What filmmaking techniques does Hannah and Her Sisters use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986): Circular Structure, Chapter Title Cards, Romantic Triangle Geometry and Film Within a Film.

Who directed Hannah and Her Sisters?

Woody Allen directed Hannah and Her Sisters, released in 1986. CineCode also covers Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), Annie Hall (1977).

What films are similar to Hannah and Her Sisters?

Films that share techniques with Hannah and Her Sisters include La La Land (2016), Past Lives (2023), Take This Waltz (2011), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

Comedy · Drama · Romance

Hannah and Her Sisters

Woody Allen, 1986

Over 2 years and 3 family Thanksgiving dinners, a New York family of 3 sisters falls into affairs, career crises and a hypochondriac's search for meaning. It's worth watching as a lesson in how to juggle many storylines and still land every one of them.

2 Narrative 1 Editing 1 Cinematography

At a glance

Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 comedy, drama and romance film directed by Woody Allen. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 editing and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, La La Land uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Circular Structure

Ending the film where it started, or with a scene that echoes the opening. The repeat shows what has changed, or suggests the cycle will keep going.

How this film uses it

The film begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Hannah and Elliot. The first one sets up who wants whom. At the second, Lee ends her affair with Elliot, and by the last one he and Hannah have reconciled. The echo shows you how much changed.

Where to see it

The 3 Thanksgiving dinners. Each one sits against the others and shows how the family has moved.

Editing

Chapter Title Cards

Dividing the film into named chapters with title cards on screen. Each title tells you what the next section will focus on and shapes how you read it.

How this film uses it

Allen breaks the film into chapters with title cards. Each one signals a shift in focus, like the sections of a novel. It helps you follow a large cast. The film is also meant to feel literary.

Where to see it

The title cards. Title cards between sections announce each new stretch of the story.

Narrative

Romantic Triangle Geometry

Building a love story around 3 people, where each pair has its own relationship and the third person always gets in the way. Your sympathy shifts because each of them has a fair claim.

How this film uses it

Elliot is married to Hannah and becomes infatuated with her sister Lee, then begins an affair with her. Each pair has its own history. You feel for all 3 because each has a fair claim.

Where to see it

Elliot and Lee. His infatuation turns into an affair, and Lee later ends it.

Cinematography

Film Within a Film

Showing a movie that the characters watch in a theater, as part of the story. The 2 films comment on each other, and the line between them can blur.

How this film uses it

Mickey, Hannah's hypochondriac ex-husband, has an existential crisis after a clean medical report. By chance he sits through a screening of Duck Soup. Seeing the Marx Brothers makes him laugh and finds him a reason to carry on. The film inside the film does what his thinking could not.

Where to see it

The Duck Soup screening. Mickey watches the Marx Brothers on screen and starts to find some meaning.

Questions

Hannah and Her Sisters: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Hannah and Her Sisters use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986): Circular Structure, Chapter Title Cards, Romantic Triangle Geometry and Film Within a Film.
Who directed Hannah and Her Sisters?: Woody Allen directed Hannah and Her Sisters, released in 1986. CineCode also covers Take the Money and Run (1969), Bananas (1971), Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask (1972), Sleeper (1973), Love and Death (1975), Annie Hall (1977).
What films are similar to Hannah and Her Sisters?: Films that share techniques with Hannah and Her Sisters include La La Land (2016), Past Lives (2023), Take This Waltz (2011), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004).

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