Woody Allen is not a personal favourite director of mine and he is admittedly not everybody's cup of tea. While his filmography is not consistent(are there any directors that have) the best of his work is truly exceptional, as seen with Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanours and Husbands and Wives(just a few examples). Hannah and Her Sisters joins those exceptional films, along with Crimes and Misdemeanours it is one of his best films from the 80s. What is especially good is the acting and the screenplay. Michael Caine is just wonderful and thoroughly deserved his Oscar, Woody Allen himself has rarely been funnier and Max Von Sydow in perhaps a nod to Ingmar Bergman gives a poignant performance too. Barbara Herschey and Mia Farrow also do a great job, Farrow as one of Hannah and Her Sisters' most relatable characters. Likewise with Carrie Fisher and Sam Waterson. But special mention has to go to Dianne Wiest, whose performance is among the best of any Woody Allen film, a list that includes Martin Landau in Crimes and Misdemeanours for example. The script is one of the best, tightest and most multi-layered of any Woody Allen film(his best is still Annie Hall in my view, one of the best and most quotable screenplays of all time), it is very funny especially with Allen, has sharp observations told with forcefulness and truth in distinctive Allen style and is touching too. The story is not the tightest structurally, but it is still perhaps the most heartfelt and relatable of his films and is one of Allen's most successful efforts combining comedy and drama(Crimes and Misdemeanours and Annie Hall also). Hannah and Her Sisters is beautifully filmed, one of his most visually striking pictures along with Manhattan, and Allen directs faultlessly as he mostly did. In conclusion, Allen's second best film of the 80s and also one of his best films, exceptional on all counts. 10/10 Bethany Cox