Zelig
Directed by	Woody Allen
Produced by	Charles Joffe
Written by	Woody Allen
Starring	Woody Allen Mia Farrow
Music by	Dick Hyman
Cinematography	Gordon Willis
Editing by	Susan E. Morse
Distributed by	Orion Pictures Corporation Warner Bros
Release date	November, 1983
Running time	79 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Zelig is a 1983 movie written and directed by Woody Allen. Vincent Canby of The New York Times hailed it as "remarkably self-assured" and "pricelessly funny..." "...one of those Allen comedies by which all his other films will be compared" and "a summation and a perfection of methods and ideas that have been turning up in all his films" — a "Woody Allen masterpiece." Image File history File links Zeligposter. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... Farrow on the cover of Glamour, 1968 Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow, better known as Mia Farrow (February 9, 1945 – April 5, 2006) is an American actress. ... Dick Hyman Joke: What is the difference between Dick Hyman, and a regular Hyman? A regular hyman goes away when penetrated by a penis. ... Gordon Willis (born May 28, 1931 in Queens, New York) is a highly respected Hollywood cinematographer best known for his work on the The Godfather series and on some of Woody Allens most popular films. ... Orion Pictures Logo Orion Pictures Corporation was a United States movie production company, formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. ... The WB Shield, used from 2001 to late 2003. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – September 15, 2000) was an American film critic. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ...

Plot

The film is set in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s. The title character, Leonard Zelig (played by Woody Allen), is a man who has the ability to change his appearance to that of the people he is surrounded by. For example, if he is among doctors, he transforms into a doctor, if around overweight people, he quickly becomes heavy himself. Zelig is called the "human chameleon". He is first noticed at a party by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Genera Bradypodion Calumma Chamaeleo Furcifer Brookesia Rhampholeon Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are squamates that belong to one of the best known lizard families. ... Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ...

Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow) is a psychiatrist who wants to help this man with this strange disorder, when he is admitted to her hospital. With the use of hypnotic techniques, she discovers that Zelig aims for approval, so he changes to fit in. Dr. Fletcher's determination allows her to eventually cure Zelig, but not without complications; on the road to recovery, Zelig temporarily develops a personality which is intolerant of other people's opinions. Farrow on the cover of Glamour, 1968 Maria de Lourdes Villiers Farrow, better known as Mia Farrow (February 9, 1945 – April 5, 2006) is an American actress. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ...

Making posthumous cameo appearances in Zelig are Calvin Coolidge (left) and Herbert Hoover (right), with Woody Allen (center). R/GA Digital Studios provided the optical effects to seamlessly combine film of Allen with black and white footage from the 1920s and '30s, making it possible for Leonard to hobnob with Hemingway, disrupt Pope Pius XI's mass during Easter Week, and hijack a speech by Hitler.

Dr. Fletcher becomes aware that she is falling in love with Zelig. Both patient and doctor, with the media coverage of the case, are part of the popular culture of their time. However, fame is the main cause of their division; the same society that made Zelig a hero destroys him. Image File history File links Zeligandwilson. ... Image File history File links Zeligandwilson. ... John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the 31st President of the United States (1929-1933), was a successful mining engineer, humanitarian, and administrator. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway aka Papa (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short story writer, and journalist. ... Pope Pius XI (Latin: ) (May 31, 1857 – February 10, 1939), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, reigned as Pope from February 6, 1922 and sovereign of Vatican City from 1929 until his death on February 10, 1939. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Zelig's illness strikes back, he tries to fit in once more. With the accusations of women that claim to be married with him, he escapes where nobody can find him. Nevertheless, Dr. Fletcher doesn't give up on Zelig, and finds him in Germany before World War II inside the Nazi party. Together they escape in an airplane while being chased by the Nazis. After the adventure they experienced in Germany, they return to the USA as heroes. Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United States United Kingdom and others Axis Powers: Germany Japan Italy and others Commanders Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Winston Churchill Adolf Hitler Hideki Tojo Benito Mussolini Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military... National Socialism redirects here. ...

