my favorite movie of 1977:

(1) Annie Hall

(2) A Special Day

favorite of 1977:

Annie Hall

(Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Carol Kane, Tony Roberts, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Christopher Walken, Paul Simon. Directed by Allen.)

There’s so much to say about Annie Hall’s innovative techniques (subtitles of the two main characters’ thoughts when they’re getting to know each other, split screens to show how they live in different worlds when they’re not around each other, animation) … playing with chronology, the fourth wall, and other conventions … wittily insightful dialogue … understated but affecting performances by Diane Keaton and Woody Allen … and one great line by a young Jeff Goldblum. For now, I’ll just say that I “lurve” this movie — I “luff” it — it’s “too wonderful for words.”

I thought of that old joke. You know, this guy goes to his psychiatrist and says, “Doc, my brother’s crazy — he thinks he’s a chicken!” And the doctor says, “Well, why don’t you turn him in?” The guy says, “I would, but I need the eggs.” Well, I guess that’s … how I feel about relationships. You know, they’re totally irrational and crazy and absurd. But I guess we keep going through it because most of us … need the eggs.

Stream Annie Hall on Max (leaving after January 2024) or these sites.

2nd favorite of 1977:

A Special Day

(Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni. Directed by Ettore Scola.)

Rome, 1938. Everyone’s heading out to see Hitler’s state visit with Mussolini, but two neighbors in the same housing complex stay behind. One is a woman (Sophia Loren) stuck in a loveless marriage, who’s planning to have a seventh child in order to get benefits the Italian government is offering as a way to grow the population. So a whole person will come into existence to serve the state’s goals. The other is a man (Marcello Mastroianni) who’s ostracized for being gay and “subversive,” meaning opposed to fascism.

For this brief moment on this day, these two people, both quietly oppressed, will try to find something meaningful in each other … while we hear propaganda music from the state visit blaring in the background. The bold choice to use this incessant, insipid music, instead of a more conventional dramatic soundtrack, is a constant reminder that their society has turned into an echo chamber, and enforced conformity is in the air.

The action on screen in A Special Day is minimal. What you feel by the end might not be.

Stream A Special Day on the Criterion Channel (try a free trial if you don’t subscribe) or these sites.

Click here for the full list of my favorite movie(s) of each year from 1920 to 2020.