The Story: Today is the start of National Suicide Prevention Week. Why there's a specific "week" for it, I have no idea. You'd think it would be a year-long "thing."
Here is the standard disclaimer we hear these days:
For our part, here's this scene from Hannah and Her Sisters, the Woody Allen film from 1986. Allen has always strayed into dangerous territory—so much so that some of his films can come off as extraordinarily insensitive later in their attempts to make a joke...or a point.
But, they are never not thought-provoking, and I like that, whether in his more serious films or his "early, funnier ones" (even that little neurotic self-criticism is akin to comedy gold).
As someone who has lost friends to suicide and had my own thoughts in times of despair, I can say that waiting 24 hours before doing anything drastic is a good practice, and I can assure you, it will get better.
The Set-up: Mickey (Woody Allen) ex-husband of Hannah (Mia Farrow) is an infertile, hypochondriachal television writer going through an existential crisis. Every shift in his physical condition could be a brain tumor, but even after being declared healthy, the relief is short-lived and he starts to search for some meaningfulness in his life. Experiments with other religions proves fruitless, and, despairing, decides to take his own life. Fortunately, he botches it, but, finds a way to cope.
Action.
Next, the film cuts to an almost isolated path in Central
Park, complete, with old-fashioned streetlamps and scattered
leaves. Holly and Mickey stroll into view, deep in
conversation.
HOLLY
(gesturing)
Gosh, you really went through a
crisis, you know that? H-how did
you get over it? I mean, when I ran into you, you
seemed, you seemed just perfectly
fine. Well, you seem fine now.
MICKEY
Well...
(chuckling)
I'll tell you.
(sighing)
One day about a month ago... The film abruptly cuts to Mickey's flashback, a visual
counterpoint to the story he is telling Holly.
A close-up
of a nervous, perspiring, and panting Mickey alone in his
apartment appears on the screen as his voice is heard.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...I really hit bottom. You know, I
just felt that in a Godless universe,
I didn't want to go on living. Now
I happen to own this rifle...
(coughing)
Mickey raises the barrel of a rifle
to his forehead. He shuts his eyes
tightly.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...which I loaded, believe it or
not, and pressed it to my forehead.
And I remember thinking, at the time,
I'm gonna kill myself. Then I
thought...what if I'm wrong?
What if there is a God? I mean,
after all, nobody really knows that.
The camera moves past the desperate Mickey to a mirror on
the wall behind him. Its reflection shows his spiral
staircase and some standing lamps. A clock faintly ticks.
MICKEY (V.O.)
But then I thought, no. You know,
maybe is not good enough. I want
certainty or nothing.
MICKEY (V.O.)
And I remember
very clearly the clock was ticking,
and I was sitting there frozen, with
the gun to my head, debating whether
to shoot.
The gun goes off with a loud bang.
The mirror shatters.
MICKEY (V.O.)
All of a sudden, the gun went off.
196.
Mickey, holding the rifle, is seen running over to the
shattered mirror. The sounds of his excited neighbors, their
shouting, a knocking door, are heard as he continues his
tale.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I had been so tense, my finger had
squeezed the trigger inadvertently...
MICKEY (V.O.)
(continuing)
...but I was perspiring so much, the
gun had slid off my forehead and
missed me.
NEIGHBOR #2
(offscreen, overlapping)
I don't know. I heard a gun. Is
everything all right?
Mickey, still brandishing the rifle, runs into his sunlit
living room. He looks around frantically, his shirt loose.
Finally, he throws the rifle down between the sofa and the
coffee table.
The gun goes off a second time. Mickey,
standing nearby, jumps, his hands flying to his head.
The
doorbell rings; the neighbors begin pounding at the door.
MICKEY (V.O.)
And suddenly, neighbors were, were,
pounding on the door,
MICKEY (V.O.)
and-and I don't
know, the whole scene was just
pandemonium. And, uh, you know, and
I-I-I-I-I ran to the door.
