ZELIG (1983) B/W & C widescreen 80m dir: Woody Allen

w/Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, John Buckwalter, Marvin Chatinover, Stanley Swerdlow, Paul Nevens, Howard Erskine, George Hamlin, Ralph Bell, Richard Whiting

From The Movie Guide: "ZELIG employs technical wizardry to create a memorable fable of cultural assimilation. Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen) is a minor celebrity of the Depression era whose abilities as a 'human chameleon' astound the world. Desperate to be accepted by others, he goes to extraordinary lengths to become one of the crowd. This desire is realized, formally speaking, through a number of astonishing lab effects by which Allen's character is seamlessly blended with archival footage from the 1930s; he appears waiting in the on-deck circle as Babe Ruth is batting, among a crowd of Nazis cheering Hitler, and growing a beard to become a Hassidic rabbi. His case captures the imagination of America, as well as the attentions of a psychiatrist (Mia Farrow) who falls in love with him.

"ZELIG's loving recreation of Depression-era pop culture is accomplished with amazing verisimilitude; the faux-documentary sequences are among the best since CITIZEN KANE. Allen's ongoing struggles with psychoanalysis and his Jewish identity --- stridently literal preoccupations in most of his work --- are for once rendered allegorically. The result is deeply satisfying."

ZELIG was nominated for two Oscars: Best Cinematography (Gordon Willis) and Costume Design (Santo Loquasto).