Just as delightful, and also featuring Mia Farrow as its titular character, is Hannah and Her Sisters, released just one year after The Purple Rose of Cairo, and scrapping all elements of magic and fantasy, steeping itself instead in a realistic family environment. Rounding out the sister portion of the ensemble are Barbara Hershey and Dianne Wiest, each playing a central part in the wide-spanning but intertwining stories of the film.
Mixed in with the usual Allen themes of existential crisis and obsession with death, which his own character confronts, as well as the fleeting nature of romance, is this lovely little narrative strain involving the three sisters, all engaged with love stories of a sort. There’s a competitive spirit between these women as well as a spirit of love and support. It feels like a true sisterly dynamic. There are also parallels between the Michael Caine lead character, married to the Mia Farrow character but falling for Barbara Hershey, and the Allen character who was previously married to Farrow but ends up with Wiest. It was a movie that would define the typical Woody Allen film for decades.
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