Such a frustrating disappointment

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

A brilliant mockumentary from Mr. Allen, it is the zenith of his satirical comedic career. It is the sort of off-beat filmmaking that he should perhaps consider exploring again these days even if he's not able to replicate the success of this one. The world still thirsts for those. This film is one of the more successful Allen-Farrow collabs that consists of 12-and-a-third films, and in the subcategory of Mr. Allen's filmography where the two actually had screen time together, seven-and-a-third in my count, this tops the bunch in its tenderness and poignancy. Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors only comes as a close second and third in that distinction. It is worth checking out other works having a darker take on the themes addressed in this film regarding psychiatry, etc., the profound dystopic sci-fi films La Jetee by Chris Marker and its cinematic progeny, Twelve Monkeys by Terry Gilliam.Exceptional cinematography from Mr. Gordon Willis, inserting those faux-newsreel footage with the real ones are just cunning and way ahead of its time. The soundtrack with those uproarious songs such as "Leonard the Lizard," "Doin' the Chameleon," "Chameleon Days" by Dick Hyman blends in as well and passes of a genuine thing of having made in pre WW-Two.This film is a convergence of Mr. Allen's brilliance of different skills sets that showcases his mastery of the cinematic medium: directing, acting (the most iconic Woody Allen on display here), and writing.Only criticism that can be thrown in this film is that it would have been better if it ended at the halfway mark, the point where Zelig mutters that pancakes quote under a hypnotic trance. That definite quote already hit the bull's-eye. The pay-off ended already there, sad to say.My rating: A-flat.

During the 20's, Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen) becomes a popular sensation. He's an unassuming person who seems to fit into any situation. He is taken to a mental hospital where he's misdiagnosed. Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow) is more compelled by the new patient and diagnose him as a "human chameleon". She treats him as his fame grows. Then he disappears and resurfaces in Nazi pre-war Germany.I don't get it. It's definitely not funny to me. Woody Allen creates a faux documentary using the old fashion style. It's an intriguing idea but with no voice, Zelig is a mystery. He is not compelling. I can't get a handle on the character. This could be an intriguing drama but there is not a single laugh or even a single smirk.

