Woody Allen's serious comedy. Neurotic Manhattanites in quest for self-fulfillment

Diploma Thesis from the year 2001 in the subject Art - Photography and Film, grade: 10, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, language: English, abstract: This thesis will employ the auteurist paradigm to approach and interpret Allen's work, through a thorough examination of its recurring motifs. Representative of an alternative, idiosyncratic cinema with roots in the standup comedy tradition, Woody Allen is considered today one of the most accomplished writer-directors in film history. Consciously moving away from Hollywood structures, his films cross the boundaries of established cinematic genres and claim for themselves the status of a sub-genre, often referred to as the 'neurotic comedy' or the 'New York movie', since the backdrop of their stories is usually Manhattan. A sophisticated blend of comedy and drama with philosophical underpinnings and traits peculiar to the European tradition, Allen's cinema demonstrates a high degree of thematic and stylistic consistency, which invests the cinematic text with the filmmaker's artistic signature. Accordingly, the first chapter will provide a brief historical background of the auteur theory and will place Woody Allen within this tradition, attempting at the same time to address arguments against the auteurist approach and issues such as the existence of artistic ''loans' in Allen's work. The second chapter will carry out a detailed analysis of the filmmaker's visual style, while the third chapter will explore his thematic preoccupations, with the focus on love and death, and life in New York City.

Anastasia Spyrou holds an MPhil in Media, Critical, and Cultural Studies (Liverpool John Moores University), an MA in Literature and Culture (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), and a BA in English Language and Literature (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). She is currently a PhD Candidate in Developmental Psychology (University of Thessaly). She has taught language courses at the University of Thessaly and in greek public and private schools. She has also worked as a sessional lecturer at the Department of Media, Critical, and Cultural Studies of Liverpool John Moores University, U.K.