Zelig (1983) User Reviews (131)

A Delightful Story In An Engaging Format

[Salon_Kitty · 9/10 · 27 March 2005]

Was this the first "mockumentary"? I checked out IMDb and it predates Guest, Reiner and co.'s This Is Spinal Tap by a year. Not only was it a fake documentary, it sustained the format throughout, never once breaking into an enacted scene. Allen told his story, set in his favorite time period, The Roaring 20's, using special lenses to create the old style newsreels. Using photo stills, mixing real footage with his, and providing exposition via modern-day "historians" and aged characters, he gave this innovative film such an authenticity that if one didn't know any better, you would swear there had been an actual Leonard Zelig.

Allen plays Leonard, a man so devoid of identity, so eager to assimilate, that he literally takes on the appearance or, at least, the attributes of anyone he comes in contact with. Mia Farrow plays his psychiatrist, Dr. Eudora Fletcher, and taken in smaller doses, she actually is perfect in this role. There are a few moments when you get to see an extended dialogue between the two, most notably when her brother is filming "The White Room" sessions at her country estate. This is the only time that Allen's shtick gets to flex, as he cracks jokes about teaching a Masturbation class. Advanced. I also loved Zelig groaning about Eudora's terrible cooking under hypnosis. Eventually, Dr. Fletcher is able to cure him, and with his newfound personality, he and Eudora fall in love.

Allen also introduces the idea of Zelig's story being filmed as a movie, so he inter cuts some of the news sources with scenes from the film (very funny). The one thing that really stood out for me, though, was this revelation towards the end of the film. Woody as Leonard Zelig was smiling. A lot. It was kind of weird to see, but his happiness actually imbued the film with positive emotion and charmed the pants off me (not literally, of course) to such a degree that I will undoubtedly be repeating my viewing pleasure many more times.

I'll be honest. There were moments early on that I perhaps wondered if he was going to be able to sustain my interest. I thought he might be playing this conceit a little too long. What had, in the first 20 minutes, been enchanting and amusing seemed to dwindle in the middle of the film. Would he really succeed at telling an engaging story in this method? Well, I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. He layers so many meanings into his character's transformations, and all of his historians offer different interpretations. The importance of being yourself. How Zelig's journey was America's journey during the tumultuous and wild 20's. He also has a great running gag about Moby Dick that lampoons the Great American Novel.

Will Allen ever be this innovative and original again? Well, it appears he's making an attempt with his newest film, Melinda and Melinda, in which he tells the same story twice, with one tone being humorous, while the other is tragic. If nothing else, he at least continues to strive for an authentic voice in this littered landscape of movie franchises and ridiculously insulting comedies. Go Woody.

The FIRST EVER Mockumentary.

[Amyth47 · 9/10 · 7 May 2019]

My Rating : 9/10

To ME this is the FIRST EVER Mockumentary that I enjoyed and something that absolutely worked with my sensibilities!

Woody Allen is such a genius fellow, love his art and movies. 'Zelig' is supremely engaging, funny and has that old-world charm about it that makes it a classic.

Loved everything about this and thanks Woody for coming through when I was heavily bored with intellectual mumbo-jumbo movies and just needed the right kick in the teeth!

Woody Allen Does the Chameleon

[EmperorNortonII · 9/10 · 25 April 2003]

"Zelig" is a very clever movie, the kind you just know Woody Allen is capable of. In this "mockumentary," Woody plays Leonard Zelig, an insecure man who goes to the ultimate length to fit in. Mia Farrow offers the love interest as Dr. Eudora Fletcher. In "Zelig," we get to see Woody spliced into old footage, including the Nazi rally. This came before the effect became used more often, in movies like "Forrest Gump." I see this as a transition in Woody's movies. It comes somewhere between his early funnier movies, like "Bananas" and "Take the Money and Run," and his later, more introspective ones, like "Hannah and Her Sisters" and "Husbands and Wives." It makes a statement about individuality, and produces laughs in the process.

Zelig is a masterpiece

[Enrique-Sanchez-56 · 10/10 · 3 July 2004]

Yes, a masterpiece. The entire premise of the movie is wildly original, even coming from WOODY ALLEN who continually cranks out one interesting film after another to this day.