Mickey runs offscreen briefly to answer the door.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I-I-I-I didn't know what to say.
You know, I was, I was embarrassed
and confused, and my-my-my mind was
r-r-racing a mile a minute...
He returns onscreen, panting; he looks frantically once again
around the living room.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...and I-I just knew one thing.
The film cuts to a West Side street. It's an overcast day.
197.
Mickey, walking slowly along the sidewalk, passes several
other pedestrians and numerous storefronts, including Klein's
Pharmacy and a "Bar-B-Q" take out. Occasionally, he is
obscured by a tree trunk on the opposite side of the street;
a few taxis go by as he talks over the scene.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I...I-I-I-I had to get out of that
house. I had to just get out in the
fresh air and-and clear my head.
And I remember very clearly.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I walked
the streets. I walked and I walked.
I-I didn't know what was going through
my mind. It all seemed so violent
and un-unreal to me. And I
wandered...
The movie cuts to the exterior of the Metro movie theater,
with its smoked glass entrance doors and its Art Deco feel.
An old publicity photo hangs inside.
Mickey's reflection is
seen at the almost-transparent doors, as well as the
reflection of the street and various cars whizzing by. His
reflection walks towards the theater entrance; he continues
his story.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...for a long time on the Upper West
Side, you know, an-and it must have
been hours! You know, my, my feet
hurt. My head was, was pounding,
and, and I had to sit down.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I went
into a movie house.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I-I didn't know
what was playing or anything.
Mickey walks into the movie house. He is seen through the
glass doors, which still reflect the street and traffic
outside.
He makes his way through the lobby into the actual
theater.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I just, I just needed a moment to
gather my thoughts and, and be
logical, and, and put the world back
into rational perspective.
198.
The film abruptly cuts to the theater's black-and-white
screen, where the Marx Brothers, in Duck Soup,
play the
helmets of several soldiers standing in a line like a live
xylophone.
The sounds of the "xylophone" are heard as the
movie cuts to the darkened theater,
where Mickey slowly sits
down in a balcony seat. The "xylophone" music stops and
changes to "Hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-hidee-ho" as sung
by the Marx Brothers and ensemble in the movie. The singing
continues faintly in the background as Mickey continues his
tale:
MICKEY (V.O.)
And I went upstairs to the balcony,
and I sat down
(sighing)
MICKEY (V.O.)
and, you know, the movie was a-a-a
film that I'd seen many times in my
life since I was a kid, an-and I
always u-uh, loved it.
MICKEY (V.O.)
And, you
know, I'm, I'm watching these people
up on the screen, and I started
getting hooked o-on the film, you
know?
The film cuts back to the black-and-white movie screen as
Mickey continues to talk. The Marx Brothers, as well as the
hundred-odd other cast members in Duck Soup, are kneeling
and bowing as they sing "Hidee-hidee-ho."
They kick their
heels up in the air. They sway back and forth, hands clasped,
singing "Oh-h-h-h-h-h..."
MICKEY (V.O.)
...And I started to feel how can you
even think of killing yourself?
I mean, isn't it so stupid?
MICKEY (V.O.)
I mean,
l-look at all the people up there on
the screen.
MICKEY (V.O.)
You know, they're real
funny, and, and what if the worst is
true?
The movie cuts back to Mickey, sitting almost obscured in
the dark theater. The Oh-h-h-h-h-h's coming from the
offscreen movie are heard as he continues to speak.
MICKEY (V.O.)
What if there's no God, and you only
go around once and that's it?
MICKEY (V.O.)
Well, you know, don't you want to be
part of the experience? You know,
what the hell, it-i-it's not all a
drag. And I'm thinking to myself,
geez, I should stop ruining my life...
199.
As Mickey talks, the film cuts back to the antics of the
Marx Brothers on the black-and-white theater screen. The
four brothers are now swaying and singing and strutting,
their voices indistinct over Mickey's narration.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...searching for answers I'm never
gonna get, and just enjoy it while
it lasts. And...you know...
