Annie Hall Opening Sequence

Annie Hall’s opening sequence concludes after two more scenes, one of which takes viewers closer to present-day and another which showcases his mother’s perception of Alvy. First, Alvy explains in a voiceover how he lost track of most of his schoolmates. The voiceover is played over a shot of a TV screen that displays adult Alvy on a late-night show. This is the first concrete revelation of Alvy’s comedic profession. The shot also shows viewers where Alvy is in relation to his classmates. In the classroom, young Alvy asked his former classmates to tell the folks where they are today. One of boys, as an average-looking toddler, said that he used to be a heroin addict and is now addicted to methadone. It is never proven that these were Alvy’s classmates’ definitive futures: these could just be Alvy’s projections. His classmates “reveal” their futures by looking directly into the camera, making the revelations again seem like confessions. The direct cut from this to Alvy speaking on TV juxtaposes their futures with his success. The

In the scene, Alvy’s mother takes on the role of the confessor. It centralizes Mrs. Singer in order to have her express her introspective processes. Much like Alvy in the beginning, Mrs. Singer looks directly at the camera and states her concerns, but about him. While this comes off as confessionary, she is not confiding in the viewer. Instead, Mrs. Singer addresses present-day Alvy by saying, “You always only saw the worst in people. You never could get along with anyone in school. You were always out of step with the world. Even when you got famous, you still mistrusted the world.” The framing suggests that, while Mrs. Singer expresses contempt, the viewer and Alvy are the direct receivers of her scorning. The scene is still confessional, but the role of the confidant is not only adult Alvy, but also the