Deconstructing Harry
original film poster
Directed by	Woody Allen
Produced by	Jean Doumanian
Written by	Woody Allen
Starring	Woody Allen Kirstie Alley Bob Balaban Richard Benjamin Eric Bogosian Billy Crystal Judy Davis Hazelle Goodman Mariel Hemingway Amy Irving Julie Kavner Eric Lloyd Julia Louis-Dreyfus Tobey Maguire Demi Moore Elisabeth Shue Stanley Tucci Robin Williams
Distributed by	Buena Vista International
Release date(s)	12 December 1997
Running time	96 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000
IMDb profile

Deconstructing Harry is a film by Woody Allen released in 1997. This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him (sometimes causing these people to become alienated from him as a result). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ... Jean Doumanian (born c. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ... Kirstie Louise Alley (born January 12, 1951 in Wichita, Kansas) is an American actress best known for her role in the TV show Cheers. ... Bob Balaban (born August 16, 1945 in Chicago) is an American actor and director. ... Richard Benjamin in July 1986. ... Eric Bogosian Eric Bogosian (born on April 24, 1953) is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist. ... Billy Crystal (born Israel William Krisstalsterne on March 14, 1947 in Long Beach, New York) is a Jewish American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. ... Judy Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress. ... On the cover of Playboy, April 1982 Mariel Hadley Hemingway (born November 22, 1961 in Mill Valley, California, USA) is an American actress. ... Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953 in Palo Alto, California) is an American actress. ... Julie Deborah Kavner (born September 7, 1950) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress, best known for her role as Brenda Morgenstern on Rhoda in the 1970s, as an actress in several Woody Allen-directed films, and for providing the voice of Marge Simpson on the animated television show The... Eric Lloyd, originally Eric Morelli (born 19 May 1986, in Glendale, California, USA), is an American actor whose films include The Santa Clause trilogy. ... Julia Elizabeth Scarlett Louis-Dreyfus (born January 13, 1961) is an Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG Award-winning American actress and comedian who gained popularity while playing the role of Elaine Benes on the NBC sitcom Seinfeld in the 1990s. ... Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor. ... Demi Moore (born Demetria Gene Guynes on November 11, 1962 in Roswell, New Mexico) is an American actress. ... Elisabeth Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an Academy Award-nominated American film actress. ... Stanley Tucci (born November 11, 1960 in Katonah, New York) is an American film and television actor. ... Robin McLaurim Williams (born July 21, 1951 or 1952)[1] is an Academy Award-winning American actor and comedian. ... Buena Vista International is a division of The Walt Disney Company which handles non-U.S. distribution of Disney films. ... December 12 is the 346th day (347th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 19 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Konigsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright. ...

The actual plot is that of Block driving to a university from which he was once thrown out, in order to receive an honorary degree. The passengers he takes with him on the journey are his son, whom he has kidnapped from his divorced wife, a black prostitute and a friend who dies of a heart attack en route. However, there are many flash-backs, parts of his stories that are played out, and interactions with his characters.

The film earned Allen an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ...

Influences

Allen is well-known as an admirer of many European directors whose primary body of work was completed sometimes decades before his first script, and his films in particular often draw upon the works of Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini. The rough outline of the plot of Deconstructing Harry, that of an academic on a long drive to receive an honorary award from his old university while reflecting upon his life's experiences, essentially mirrors that of Bergman's Wild Strawberries. Ingmar Bergman   (IPA: in Swedish) (born July 14, 1918) is a Swedish stage and film director who is one of the key film auteurs of the twentieth century. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Wild Strawberries a 1957 film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. ...

It is also widely acknowledged that Allen based the name of Harry Block on Antonius Block (Max von Sydow), the protagonist from Bergman's The Seventh Seal. Some critics, including Roger Ebert, have suggested that the character of Harry Block is based on real-life author Philip Roth and not on Allen himself.  , (born April 10, 1929) is an Academy-Award nominated Swedish actor, known in particular for his collaboration with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. ... The Seventh Seal (Swedish: Det sjunde inseglet) is an existential 1957 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman about the journey of a medieval knight (Max von Sydow) across a plague-ridden landscape. ... Roger Joseph Ebert (born June 18, 1942) is a Pulitzer Prize winning American film critic. ... Philip Roth Goodbye Columbus (1959), 2006 Vintage paperback edition Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933, Newark, New Jersey) is an American novelist. ...

The name Harry may also be a reference to Hermann Hesse's character in his novel Steppenwolf, who views himself as torn apart by the struggle between his "human" (everything that is cultural, abstracted, sophisticated about him) side and his "wolf" (all his animal instincts, his wild, chaotic traits) side. In the course of the book Hesse makes the point that this is actually a gross simplification, and argues that each person is actually made up of hundreds, thousands of such personality poles. Hermann Hesse (pronounced ) (2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-born poet, novelist, and painter. ... For other uses, see Steppenwolf. ...

The name Block is obvious, ironic and narratively appropriate in the film because the character suffers from writer's block. Writers block is a phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity. ...

Trivia

Allen offered the role of Harry Block to Elliot Gould, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper and Albert Brooks before casting himself in the role. Elliott Gould (born August 29, 1938), born Elliott Goldstein, was one of the most prominent American film actors in the early 70s, best known for playing Trapper John in the satirical 1970 film M*A*S*H. Time magazine put him on its cover in 1970, when he was at... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Dennis Hopper (born May 17, 1936) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor and film-maker. ... Albert Brooks (born July 22, 1947 as Albert Lawrence Einstein) is an Academy Award nominated American actor, writer, comedian and director. ...

External links

• Deconstructing Harry at the Internet Movie Database

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