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Zelig

  • 19831983
  • PGPG
  • 1h 19m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
42K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Zelig (1983)
Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the film focuses on Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen), a nondescript man who has the ability to transform his appearance to that of the people who surround him. He is first observed at a party by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who notes that Zelig related to the affluent guests in a refined Boston accent and shared their Republican sympathies, but while in the kitchen with the servants, he adopted a coarser tone and seemed to be more of a Democrat. He soon gains international fame as a "human chameleon".
Play trailer0:47
1 Video
55 Photos
  • Comedy

"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people."Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people."Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.

IMDb RATING
7.7/10
42K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Woody Allen
  • Writer
    • Woody Allen
  • Stars
    • Woody Allen
    • Mia Farrow
    • Patrick Horgan(voice)
Top credits
  • Director
    • Woody Allen
  • Writer
    • Woody Allen
  • Stars
    • Woody Allen
    • Mia Farrow
    • Patrick Horgan(voice)
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 125User reviews
    • 63Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 7 wins & 19 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 0:47
    Official Trailer

    Photos55

    Woody Allen and Calvin Coolidge in Zelig (1983)
    Mia Farrow in Zelig (1983)
    Woody Allen in Zelig (1983)
    Woody Allen in Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)
    Woody Allen in Zelig (1983)
    Zelig (1983)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Woody Allen
    Woody Allen
    • Leonard Zeligas Leonard Zelig
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    • Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcheras Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher
    Patrick Horgan
    Patrick Horgan
    • The Narratoras The Narrator
    • (voice)
    John Buckwalter
    John Buckwalter
    • Dr. Sindellas Dr. Sindell
    Marvin Chatinover
    Marvin Chatinover
    • Glandular Diagnosis Doctoras Glandular Diagnosis Doctor
    Stanley Swerdlow
    • Mexican Food Doctoras Mexican Food Doctor
    Paul Nevens
    • Dr. Birskyas Dr. Birsky
    Howard Erskine
    • Hypodermic Doctoras Hypodermic Doctor
    George Hamlin
    • Experimental Drugs Doctoras Experimental Drugs Doctor
    Ralph Bell
    • Other Doctoras Other Doctor
    Richard Whiting
    • Other Doctoras Other Doctor
    Will Hussung
    Will Hussung
    • Other Doctoras Other Doctor
    • (as Will Hussong)
    Robert Iglesia
    • Man in Barber Chairas Man in Barber Chair
    Eli Resnick
    • Man in Parkas Man in Park
    Edward McPhillips
    • Scotsmanas Scotsman
    Gale Hansen
    • Freshman #1as Freshman #1
    Michael Jeter
    Michael Jeter
    • Freshman #2as Freshman #2
    • (as Michael Jeeter)
    Peter McRobbie
    Peter McRobbie
    • Workers Rally Speakeras Workers Rally Speaker
    • Director
      • Woody Allen
    • Writer
      • Woody Allen
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    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. —Scott Renshaw <as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu>
    • mockumentary
    • celebrity
    • physical transformation
    • 1920s
    • psychiatrist
    • 61 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genre
      • Comedy
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      To create authenticity, the production used actual lenses, cameras and sound equipment from the 1920s, and used the exact same lighting that would have been done. In addition, 'Gordon Willis' took the exposed negatives to the shower, and stomped on them. As a result, even having shot and being acclaimed for The Godfather I & II before, Willis was greeted with his first Academy Award nomination.
    • Goofs
      The speaking person in his 60s in one of the modern interviews in the film is subtitled as "Former SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl". If the interviews were conducted in the early 1980s, the person is evidently too young; the real Pohl was born in June 1892, so he would have been in his late 80s/early 90s at the time - of course if he had not been hanged for war crimes in 1951.
    • Quotes

      Leonard Zelig: I'm 12 years old. I run into a Synagogue. I ask the Rabbi the meaning of life. He tells me the meaning of life... But, he tells it to me in Hebrew. I don't understand Hebrew. Then he wants to charge me six hundred dollars for Hebrew lessons.

    • Connections
      Featured in Scene by Scene: Woody Allen (2000)
    • Soundtracks
      Leonard the Lizard
      Composed by Dick Hyman

      Sung by Bernie Knee, Steve Clayton and Tony Wells

    User reviews125

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Zelig is a masterpiece
    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.
    helpful•91
    14
    • Enrique-Sanchez-56
    • Jul 3, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 25, 1983 (Argentina)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • German
    • Also known as
      • Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder
    • Filming locations
      • New Jersey, USA
    • Production companies
      • Jack Rollins & Charles H. Joffe Productions
      • Orion Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $11,798,616
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $60,119
      • Jul 17, 1983
    • Gross worldwide
      • $11,798,616
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 19 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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