The label of mock-umentary just doesn't do justice to the uniqueness of this film. ALLEN and his amazingly talented staff created a movie that no other director could have made nor even thought of doing. Some of the humor is rather modern like the forward references to self-gratification during the psychiatrist scenes with MIA FARROW. But mostly, it's filled with humor from another time and place which we'll never return.

To me, one of the wonderful aspects of this is the period music dispersed throughout with joyful admiration. We are lucky that ALLEN has continued to use music from the early part of the 20th century. I think no other director has so consistently had such a reverence for this wonderful music. Perhaps no other director has such a strong knowledge of it either.

That WOODY ALLEN normally portrays himself as a nebbishy character in many of his own movies works so well in this movie. A more aggressive person who becomes a chameleon would not have worked as well at all. I am glad that MIA FARROW was still associated with him when he made this film, I think no other modern actress could have pulled this off as well as she did. She has that timeless look that is appealing but has a far-off feeling.

The flavor of the period-looking cinematography and photography is part of the genius of the implementation here. It is so right on the money. The flickering of projectors, the out-of-focus look to so man scenes shot today meld amazingly well with the contrived shots.

THINK ABOUT THIS - this is years before CGI took over Hollywood...years before FORREST GUMP and countless of other knock-offs have proliferated in movies. Gee whiz, there is CGI in so many movies these days. I watched a DVD of a recent movie recently which used special effects in the most unexpected, unlikely and unnecessary parts you'd be surprised.

Yes, ZELIG is a masterpiece and I only feel sorry for those who cannot see the astounding piece of cinema this is.

More Relentless Self-Deprecation From The King

[kjphyland · 8/10 · 30 July 2015]

This could well be a review of 90% of Woody Allen's oeuvre. The film is a smorgasbord of fabulousness - exquisite concepts, very clever lines and very funny ones. No film maker has ever had such a grasp of irony, sarcasm and the ridiculous, and still imbue it with wit and (occasionally) subtlety. But it is the relentless self-deprecation and extant feelings of worthlessness that eventually become wearing after you have watched as many Allen films as I have. This is the film that most impresses you with his confusion over identity however. I could go on about self-analysis for pages but it's unnecessary...just watch any given Woody Allen film. He mellows it out with a rather forlorn sense of romance that becomes endearing rather than pathetic...a skill that is essential to engage with his films. This is a fine film. Oh yeah...and very funny...if you get the references.

Layered into Reality

[tedg · 20 October 2003]

Spoilers herein.

Woody's films, enjoyable or not, represent a walk though all the larger philosophical observations and experiments in film. Most of those - at least in this period - have to do with how the camera distorts reality.

We get this in the reinvention of history overlain on the very nature of a fake documentary. It is echoed in the story, of course, which gives Woody a chance to mug and romance his new girl. (She `saves' him.)

Anyone who thinks this is about a man needs to have his license to watch Woody revoked.

I consider this a practice session for his best film: `Sweet and Lowdown,' which deals with these same issues, in the same way but so much more subtly and powerfully. That's in part because Woody's biggest liability as a director is Woody the actor, and he substituted the best folded actor in the world. But it is also because `Sweet' didn't have the distraction of manipulating old film.

Still, this is a pretty sweet idea, the idea of having a character be sufficiently powerful that he is able to actually modify existing filmed history.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Zelig : Patience Is A Virtue

[happipuppi13 · 7/10 · 3 May 2022]

Only briefly in the past had I heard about this Woody Allen movie, that being only the title and not knowing it was by Woody Allen.

On attaining a copy of the movie on DVD, I watched it a few months back

I did like the idea of a made up documentary about a "human chameleon" who can take the form of others around him as a deeply sub-conscious effort to fit in with others and be accepted.

The inclusion of Woody in historical moments is amazing also,given this was accomplished 11 years before being done by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.

The comedy. Some good funny moments and lines but, after the first hour, I felt the movie was kind of grinding to a halt. Now, that could just be me, for I know others here have given the move higher marks.

I may be missing some point in the film or something then didn't resonate to me but I started to feel the point had been made and once that was done, it felt like it was repeating ideas already coverd.

