Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Between two Thanksgivings, Hannah's husband falls in love with her sister Lee, while her hypochondriac ex-husband rekindles his relationship with her sister Holly.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Barbara Hershey, Michael Caine, Mia Farrow

Won 3 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barbara Hershey	...	Lee
Carrie Fisher	...	April
Michael Caine	...	Elliot
Mia Farrow	...	Hannah
Dianne Wiest	...	Holly
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Norma
Lloyd Nolan	...	Evan
Max von Sydow	...	Frederick (as Max Von Sydow)
Woody Allen	...	Mickey
Lewis Black	...	Paul
Julia Louis-Dreyfus	...	Mary
Christian Clemenson	...	Larry
Julie Kavner	...	Gail
J.T. Walsh	...	Ed Smythe
John Turturro	...	Writer

Storyline

During a Thanksgiving Day party we make aquaintance with a numerous and problematic family. The leading characters are three sisters: Lee, the woman of Frederick, an old misanthrope painter; Holly, who dreams of becoming a writer, or an actress, or who knows who...; Hannah, famous actress, beautiful, intelligent, good mother, good wife, good sister, in short perfect, the pivot of the family. The balance begins to break up when Hannah's husband, Elliot, falls in love with Lee, who leaves Frederick. Holly goes through a deep crisis and meets Mickey, the former husband of Hannah, a hipocondriac TV producer. The affairs evolve and at the last Thanksgiving ...

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Plot Keywords:

thanksgiving | actress | painter | hypochondriac | writer | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hannah y sus hermanas

Filming Locations:

5th Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,400,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$40,084,041 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Orion Pictures Corporation, Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Maureen O'Sullivan plays the mother of her real-life daughter, Mia Farrow.

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Goofs

Elliot buys Lee e.e. cummings's "Complete Poems 1913-1962." The poem "somewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond" is on page 366, not page 112.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Elliot: God, she's beautiful. She's got the prettiest eyes. She looks so sexy in that sweater. I just want to be alone with her and hold her and kiss her and tell her how much I love her and take care of her. Stop it you idiot, she's your wife's sister. But I can't help it. I'm consumed by her. It's been months now. I dream about her, I - I - I think about her at the office. Oh Lee, what am I gonna do? I hear myself moaning over you and it's disgusting. Before, when she squeezed past me at...

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Connections

Features Manon Lescaut (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Where Or When"
by Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart

User Reviews

Another Impressive Winner From Woody Allen.

Arguably Woody Allen's best production with the exception of "Annie Hall". The film follows three sisters (Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey and Oscar-winner Dianne Wiest) through their careers and their relationships. Farrow is the backbone that keeps everything together. However, husband Michael Caine (Oscar-winning) has his eye of Hershey and something might come of his crush. Max Von Sydow is seeing Hershey, but he may not be enough to curve her lust. Wiest seems to be the odd one out as she struggles with everything, thinking of herself as second-rate to sister Farrow. You know she might fit in well with Farrow's ex-husband (the priceless Allen). A wild film of vivid characters that entertains to the paramount. Allen received an Oscar for his screenplay and was nominated yet again for his dead-on direction. Not a perfect film, but Allen's amazing story-telling and his superb creation of memorable characters and sequences make "Hannah and Her Sisters" one of the better films of the 1980s. 4.5 out of 5 stars.