Imagine watching a badly made, dated documentary about a historical figure with no personality. Now imagine that this documentary isn't even real - the people and events you're seeing are all made-up. This begs the question: why? Oh, it's meant to be funny. However, Zelig is very immature and stupid and works far better as a depressing waste of time than as a comedy. It is full of predictable set-ups and cheap jokes.Woody Allen is a terrible actor. He is always the same in everything he does. He isn't naturally funny. Perhaps he's talented as a director or writer, but not as a performer. Nevertheless, Zelig confidently invests almost all of its focus into Woody's character with little else going on. There is no social commentary, no relevance to real world events, no deeper message. Just an indulgent mess of missed jokes.This movie starts slow and then slows down. It's one-dimensional. It uses a familiar format - a 1930s newsreel documentary thing about a mysterious man named Zelig. They interview boring old people. And they even show names for these people. Do they have funny names? Of course not. Why even bother to show their made-up names? This is torture. Every documentary ever made is worth more than this excruciatingly abysmal "movie". At least you might learn something or get a look inside another world.Zelig is a completely pointless exercise. It's an excuse for Woody Allen to dress up as different stereotypes and stare blankly, emptily at the camera. They took the time to record a bunch of fake 20s songs about a "chameleon" craze. We're shown a bunch of random stock footage from the 20s. I'm more interested in those parts. At least they're real people with real lives. At one point Zelig is under a trance and tells a joke about a Rabbi. It takes ages to set up, has nothing to do with the rest of the movie and is probably much funnier if you're familiar with Jewish stereotypes. Facepalm.I'm reminded of the huge personal disappointment that was Duck Soup. I don't find dark films or music or books "depressing". I find the likes of Duck Soup and Zelig depressing. They make me not want to watch movies. I feel empty, confused and frustrated because of them. Confounded at what on Earth the people making them were thinking. Did they actually think this would be funny or entertaining?Let me write about some good movies to heal myself a bit.Dr. Strangelove had ridiculous characters but they were played with sincerity and energy. It was a brilliant satire with great acting and lots of irony (and it's just funny). The Great Dictator openly mocked Adolf Hitler when he was at the height of his power, had beautiful physical comedy, made fun of politics in insightful ways and had an incredibly powerful speech at the end. This Is Spinal Tap made people believe in a fictional band, was full of hilarious ad- libbing, had perfect timing and was a satire of rock bands with many easy-to-miss references.Zelig is not even a decent attempt at a film that simply went awry. It's pretentious, self-absorbed, lazy film-making. A random sequence of average YouTube videos would have more laughs and more cohesion that this abomination. Absolutely one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Ned Flanders, the Simpson's next door neighbour, said he liked Woody Allen films, but was not quite sure about the nervous little guy with the glasses who always appeared in them. Neither am I.There were only four I have ever really warmed to. "Play It Again, Sam".(The personal Bogart mentor is fun but the slapstick becomes tedious) "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex" (It is still funny and insightful) "Radio Days" (a rare delight - but the little guy with glasses is an offscreen narrator) "Broadway Danny Rose" (an examination of the idea of "grace", forgiveness, turning the other cheek as an alternative to revenge)"Crimes and Misdemeanours" - The suggestion that you tend to forget about guilt if you live with it long enough and make enough money to buy respectability is interesting. But is the film just a technicolor morality tale.In "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan", the little guy with glasses reveals himself as a self deluded, self obsessed brat.And then there was "Zelig". It runs out of steam about half way through and has to be resuscitated by a rescue mission resulting in a new world record for flying a plane upside down across the Atlantic.It seems to depict the age old plight of Jews, who were kicked out of Israel by the Romans and have endeavoured to become citizens of North Africa, then Spain, then mid Europe then Russia. The more ambitious and successful tried to assimilate with the people they lived amongst, (take on the identity of such people) only to be violently rejected in the end. However there is a universality to "Zelig". "Man is born free but all around us we see him in chains". If you try to make yourself identical to everyone else to 'fit in', you will never know who or what you really are. You will ultimately miss out on the wisdom gained through atonement - the means to 'Know Thyself". That may well apply to the timid Germans of the 1930's, the conformist faces in the crowds in those old newsreels. But it's not just about1930's Germans.You can see it acted out in Luis Bunuel's, "Exterminating Angel". The high society supper party guests slowly realise that they can not escape from the room in which they have gathered. Their increasingly desperate plight is finally brought to a head when one of them suggests they go back to doing what they were doing before it dawned upon them that they were trapped. The solution works. They find a way to exit the room. To celebrate their deliverance, they all attend a grand cathedral church service. And at the conclusion of the film, they realise they are trapped in the cathedral.So how do you escape the invisible chains that trap people in a society that is very imperfect? Ask the Greek philosophers.The beginning and end of all wisdom is to "Know Thyself" By beauty it is that we come at WisdomIn Keats' words,"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all  Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."But what is the route that leads to that beauty that is wisdom, that is self knowledge?Woody Allen might well have gained some insight into that question had he spent more time becoming acquainted with the Hebrew scriptures than he did in "Crimes and Misdemeanours". Moses' Law and the Prophets have a great deal to say about the journey that leads to wisdom and beauty. Take the feasts prescribed in Moses' Law.Moses' Law ties the Exodus from Egyptian slavery story to a fortnight in early spring in which Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits feasts are observed. They celebrate redemption. Of course only two of the people who were redeemed on that first passover made it to the promised land. The rest did not even make it into God's rest (Psalm 95), whatever that means.A fortnight at the end of summer contains the new year, atonement and tabernacles feasts. They commemorate the forty years of wilderness wandering (atonement) that allowed them to see and know God's ways(wisdom) . Passover is about redemption. The child at the loving mother's breast is protected from harm, nourished and kept warm. It would die without that redemptive care. Think of redemption as beauty, love, mercy, forgiveness, grace. Think of the closing scene of "Broadway Danny Rose"Atonement is about law, truth, consequences of actions. The child who has been weaned and goes out into the world soon discovers the truth that it is not at all like suckling at mommy's bosom. Wisdom is truth. The truth that is discovered about oneself by life experiences in the hard, cold world. They either make you, or break you. You get to decide by the way you react to the calamities of nature and actions of other people. Think of wisdom as truth. It is symbolised as a virtuous wife in the book of Proverbs. It is expressed as the knowledge of God that comes from riding out grief, pain and loss, in the book of Job. Apotheosis.The man who had his ex- lover murdered in "Crimes and Misdemeanours" failed to gain that wisdom.Beauty is truth, truth beauty Redemption is beauty. The Wisdom discovered by atonement is truth.If you want a new definition of the construct referred to as "God", recast that idea as what happens at some abstract point at which Redemption intersects with Atonement - at which grace and beauty intersect with truth. Using that definition, knowing God is to know redemption and atonement - beauty and truth - true wisdom.There's an idea for some new movies, Woody. Some really worthwhile movies, with or without the little guy who wears glasses.