I'm not stating anyone's opinion is wrong (that would be a dumb thing to do) I'm only saying I personally felt that way. Maybe the 8 , 9 and 10 star reviewers know something I may be missing here.

I know Allen can be ingenious in his comedy works, I have seen nearly all of his movies. I felt it just needed a few more touches of comedic writing and maybe even a little more manic-craziness related with the era Zelig lives in.

So, 7 rating out of 10. My rating takes nothing away from the abilities of Allen of course. So, I may view this again sometime, maybe I'll feel differently . (END.)

My favourite Woody Allen film

[roystephen-81252 · 10/10 · 7 February 2016]

Out of all Woody's movies, this is my all-time favourite. Deep and meaningful, a perfect blend of drama and comedy. It was filmed in black-and-white, like Manhattan, but this time in the mockumentary style of Take the Money and Run. Less comedic than that film, though, but just as entertaining. The special effects (blending the actors with documentary stock footage) are simply astounding for their time. It was only 10+ years later that another film (Forrest Gump) managed to pull this thing off with the same success. (Now that I mentioned it, Forrest Gump may have a lot more in common with Zelig... There are clearly parallels not only visually, but thematically, as well.) It is also very concise. Lasting only 70 minutes, there is no unnecessary fat at all. A time very well spent for anyone who loves bittersweet, heart-warming movies.

Amazing concept, diminishing laughs

[secondtake · 7/10 · 6 September 2009]

Zelig (1983)

Amazing concept, diminishing laughs

When this starts, it's astonishing, and funny, and inventive. And very very well done. Starting with Susan Sontag, the real Sontag, is a leap of reality that seems like it'll carry the whole 79 minutes. And there are truly moments that show up throughout that are good for a gasp or a laugh, the Hitler scene for one.

But the concept is the key, and to some extent it's been done before, at least in stills. And once you get it, which might take three minutes or might take ten, you've got it, and it depends more on acting or cleverness from then on. And for me it falters too often to really make it worthwhile (Mia Farrow is really a bore throughout, and even Allen is sometimes straining). I have to say, the first time I saw it I didn't get as tired of it, so if it's the first time you might be thrilled. And if you've seen the 1994 Forrest Gump (and liked it), you owe it to yourself to see Zelig for being first, and in my small view, better, technically.

Because technically this is a complete marvel. The original footage is as authentically 1920s and 30s as anything authentic (an odd post modern truth), and the newly composed music and dance numbers are really fabulous, and funny. The team Allen has during all his films this period (many of them my favorites) is none other than Gordon Willis behind the camera, Susan Morse editing, Juliet Taylor casting, and Santo Loquasto costumes. The music by Allen veteran Dick Hyman, who is now more famous for his ragtime renditions, is key, of course, and really convincing (sometimes convincingly bad, very period).

So whatever my reservations, this is in many ways a fresh, unique, brilliant film, a small one with big brief moments.

Woody strikes again!

[Mister-6 · 9/10 · 21 April 2000]

Woody can be clever. Woody can be funny. And when Woody's clever AND funny, you get "Zelig".

Telling the story of Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen, who else?) who transforms himself chameleon-like into anyone just to get people to like him, he finds himself the object of on-going observation from a kind doctor (Farrow), who eventually falls for him.

But lest you think this is simply a love story, there are also pot-shots at fame, fads, the 1930s (!!), medical conventions, product cash-ins and the joys and pitfalls of celebrity.

Then there's the sheer joy of the technical wizardry that allows Woody's Zelig to stand alongside such figures as Josephine Baker, Brickhouse, William Randolph Hearst, Marion Davies, "Red" Grange, Al Capone, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Lou Gehrig and Fanny Brice. This is the same type of FX visible in "Forrest Gump", and eleven years before the fact! Nice going.

But you haven't lived till you've seen Woody trying to blend in at an Adolph Hitler speech.

There's a lot of slapstick but there's also a lot of great lines ("I have to council a group of chronic masturbators", Zelig complains, "and if I'm late they'll start without me.") Classic.

But at the center of it all is Woody himself, just like his Zelig character, wanting only to be liked, if not loved. He succeeds. Once you see "Zelig", you'll love it.

