodermic Doctor
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George Hamlin | ... |
Experimental Drugs Doctor
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Ralph Bell | ... |
Other Doctor
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Richard Whiting | ... |
Other Doctor
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Will Hussong | ... |
Other Doctor
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Robert Iglesia | ... |
Man in Barber Chair
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Eli Resnick | ... |
Man in Park
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Edward McPhillips | ... |
Scotsman
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others. Written by Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Plot Keywords:
1920s | newsreel | chameleon | man with glasses | written and directed by cast member |Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USARelease Date:
15 July 1983 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder See more »Box Office
Gross:
$11,800,000 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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(1983)
Composed by Dick Hyman
Sung by Rose Marie Jun (as Rosemarie Jun)
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The house in the closing scene is the same house used as the location for A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy. See more »Goofs
Last name of Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld is misspelled (Zeigfeld) on title card for Pathe newsreel. See more »Quotes
Leonard Zelig: But I've never flown before in my life, and it shows exactly what you can do, if you're a total psychotic!See more »
Soundtracks
"Reptile Eyes"(1983)
Composed by Dick Hyman
Sung by Rose Marie Jun (as Rosemarie Jun)
See more »
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.