"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.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 19 nominations total
Patrick Horgan
- The Narrator
- (voice)
Will Hussung
- Other Doctor
- (as Will Hussong)
Michael Jeter
- Freshman #2
- (as Michael Jeeter)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTo create authenticity, the production used actual lenses, cameras, and sound equipment from the 1920s and used the 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 (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) before, Willis was greeted with his first Academy Award nomination.
- GoofsThe speaking person in his 60s in one of the modern interviews 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... 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Scene by Scene: Woody Allen (2000)
Featured review
A brilliant mockumentary from Mr. Allen, it is the zenith of his satirical comedic career. It is the sort of off-beat filmmaking that he should perhaps consider exploring again these days even if he's not able to replicate the success of this one. The world still thirsts for those.
This film is one of the more successful Allen-Farrow collabs that consists of 12-and-a-third films, and in the subcategory of Mr. Allen's filmography where the two actually had screen time together, seven-and-a-third in my count, this tops the bunch in its tenderness and poignancy. Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors only comes as a close second and third in that distinction. It is worth checking out other works having a darker take on the themes addressed in this film regarding psychiatry, etc., the profound dystopic sci-fi films La Jetee by Chris Marker and its cinematic progeny, Twelve Monkeys by Terry Gilliam.
Exceptional cinematography from Mr. Gordon Willis, inserting those faux-newsreel footage with the real ones are just cunning and way ahead of its time. The soundtrack with those uproarious songs such as "Leonard the Lizard," "Doin' the Chameleon," "Chameleon Days" by Dick Hyman blends in as well and passes of a genuine thing of having made in pre WW-Two.
This film is a convergence of Mr. Allen's brilliance of different skills sets that showcases his mastery of the cinematic medium: directing, acting (the most iconic Woody Allen on display here), and writing.
Only criticism that can be thrown in this film is that it would have been better if it ended at the halfway mark, the point where Zelig mutters that pancakes quote under a hypnotic trance. That definite quote already hit the bull's-eye. The pay-off ended already there, sad to say.
My rating: A-flat.
This film is one of the more successful Allen-Farrow collabs that consists of 12-and-a-third films, and in the subcategory of Mr. Allen's filmography where the two actually had screen time together, seven-and-a-third in my count, this tops the bunch in its tenderness and poignancy. Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors only comes as a close second and third in that distinction. It is worth checking out other works having a darker take on the themes addressed in this film regarding psychiatry, etc., the profound dystopic sci-fi films La Jetee by Chris Marker and its cinematic progeny, Twelve Monkeys by Terry Gilliam.
Exceptional cinematography from Mr. Gordon Willis, inserting those faux-newsreel footage with the real ones are just cunning and way ahead of its time. The soundtrack with those uproarious songs such as "Leonard the Lizard," "Doin' the Chameleon," "Chameleon Days" by Dick Hyman blends in as well and passes of a genuine thing of having made in pre WW-Two.
This film is a convergence of Mr. Allen's brilliance of different skills sets that showcases his mastery of the cinematic medium: directing, acting (the most iconic Woody Allen on display here), and writing.
Only criticism that can be thrown in this film is that it would have been better if it ended at the halfway mark, the point where Zelig mutters that pancakes quote under a hypnotic trance. That definite quote already hit the bull's-eye. The pay-off ended already there, sad to say.
My rating: A-flat.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $11,798,616
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $60,119
- Jul 17, 1983
- Gross worldwide
- $11,798,616
- Runtime1 hour 19 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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