Eight stars, plus one star more for watching Woody be serenaded by Fanny Brice. He's the cat's pajamas!

zelig

[marmar-69780 · 7/10 · 9 January 2020]

Zelig is first film of woody allen i saw,and i liked parts of a film,i liked that film is represented in a documentry type way since it worked in a unique style and it didnt suffered becase of that,i was impressed also to see that allen is a pretty good actor and that is a rare case considering other directors putting themselfs in films but he suceeded,but considering on seeing how many people find this film funny,i wasnt able to find nothing like that,movie has good potreyed story but it isnt funny one for me,since im not big fan of documentry type films in this one i was able to invest myself in a story and it picked my interest in it

Zealous about "Zelig"

[Varlaam · 10/10 · 1 October 1999]

Leapin' lizards! This film is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

"Zelig" was a revelation in 1983, an utterly ingenious faux-documentary, without any precedent, at least not on this scale. Hilarious then, it still is today. That quick glimpse you get of the all-Hasidic production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is priceless. It gives renewed meaning to "Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

Allen's technique is extraordinary. "Zelig" has the best bogus documentary footage quite probably since "Citizen Kane".

As the film urges, everyone should "Do the Chameleon", by seeing "Zelig". Woody Allen creates a trenchant comment on people's desire for conformity: "Everybody, go chameleon." We all tend to do that to some degree, but it's not usually so amusing. Try to blend in with the crowd rushing out to find "Zelig" on video.

It is probably worth noting that a Jewish Nazi is not as ridiculous a stretch as Woody makes it seem. Reinhard Heydrich, the vicious organizer of the Final Solution, fell into that category. The top Nazis were all misfits in one way or another.

" All I ever wanted was to be liked "

[thinker1691 · 7/10 · 7 November 2009]

The inventive mind of Woody Allen has little to prove. He has consistently managed to capture our hearts and minds with humorous entertainment of a superb quality for years. In this surprising offering entitled " Zelig " a strange phenomena occurs when Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen) a common man is able to morph himself, like a chameleon into anyone around him. This includes resembling Blacks, Orientals or different cultures, nationalities and even professions. What begins as a trick, or illusion becomes a world wide sensation which further transports him into the NEWS of the Day. Zelig comes to the attention of Dr. Eudora Nesbitt Fletcher (Mia Farrow) who decides to dedicate her life to the study and understanding of the unusual man. Using a documentary style Allen captures the sites, sounds and feels of the 20's and 30' with success. With such results, the film becomes another triumph for Allen who wrote, directs and stars in this sure to become a Classic. ****

Joke Stretched Thin

[kenjha · 4/10 · 23 January 2011]

In this mockumentary, "historical" footage is used to tell the story of a man who had a chameleon-like ability to integrate himself into his surroundings. This is a one-joke movie, and that joke is stretched much too thin to produce any laughs. There is also just one message: conformity is bad. The joke and the message are exhausted in the first 15 minutes. However, the film then drags on for another hour of repetitious footage as Allen belabors the point. The main purpose of this film is for Allen to show off the technique of merging new footage with historical footage, something that had never been done on this scale. It's an interesting exercise for a short, not a feature film.

"Identity Crisis and Its Relationship to Personality Disorder "

[Galina_movie_fan · 10/10 · 25 May 2006]

One of the most sophisticated, cleverest, funniest, exquisitely shot and edited, scored, and acted movies ever made, "Zelig" is a masterpiece and astounding work even for Woody Allen whose mediocre movies are way above the regular Hollywood fares.

With the modest running time less than 80 minutes, this mockumentary tells the story of a "human chameleon", Leonard Zelig, Leonard the Lizard who possessed an extraordinary ability to transform himself in anyone he met (or should I say, an extraordinary ability possessed him?).

