MOVIES
Woody Allen’s Zelig: An Artful Tapestry of History and Psychology
“I love baseball. You know, it doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just very beautiful to watch.” — Leonard Zelig
THE FILM opens with footage of a 1920s ticker tape parade.
Cut to Susan Sontag
“He was the phenomenon of the 20s. At that time he was as well-known as Lindbergh. It’s really quite astonishing.”
Cut to ticker tape parade.
Cut to Irving Howe
“His story reflected the nature of our civilization, the character of our times. Yet it was only one man’s story and all the themes of our culture were there. Heroism, will, things like that… but when you look back on that it was very strange.”
Cut to parade.
Cut to Saul Bellow
“Well, it’s ironic to see how quickly he has faded from memory. Considering what an astounding record he made. He was of course very amusing but at the same time touched a nerve in people, perhaps in a way which they would prefer not to be touched. It certainly is a very bizarre story.”
Cut to Roaring Twenties scenes… flappers tap dancing, Charleston playing, trolley cars.
Voiceover: The year is 1928. America, enjoying a decade of unequalled prosperity…
So begins Woody Allen’s 1983 documentary about a man so obsessed with fitting in that he becomes like whoever he is with, Zelig the human chameleon. With Chinese, he becomes Chinese, with Native Americans he becomes Native American, with his doctors he becomes a doctor.
In addition to its stellar script there were two features of the film that especially made it an achievement. First, was the manner in which inserted Woody Allen and Mia Farrow into real historical footage of the Twenties. Zelig…