The film is back on Mickey's dark form in the audience.
MICKEY (V.O.)
...after, who knows? I mean, you
know, maybe there is something.
Nobody really knows. I know, I know
"maybe" is a very slim reed to hang
your whole life on, but that's the
best we have.
MICKEY (V.O.)
And...then, I started
to sit back, and I actually began to
enjoy myself.
As Mickey continues, the film cuts back to Duck Soup on the
black-and-white screen. The Marx Brothers are sitting on a
judge's bench, playing banjos and singing with the other
cast members.
They jump down from the bench, still singing.
Their voices swell.
MARX BROTHERS & COMPANY
"Oh, Freedonia Oh, don't you cry for me..."
MARX BROTHERS & COMPANY
"They'll be coming
around the mountain..."
The Marx Brothers kneel, strumming their banjos, and the
movie cuts back to Central Park.
At the time it came out, I was rather mystified as to why it was chosen as "Classic" (even though Allen won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for it). It's a lunch conversation between three sisters in different stages of life and success. The younger ones resentful of the older one—who seems to have her act together, enough that it seems to be in stasis. The youngest hasn't "settled" yet, still trying to decide what she's going to become (which, recently, entails being her older sister's husband's mistress) and the middle child is bouncing between ambitions and moods, none of which seems to stick.
It's a classic triangulation with a hidden sub-text that informs opinions and reactions. What I found revealing is in the sub-text, something left out of the magazine article.
The "Premiere" transcript just put in the dialog, but a perusal of the Woody Allen script shows that the author puts in the smallest of details about locations, logistics, camera moves, and inner thoughts of characters. Things are so worked out in the script that the only thing that the director needs to do on-set is figure out where to put the camera.
And this is where the scene is very special. Photographing people talking around a table has always been a sticky problem in movies, especially when the table is a round table; given how these things work, somebody is always going to be out-of-frame of the screen, their face obscured either by being faced away from the camera or blocked by one of the other participants. Also, there is nothing dynamic about people sitting around a table, talking. One last consideration: the scene is all about sub-text, so if you're concentrating on the people speaking, you're missing the reactions of the non-talker...which is important.
Director Allen and his cinematographer Carlo Di Palma (famed for working with Michelangelo Antonioni) solved the problem with a constantly shifting camera circling the table and the actors, with the only dependency being the natural rhythms of the actors while doing the scene. They can talk, hector, interrupt, step on each others' lines, and its up to the camera operators to catch those moments at any time during the circling. They're certain to be within a 120° arc of what is happening.
The agitated conversation has its own energy, and the camera movement reflects that, but also adds to it by concentrating on the high-points and high emotions being generated.
It really is a classic scene.
The Set-Up: As they say "It's Complicated." Hannah (Mia Farrow) has two sisters, Holly (Dianne Wiest, who won an Academy Award for this role) and Lee (Barbara Hershey). Hannah is married to Elliott (Michael Caine, who won an Academy award for his role), but Elliott is carrying on an affair with Lee. Hannah does not know this. Holly is an aspiring actress who isn't involved with anyone because she is a neurotic in a profession where constant rejection only enhances her own insecurities. Got it? Good. Let's have lunch.
Action.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET - DAY
Lee is walking down the street, looking around her. The
sidewalk is fairly crowded with people; the sounds of traffic
are heard. She passes some office buildings, a store's large
display window; she stops when she sees Hannah.
Her sister is waiting outside the Art Deco faade of a
restaurant; she's looking in the opposite direction. Lee
taps Hannah on the shoulder;
Hannah, surprised, turns and
gasps.
LEE
(overlapping Hannah's
gasp)
Hi.
The sisters laugh and embrace each other.
HANNAH
Hi. Where's Holly?