Zelig used a very innovative and distinctive method to create the mockumentary feeling of this movie. For the film, Allen took real newsreel footage from the 1920s and 30s and inserted himself and other actors into the footage via bluescreen technology. To provide an authentic look to his scenes, Allen and his cinematographer used numerous techniques, including the arduous task of locating some of the actual antique film cameras and lenses used during the eras depicted in the film, and even went so far as to simulate damage, such as crinkleS and scratches, on the negatives to make the finished product look more like vintage footage. The virtually seamless blending of old and new footage is highly notable in the fact that this was achieved almost a decade before digital film making technology made such techniques easier, as in films like Forrest Gump and various television commercials. Mockumentary, a portmanteau of mock documentary (also fictional documentary or false documentary), is a film and TV genre, or a single work of the genre. ... The bluescreen setup The final image Bluescreen (known in television as chroma key) is a term for the filmmaking technique of shooting foreground action against an evenly-lit monochomatic background for the purpose of removing the background from the scene and replacing it with a different image or scene. ... A cinematographer (from cinema photographer) is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). ... Forrest Gump is a 1985 novel by Winston Groom, a 1994 film adaptation, and the name of the titular character of both. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

Cameo appearances

The film uses cameo appearances by real figures from academia and other fields to great comic effect. Contrasting the film's vintage black and white film footage, these individuals appear in color segments, as themselves, commenting in the present day on the Zelig phenomenon with a straight face, as if it really happened. They include essayist Susan Sontag, psychologist Bruno Bettelheim, Nobel-prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow, political writer Irving Howe, historian John Morton Blum, and the Paris nightclub owner Bricktop. Susan Sontag Susan Sontag (January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was a well-known American essayist, novelist, left-wing intellectual, and activist. ... Bruno Bettelheim (August 28, 1903 - March 13, 1990) was an American writer and child psychologist. ... Bellow as depicted in his Nobel diploma. ... Irving Howe (1920-1993), was born Irving Horenstein, the son of immigrants who ran a small grocery store that went out of business during the Great Depression. ... John Morton Blum was one of the dominating writers of United States political history from the 1940s to the early 1990s. ... Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, better known as Bricktop (August 14, 1894 — January 31, 1983) was an American dancer, singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper who owned the nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris from 1924 to 1961, as well as clubs in Mexico City and Rome. ...

Also appearing in the film's vintage footage are Adolf Hitler, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, William Randolph Hearst, Josephine Baker, Fanny Brice, Hermann Goering, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jimmy Walker, Lou Gehrig, Josef Goebbels, Charlie Chaplin, Bobby Jones, and many others. Hitler redirects here. ... Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr. ... FBI mugshot of Capone, 1931 Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Scarface Capone, was an infamous Italian-American gangster in the 1920s and 1930s, although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer. ... William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper magnate, born in San Francisco, California. ... Josephine Baker, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1949 Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 - April 12, 1975), born Freda Josephine McDonald, was an American dancer, actress and singer, sometimes known as The Black Venus. She was of mixed Apalachee Native American and African American descent. ... Fanny Brice, early Ziegfeld Follies portrait photograph // Biography Fanny Brice (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951) was a United States comedienne, singer, and entertainer. ... Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also spelled Hermann Goering in English) (January 12, 1893–October 15, 1946) was a prominent and early member of the Nazi party, founder of the Gestapo, and one of the main architects of Nazi Germany. ... Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an Irish American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. ... This article is about the 1926 Mayor of New York. ... This person is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. ... Joseph Goebbels Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ... Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr, KBE, (April 16, 1889 – December 25, 1977), better known as Charlie Chaplin, was an English comedy actor, becoming the most famous actor in the early to mid Hollywood cinema era, and also a notable director. ... Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930. ...

External links

• Zelig at the Internet Movie Database
• Review by Vincent Canby, The New York Times

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ...

See also

• Zelig (disambiguation)
• List of recent films in black-and-white