Leonard is a shy, little, meek Jewish man whose rare personality disorder consists of not having his own personality at all and successfully and effortlessly adapting any personality he came close to and fitting perfectly to any surroundings. His skin turns black when he is with the Black people, with the Native Americans, he became one; attending the dinner with the intellectuals, he speaks brilliantly with F.S. Fitzgerald, when on the baseball field, he is Babe Ruth. The meeting with an intelligent and compassionate psychiatrist, Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow) will begin the slow and long process for Zelig of searching and finding his own personality and possibility for love and happiness. The movie provides laughs and smiles but it also makes the viewer think of more serious subjects. Are we all have a Zelig inside? Don't we all want to be liked and try to adapt to our surroundings to feel comfortable? The movie can also be viewed as the meditation on the nature of the acting ability. While watching "Zelig", I kept thinking of a book I read recently. One of the characters was a great actor who had the similar to Zelig's disorder - he had no personality at all until he was given a part to act on stage. That Actor made the best and most convincing and complex Shakespeare's heroes - he was a brilliant reflective Hamlet but his greatest success was tragic Othello. The actor's transformation to Othello was so real that he acted it at home with his wife whom he suspected in cheating - he played his role perfectly with the same as in the play results. He ended up in the asylum where he could not act but he was allowed to read...Dostoevsky's novel "The Possessed" from which he chose to adapt the personality of Nikolai Stavrogin with rather unpredictable results. When his doctor finally realized what happened, he took all books with the exception of "The Idiot". Finally, the actor became a gentle and kind Prinz Myshkin, and that was the end of book.

Both, the book and the movie "Zelig" made me think of the price the artists pay to achieve perfection in their art. Are they vampires sucking the life out of their victims only to use them as characters for their acting roles? Is that the ultimate price the artist is paying for being a great artist? Does he need lives and souls of others to be able to create? This is one of many subjects "Zelig" makes you think about.

Allen seamlessly weds Black and white newsreel footage with his humorous but deep and fascinating tale allowing Zelig to be exactly where and when History was made. Using special lenses to give the movie the old style, mixing his own footage with the real documentaries, including his favorite music, dances, feeling perfectly forever gone era, Woody recreates The Roaring 20Th with breathtaking authenticity.

M:IWIHSIIT - according to my new grading system, a Masterpiece, I wish I had seen in the theater

A Minor Masterpiece

[Into_The_West · 10/10 · 16 April 2005]

Zelig is, I think, my favorite Woody Allen movie. It's strange to prefer it over Annie Hall or Manhattan or Hannah and Her Sisters, and perhaps it's just my trivia loving personality that points me toward Zelig rather than one of Allen's more traditional movies.

Regardless, it is an incredible film. Years before computer animation, Allen was able to insert himself convincingly into old movies. His ability to replicate both the look and sound of old newsreels, in addition to the scratches and discolorations, is remarkable, but this is just window dressing for something that exists on several different levels.

At one level, Zelig is a simple satire, a fake documentary about a made-up "human chameleon" celebrity of the 1920's. It's rich with typical Allen touches and lines. But at another, it is a serious examination of how we adulate then try to destroy celebrities in America. At yet another, it is an examination of the Jewish compulsion to assimilate into whatever society we happen to be in.

But there are even more layers to this film. Allen manages to be laugh out loud farcical through most of this movie, but in the way of all great screen comedians, injects pathos into the film when Zelig, about to be sentenced for multiple crimes committed when he was in his "chameleon states" disappears leaving his heartbroken fiancée/psychiatrist behind.

And at an even deeper level, it's a rejection of the modern tendency to have to understand what things mean, rather than just appreciating them. This latter bit is shown by an actor discussing his book, "Interpreting Zelig," immediately followed by the late Susan Sonntag, playing herself, disputing this while the subtitle identifying her shows her as the author of "Against Interpretation." Indeed any film that manages to have Dr. Bruno Bettleheim, Irving Howe, Saul Bellow and Sonntag playing in it, commenting on the fictional Zelig, is something that can appeal to many people in many ways.

Undoubtedly, this reflects the complex character of Zelig himself, who could be so many different things to so many different people. This complexity is, like it is for Zelig, both a curse and its redemption. Rather than just a silly little fake documentary or a complex dissertation on art and philosophy, it's both and neither.

All this creates a remarkably rich cinematic experience which is genuinely unique, even among Allen's several "mockumentaries" like "The Harvey Wallanger Story," "Take the Money and Run" and "Sweet and Lowdown." See it once, or a hundred times, there are always details, either on the screen or in the ideas presented, that seem new and wonderful.