LEE
(overlapping)
Hi. She's auditioning for a
television commercial. She said
she's gonna be a little late.
HANNAH
(sighing)
Oh, yeah? How's she doing?
She turns and walks towards the restaurant entrance.
LEE
(following Hannah
through the
restaurant's doors)
Oh, God, you know Holly. When she's
depressed, she's manic.
(MORE)
LEE (CONT'D)
I think it was a good idea that we
invited her to lunch.
They disappear inside. The camera follows them, cutting to
the restaurant's interior at the same time the sisters walk
in. It's a chic, trendy place, with an Art Deco design and
high ceilings. A waiter in uniform stands near its glass
and metal doors, holding a tray to his chest; a few people
sit at the bar; a large plant in a vase sits in the
foreground. The sisters walk toward the coatcheck area,
deep in conversation.
HANNAH
(pulling off her scarf,
still on the subject
of Holly)
I hope you tell her it was your
idea...
LEE
Why?
HANNAH
(overlapping)
...'cause every time I try to be
helpful, you know, sh-she gets so
defensive.
LEE
(unbuttoning her coat)
Oh, Hannah, she's-she's just
embarrassed in front of you, that's
all.
Hannah walks offscreen, farther into the coatcheck room.
She talks offscreen as Lee alone is seen, reacting and
speaking as well. In the background, a waiter crosses over
to the bar, then walks away.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
So how are you?
LEE
Oh, me, I'm okay.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
Do you miss Frederick?
LEE No.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
I can't believe Elliot and I can't
think of someone nice for you to go
out with, you know--
LEE
(interrupting, her
voice slightly higher-
pitched as she takes
off her coat)
How are you? HANNAH
(offscreen)
I'm okay.
LEE
(overlapping)
You know, how's everything? You
doing okay? How's Frederick?
(laughing)
I mean, Elliot.(You know how it is).
HANNAH
(offscreen, overlapping)
Y-yeah.
Hannah walks out of the coatcheck room without her coat;
it's Lee's turn to disappear and check her things. Now only
Hannah can be seen onscreen as the sisters talk. In the
background, the waiter once again walks over to the bar.
HANNAH
(continuing)
Oh, he's fine. He's-he's, I guess
he's fine. I don't know.
HANNAH(shaking her head,
her arms crossed)
He's been kinda moody lately, the
last few months.
LEE
(offscreen, overlapping)
Really?
HANNAH
Yeah. I-I don't know what's wrong
with him. He's just...kind of distant
and difficult.
LEE
(offscreen)
Oh...
HANNAH
(overlapping, gesturing)
I've been trying to talk to him about
it. He says everything's fine, but
I don't know. Automatically, you
know, I leap to the worst conclusions.
LEE
(offscreen)
Like what?
As Hannah answers her sister, Holly can be seen entering the
restaurant and walking over to the coatcheck area, an unlit
cigarette in her mouth, her sunglasses still on her eyes.
HANNAH
(gesturing)
I mean, I don't know, he's seeing
someone else or something, but...
LEE
(walking back onscreen
without her coat,
reacting)
Oh, no! I mean, everyone thinks
things like that.
Hannah mumbles indistinctly as Holly walks over to her
sisters.
HANNAH
(turning, to Holly)
Hey, hi!
HOLLY
(overlapping)
Well, I just came from an audition...
LEE
(overlapping, leaning
against the coatcheck
wall)
Hi.
HOLLY
(continuing)
...which I did not get.
HANNAH
(reacting)
Awwww...
HOLLY
(overlapping, sighing)
So what's new?
(She takes off her
gloves and scarf,
stuffing them in her
bag)
HANNAH
(helping Holly with
her coat)
Boy--
HOLLY
(interrupting)
They said I was too offbeat looking,
whatever the hell that means.
HANNAH
Oh, what do they know?
Holly gives her coat to the coatcheck person.
HOLLY
(to the checker)
Thanks.
