Great Scene: “Annie Hall”

Annie Hall has a scene that is perhaps the best pedagogical tool to convey what subtext is. Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is having a drink with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). This is basically their first time alone together and there are definitely some undercurrents going on in with what they’re saying and Allen literally posts that subtext so viewers can read it — to great comedic effect.

ALVY
 (pointing toward the 
 apartment after a 
 short pause)
 So, did you do shoot the photographs 
 in there or what?

ANNIE
 (Nodding, her hand on 
 her hip)
 Yeah, yeah, I sorta dabble around, 
 you know.

Annie’s thoughts pop on the screen as she talks: I dabble? 
 Listen to me-what a jerk!

ALVY
 They’re… they’re… they’re 
 wonderful, you know. They have… 
 they have, uh… a… a quality.

As do Alvy’s: You are a great-looking girl

ANNIE
 Well, I-I-I would-I would like to 
 take a serious photography course 
 soon.

Again, Annie’s thoughts pop on: He probably thinks I’m a yo-
 yo

ALVY
 Photography’s interesting, ’cause, 
 you know, it’s-it’s a new art form, 
 and a, uh, a set of aesthetic criteria 
 have not emerged yet.

And Alvy’s: I wonder what she looks like naked?

ANNIE
 Aesthetic criteria? You mean, whether 
 it’s, uh, good photo or not?

I’m not smart enough for him. Hang in there

ALVY
 The-the medium enters in as a 
 condition of the art form itself. 
 That’s-

I don’t know what I’m saying-she senses I’m shallow

ANNIE
 Well, well, I… to me-I… I mean, 
 it’s-it’s-it’s all instinctive, you 
 know. I mean, I just try to uh, feel 
 it, you know? I try to get a sense 
 of it and not think about it so much.

God, I hope he doesn’t turn out to be a shmuck like the others

ALVY
 Still, still we- You need a set of 
 aesthetic guide lines to put it in 
 social perspective, I think.

Christ, I sound like FM radio. Relax.

And here’s the scene.

Good touchstone when thinking about subtext.