Any watching progress? Would be interested in your opinion.
Ok, so I watched both and very much enjoyed both of them. What I love about both films is how introspective they are but as you stated the level of introspection in
Deconstructing Harry is a bit darker and for me it was a bit convoluted at times. I guess one could view each film as a kind of deconstruction of Woody:
Annie Hall focuses on the deconstruction of his relationship with love while
Deconstructing Harry goes broader and analyzes not only his relationship with love but the relationship with his writing and its use to evaluate his mental nature.
Perhaps I'm reading into it too much but Deconstructing Harry certainly delves deeper into the mind of Woody Allen. As a fan, its level of introspection can definitely be appreciated but for the casual viewer I feel they'd find the film a bit twisted and at times overtly egomaniacal (my gf for instance would not have enjoyed this film, though she did enjoy Annie Hall).
Annie Hall is the perfect balance of introspection and love story, something that I think is difficult to pull off, yet Woody did. For that, it deserves great admiration.
A few other insights I had (only if we use Woody's films as an extension of himself, which I think is fair), his later films (2000+) show his comfort with living his life through his characters and the ideal worlds in which they live in (like the epiphany he had in
Deconstructing Harry), whether that is true is up for debate. However, there certainly is a departure from the stylistic elements of his earlier films. Films like Vicky Cristina and Midnight are more subtle with their Woody Allen elements and I feel the level of introspection is on a more allegorical level.
Feel free to call me out on this bullshit, I'd like to hear another perspective on his departure from the traditional Woody Allen style. lol