HOLLY
(turning to her sisters)
But guess who was there auditioning?
LEE
April?
The hostess appears, peeking around the corner of the
coatcheck area. She signals for the three sisters to follow
her.
HANNAH
(reacting to Holly's
news)
Oh, gosh.
HOLLY
You got it.
Holly takes off her sunglasses; her cigarette still dangles
from her mouth.
Hannah murmurs her sympathy as the trio
follows the hostess into the dining room.
HOLLY
(gesturing)
I was very polite. I maintained my
poise.
HOLLY(taking out a match
for her cigarette)
I said hello.
159.
The sisters walk to their seats, at a round table in the
middle of the room; the hostess puts down their menus.
LEE
Hmm. I never trusted April, you
know. She has eyes in the back of
her head.
They sit down. The hostess leaves. Other diners are seen
in the background; a waiter is taking the order of a couple
sitting on a banquette; other waiters clear off a table.
Diners walk in and out. A low murmur of conversation, as
well as the faint clatter of dishes, is heard.
The camera
moves closer to the three sisters, circling the table as
Holly speaks.
HOLLY
Yeah, well, she and an architect are
now a very definite item, which I
still cannot believe.
LEE
(overlapping)
Hmm.
HANNAH
Oh, God...
HOLLY
(nodding her head,
holding her cigarette)
Yeah, although it's put an end to
the Stanislavski Catering Company.
HOLLY
Which is why I have to speak to you.
And...
HOLLY(gesturing to Hannah)
you're gonna get impatient, but...I
have to borrow some more money.
HOLLY
(putting her cigarette
in her mouth and
picking up the matches)
HANNAH
(shaking her head)
Well, that...th-that's fine.
HOLLY
(gesturing, her
cigarette in one
hand, her matches in
the other)
But what I decided to do is some
writing. (MORE)
HOLLY (CONT'D)
Yeah, I think I've had it with acting.
You know, these meaningless auditions
at cattle calls. And I can't handle
another rejection.
HOLLY (emotionally)
Now let's face it here. I gotta,
you know, latch on to something in
my life. You know--something with a
future. I'm not sixteen anymore.
HOLLY (lighting her cigarette)
It's just...crazy!
HOLLY (puffing her cigarette)
I've got...an idea for a story.
More than one.
HOLLY And I just need a
few months, you know, or, uh, a year
even.
As the camera slowly circles the table, Hannah is seen
listening to Holly, her hand on her mouth.
HOLLY
I've picked up a lot about dramatic
structure from doing my scenes in
acting class.
Lee, her hand on her mouth, glances briefly at Hannah. As
Hannah replies to Holly, the camera focuses on Lee's face.
She bites her nails; she looks down, involved in her own
thoughts.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
Well, that-that's good.
HANNAH It just,
uh...it just seems to me that-that
six months or a year, if-if you spent
it more productively...
HOLLY
(offscreen, the camera
still focused on Lee)
Well-well, like what?
Lee looks up, her hand still on her mouth, watching Hannah,
as the camera slowly moves off her to show Hannah.
HANNAH
Well, I don't know. We'd uh, uh,
um... Didn't Mom mention there was
something...something at the Museum
of Broadcasting?
HOLLY
(offscreen)
Yeah, that's clerical.
HANNAH
No. She, didn't she say it was,
um...
HANNAH ...she said it was in the publicity
department. That-that can lead to
other things.
The camera is back on Lee. She looks around tensely, barely
listening to the conversation. She fidgets. An empty table
sits in the background.
HOLLY
(offscreen)
Boy, I knew you'd be discouraging.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
I'm not! I'm not! I'm trying to be
helpful.
HANNAH A person doesn't just say
one day, "Okay, now-now I'm finished
as an actress. Now I'm a writer."
I mean--
HOLLY
(offscreen,
interrupting)
Yeah, you mean not at my age.
