Jewishly Universal - Woody Allen's Film-Persona, its Jewish Roots and Universal Appeal, with references to Annie Hall and Manhattan (ePub)

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0 (B), Humboldt-University of Berlin (Instituet für Sociology), language: English, abstract: Woody Allen, known as the "Intellectual" among American filmmakers, is
one of the most productive Jewish artists of our time. Never limiting himself
on just one genre, he has entertained audiences with humorous one-liners,
stand-up routines, comic prose, plays, screenplays, acting roles, and film
direction for more than half a decade. His self-mocking style, frequent triple
involvement (writer, director, actor) in his films and casting of his real life
lovers (e.g. Diane Keaton) as his character's film lovers, have led to a
diffusion of Allen the private person, Allen the public person and the so
called "Allen persona", a type also known as Stadtneurotiker.
Allen, born Allan Stewart Konigsberg, has often denied (in
interviews) that Jewishness plays a major role in his work, other than just
simply being a part of himself. "It's not on my mind; it's not part of my
artistic consciousness. Of course, any character I play would be Jewish, just
because I'm Jewish."1 This claimed disinterest and his often negative and
critical depiction of Jewish characters and habits has led to him being
labeled as a self-hating Jew. Nevertheless, many critics argue that the Allen
film-persona and Allen's humor have their roots in an old Jewish literary
and comedic tradition and the central concept of the schlemiel as hero,
which he has adapted to his individual circumstances - late Twentieth
century, New York, English etc. - and successfully transferred to the film
medium.
Although, as already mentioned, Woody Allen explores very
different genres, one major characteristic of his work is "the persistence of
the character whose role Woody Allen performed himself most of the time
but had sometimes interpreted by other actors: his persona."2 [...]
1 Allen as quoted by Marie-Phoenix Rivet, "Woody Allen: The Relationship Between the
Persona and the Author" in King, ed. Woody Allen. A Casebook, p. 27
2 Rivet, p. 23