HotToastyRag
Zelig is a pretty strange movie. While parts of it are clever, I think only die-hard Woody Allen fans are going to like this one. It's filmed as a mockumentary, which in itself is a very tricky genre to master.Woody Allen plays the title character, and Mia Farrow, his at-the-time sweetie pie, plays his psychiatrist. Woody has become a celebrity because he acts as a human chameleon and mimics anyone he comes in contact with. Sometimes the film uses stock footage of real historical figures, like Lou Gehrig, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babe Ruth, Charles Lindbergh, Charlie Chaplin, and others. Mia interviews and observes Woody, trying to understand his condition through various methods. Parts of it are cute, parts of it are funny, but parts of it get a little long in the tooth. If you love Woody and want to watch all thirteen of the movies he made with Mia, go ahead and rent Zelig. As long as you expect it to be quirky, you'll know what you're in for.
chaswe-28402
Zelig is an adjective of Germanic (not especially Yiddish) origin, with multiple meanings, ranging from blessed or blissful (soulful), to silly. In its Anglo-Saxon incarnation (saelig) it has often had a tendency to be applied to sheep: simple, hapless, foolish animals, conforming aimlessly to the herd, sometimes referred to as sheeple, incapable of independent thought. This seems to be Woody Allen's impersonation here, ineffectual and unidentifiable. Merge with the herd; go with the flow.Reviewers have had a little difficulty in assigning a satisfactory genre to this film, most settling for describing it as a mockumentary of a non-existent person. Perhaps slightly pretentious.I think of it more as a philosophical excursion into the meaning of life, and an examination of our purpose, if any, on earth. Acceptance, compliance, or defiance ? A very great deal of archive research and other work was clearly put into this production, and it was undeniably highly ingenious. Although a little annoying at times, on balance I found it fascinating and engaging, and while I hovered for a time on a low rating, I finally settled for quite a high appreciation of its paradoxical creativity.
akoaytao1234
Zelig is a "pseudo-documentary" about the world's first human chameleon. This film boasts one of the most realistic re-imagining of prewar film-stocks ever filmed, crisped to the tiniest detail. The Nazi scenes alone can be worth the watch for this film.Indeed, The film is a technical marvel and acting itself is no slouch either but it always felt like something is off in this film. The story in paper is very actually interesting but Allen's mixing of his anxious comedy style with that of documentary made it came off a bit stiff and phony in a way. I just cannot suspend my disbelief as the story goes more ridiculous by the minute with its BBC-like narration topped by some on or off jokes. Overall, the film is a technical marvel and is fun to watch in tiny bits but suffers in comparison to his better works's snappy warmth and pizazz [3/5]
Artimidor Federkiel
Woody Allen's genius, intelligence and wit are often only hampered by his insistence to play the same character over and over again in a multitude of films, or at least a version of that archetypal protagonist: a whiny, talky, at any rate neurotic American Jew with never ending problems in the romantic area. This makes him a welcome guest for shrinks, and the resulting filmed self-analysis is all garnished with the typical sophisticated Woody Allen humor. In "Zelig" he is all that and more. As this time our hero proves more adaptable. Literally. And it's a good thing.Allen, who brought the world such fresh comedy ideas like film stars stepping out of the screen, characters sensing that they might be out of focus, writers lost between fiction and reality to name just a few, created with "Zelig" one of the best mockumentaries to date. Subject of course is this peculiar director/writer/actor, who loses himself in the role of a human chameleon, a freak of nature, who has anything but an identity to count on. Apparently his former roles as time traveler, dictator by accident or Vulgarian "spy" were not enough, so Allen pulls out all the stops and turns clown, dentist, professor, Indian, black, fat, mustached and what not - all in one picture. Adapting involuntarily to anything regardless of profession, ethnic or political orientation, the Zelig character goes all the way through, even finding himself consequently in Nazi Germany at a Hitler rally. And he makes a point. Aside from the comic effect of this premise and its perfect execution via newsreels, photo manipulation and the like containing mystifying historical details that never happened, there's that other level to the film as well: "Zelig" deals head on with the complex relationship between individual and society, poses questions about identity and assimilation, and in bringing up all those serious issues is simply hilarious.
AD