LEE
(shaking her head,
unable to take much
more)
Oh, please! We all came to have
lunch, didn't we?
HOLLY
(reacting, now in
view)
Yeah, okay, right.
HOLLY
Forget it.
(puffing on her
cigarette)
What's to eat?
Holly abruptly picks up her menu.
LEE
(trying to alleviate
the tension)
Boy...Holly...Holly.
HOLLY
(overlapping)
I just want a salad.
HOLLY
(to Hannah)
You really think I'm a loser, don't
you?
HANNAH
(offscreen)
What do--? You're being ridiculous.
LEE
(overlapping, reacting)
You are, Holly. Stop it.
HOLLY
(to Hannah)
You treat me like a loser.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
How?
HOLLY
You never have any faith in my plans.
You always undercut my enthusiasm.
She puffs intensely on her cigarette as the camera slowly
circles to Hannah's face.
She is equally intense, looking
at both sisters as she speaks.
HANNAH
Not so! No. I...
HANNAH ...think I've been very
supportive. I've...I try to give
you honest, constructive advice.
HOLLY
(offscreen)
Hmm!
HANNAH
(overlapping)
I'm-I'm always happy to help you
financially.
HANNAH I think I've gone out
of my way to-to introduce you to
interesting single men. There's
nothing I would--
HOLLY
(offscreen,
interrupting)
Uh, losers! All losers!
HANNAH
You're too demanding.
HOLLY
(offscreen)
You know, I could always tell what
you thought of me by the type of men
you fixed me up with!
The camera, slowly circling the table, is back on Lee's face.
While her sisters argue emotionally on her right and left,
she is looking down, biting her lip. She is outwardly still,
but her face is registering her seething emotions.
HANNAH
(offscreen)
You're crazy! That's not true. HOLLY
(offscreen)
Hey, Hannah, I know I'm mediocre.
LEE
(interrupting angrily,
looking as if she's
about to cry)
Oh, will you stop attacking Hannah?!
LEE
(interrupting, shaking
her head)
She's going through a really rough
time right now.
HOLLY
(offscreen)
Why are you so upset?
LEE
(sobbing and gesturing)
You know, you've been picking on her
ever since she came in here.
LEE
Now
just leave her alone for a while!
I'm just suffocating.
(sniffing back her
tears)
HOLLY
(leaning over to Lee,
puzzled, reacting to
her sister's tears)
What's the matter with you, Lee?
Why are you so sensitive all of a
sudden?
HANNAH
(offscreen)
Look.
(onscreen, as the
camera circles around
the table)
Listen. Listen.
HANNAH(tapping Holly on her
shoulder and gesturing)
You want to write? Write.
HOLLY
(offscreen, overlapping
to Lee)
What's the matter?
HANNAH
(flinging her hands)
Write! Let's just not talk about it
anymore.
HOLLY
(offscreen)
Good.
HANNAH
(shaking her head)
Take...take a year. Take six months.Whatever you want.
HANNAH Who knows? Maybe
you'll, maybe you'll be sitting with
a good play.
She opens her menu, then turns to Lee, reacting suddenly to
her sister, who is rubbing her forehead, looking terribly
upset.
HANNAH
(to Lee)
What's the matter? What's the matter
with you?
HANNAH
(offscreen again as
the camera circles
back to Lee)
You look pale. You okay?
LEE
(overlapping, nodding
and stuttering)
I'm-I'm okay. Yeah, I-I-I, you know,
I...I'm just, um, I got dizzy all of
a sudden. I'm-I'm...I have a
headache.
HANNAH
(offscreen, overlapping)
Yeah?
LEE
(still rubbing her
forehead, looking
down at the menu)
I think we need to eat.
MICKEY (V.O.)
I just, I just needed a moment to
gather my thoughts and, and be
logical, and, and put the world back
into rational perspective.
198. 
MARX BROTHERS & COMPANY
"Oh, Freedonia Oh, don't you cry for me..." 
