Woody Allen’s masterpiece Annie Hall turns 40 this year, and despite Allen’s reluctance to look back, we were expecting some way to commemorate. Looks like the first will be the Berlin Film Festival, who will be premiering a digitally restored version of the 1977 film.
The not much details on the digital restoration, but it has bumped up the resolution of the film to 4K. It is the first Allen film to be released in Ultra High Definition. The restoration was made with the original negative, and was made in cooperation with Allen and his office.
Annie Hall is, of course, the most acclaimed film by Woody Allen. Released in 1977, it turned Allen from being a comic director to something more deep. Co-starting Diane Keaton, it is the last comedy to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Now that we have a new 4K print, it seems impossible it will only play at one film festival. We will see if Annie Hall in 4K will play the film festival circuit on its 40th anniversary. It seems almost a certainty that a home release of some sort will follow.
It will also be interesting to see if any other materials have been restored for the 40th anniversary. It seems unlikely that those legendary deleted scenes will be released.
The new print joins the classic films being screened at the 67th Berlin Film Festival (aka Berlinale). It runs 9th – 19th February 2017. No exact date for Annie Hall but we will update this article when we find out. More info at the Berlinale website.
https://youtu.be/Jtv0XkGogM8
3 Comments
Nice. This is a transplendant development. Diane Keaton in high definition is always a beautiful thing. For some reason during the Woody sore jaw Shelley Duvall Kafkaesque scene, I find her navel absolutely mesmerizing. It’s absolutely adorable. It gets me every time. This should bode well for a 4K disc release in 2017. Here in the states, Cinemark theaters has a “Classics” Series where they play old movies on Sunday and Wednesday I think. Maybe this will be one of their releases in 2017. I’ll be on the lookout. Sadly, the parking lot across the street from The Standard Hotel on Sunset where Alvie got dumped by Annie and he pulled out and regressed into the bumper cars fiasco from his youth is now a parking lot and retail space. Jeez. Is nothing sacred?
Sandy, in our books, we found the restaurant where Hannah and her sisters argue. That place really should advertise themselves as the best place to have a family dust up!
Agreed!!! The owner of the restaurant in Hannah and Her Sisters should advertise the establishment as the best place to have a family dust up!!! On the menu, instead of ordering a “Blue Plate Special” whoever is on the receiving end of the family fracas should automatically receive a complimentary “Black Eyed Special” — because they are probably getting ready to receive a pop in the chops!!!