The Woody Allen movie that Quentin Tarantino considers “perfect”
The iconic American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino may be a passionate cinema lover, but this doesn’t mean he’s an easy nut to crack. Sure, he loves movies from the likes of Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese and Takashi Miike, but he’s been pretty critical of the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and François Truffaut, so when he has the audacity to name just seven movies “perfect”, you better sit up and listen.
It was during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel back in 2022 that Tarantino addressed the seven movies he called “perfect”, claiming “there’s not many of them”. Detailing further, he added: “That just bemoans the fact that the film art form is hard. Look, when you say perfect movies, you’re talking about any individual person’s aesthetic, but even trying to account for all aesthetics, the perfect movie kind of crosses all aesthetics to one degree or another. Might not be your cup of tea, but there’s nothing you can say to bring it down”.
On his definitive list are such classic flicks as Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jaws, Mel Brooks’ comedy Young Frankenstein, and Tobe Hooper’s terrifying horror The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Perhaps the only surprise of the seven is the 1969 Sam Peckinpah western The Wild Bunch, starring William Holden, with the two-time Oscar nominee lacking the historic weight of the other choices on the list.
Of the seven, Tarantino also made room for a Woody Allen movie, choosing the director’s 1977 ‘Best Picture’ winner, Annie Hall.
Telling the story of Alvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian who reflects on his lost love with a nightclub singer, Annie Hall is a beloved romantic comedy that led Allen to receive five Academy Award nominations. As well as winning ‘Best Picture’, the movie also took home Oscars for ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Leading Actress’ for Diane Keaton.
Although Tarantino might love the film, Allen himself isn’t too keen on the movie, once stating: “When Annie Hall started out, that film was not supposed to be what I wound up with. The film was supposed to be what happens in a guy’s mind. Nobody understood anything that went on. The relationship between myself and Diane Keaton was all anyone cared about. That was not what I cared about. In the end, I had to reduce the film to just me and Diane Keaton, and that relationship, so I was quite disappointed in that movie”.
Continuing, he added: “For some reason [Annie Hall] is very likeable. I’ve made better films than that. Match Point is a better film, Purple Rose of Cairo is a better film, the French one – Midnight in Paris – is a better film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona is as good. I mean, I’ve made films that were as good, but for some reason, that’s got some charismatic, inexplicable hold on people. That and Manhattan too”.
Take a look at the trailer for Allen’s Annie Hall below.
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