If it isn't Allen's great masterpiece (which in my mind, it could be), it's a minor masterpiece worth seeing.

Impressive but more satire needed

[edgeofreality · 24 July 2020]

The idea is great and much of the execution wherein we see Allen as Zelig inserted perfectly into old footage. But I would have liked more satire to emerge, a stronger, more biting attack on the world around Zelig that made a chameleon out of him, and perhaps a bit less of the romance with the psychologist.

Technically brilliant...

[Gyran · 7/10 · 19 November 2001]

This is a technically brilliant spoof documentary. It starts in the 1920s using grainy silent film and stills, goes through the sound era and ends in colour in the 1980s. It makes clever use of library footage and newsreels so that what you see on the screen is always plausibly what could have been shot at the time. For example, when Dr Fletcher goes to a nightclub it is illustrated by stock footage of a 1920's nightclub plus stills of Dr Fletcher that a nightclub photographer might have taken. The scenes of Zelig's treatment are explained by Dr Fletcher's being an early exponent of the use of film to record a case history. Some of the newsreel is completely faked and some is doctored so that, for example Zelig appears to be at a Hitler rally or appears to be sung to by Fanny Brice. There are also excerpts from a fake 1935 Hollywood biopic based on Zelig's life. All this is intercut with a modern commentary in colour featuring an elderly Dr Fletcher and real personalities such as Saul Bellow and Susan Sontag.

The pastiche musical numbers such as Do the Chameleon, Chameleon Days and Leonard the Lizard, were a joy

That said, the film is not very funny. I sat there thinking: ‘Wow, this is brilliant' but with only a half-smile on my face. Even at 75 minutes I found it a bit too long and repetitive like an idea for a short story that has been stretched too far.

Zenith Zelig.

[ptb-8 · 9/10 · 23 February 2008]

ZELIG is simply a jaw-dropping sight and sound as a film; hilarious.... out loud. The funny premise is polished to some astonishing level of trickery with editing and matte effects seamlessly blending real 20s with recreated 20s adding Allen and Farrow and dialog and interviews that will have you recalling and roaring with laughter for days. I had not seen it since 1983 and now in 2008 to be reminded how stunning and hilarious this creation is, well, I am just delighted to be back on the wavelength of this genuinely brilliant hoax documentary. Now I can see how FORREST GUMP came about, given that it is a similar 'historic' premise using real footage of events and eras mixed with the lead character. But ZELIG is another perfection altogether; if you know your 20s, silent films, the imagery, the early sound newsreels and all those silly songs, then ZELIG is a superlative treat. It even features Mae Questrel singing a new Betty Boop song and for that alone I cheer this almost perfect film. What a delight. If you also get to see the early Peter Jackson hoax documentary FORGOTTEN SILVER or Stanley Donen's MOVIE MOVIE you will be equally rewarded.

A very good idea, but...

[uferro · 7/10 · 8 March 2018]

First, I am sorry for my english. I think it's a very funny and very very original film. But I think it's too longe. It would be better with 45 minutes menos

Identity Crisis

[nycritic · 10/10 · 18 December 2005]

Before FORREST GUMP told the story about its eponymous main character managing to find himself at the center of this country's main events we had this oddity of a mockumentary that only the uber-intellectual mind of Woody Allen could come up with. Appropriately narrated in that self-important newsreel voice-over that is the template of most documentaries, we are taken into the life of this 'human chameleon' called Leonard Zelig. Zelig has the ability to show up and blend into whomever he is around with at any given moment and pops up in the most interesting of places.

Soon he catches the interest of psychiatrist Dr. Eudora Fletcher who decides to undertake the task of 'curing' Zelig. She subjects him to a series of sessions to find out the meaning of his condition and thus further her own breakthroughs in psychology. At the same time we see comments from real-life celebrities as diverse as the day is long which pretend to explain his effect on events in general, his marriages, the man and the myth. Their presence lends an air of veracity and at times it's hard to believe one is watching an extremely clever mockumentary due to the footage utilized. Allen, in making ZELIG well before CGI, was able to painstakingly age film and process photos as to make it seem that Zelig in effect was "there" when things happened. Viewers at the same time will feel tempted to look for the dividing line between montage and real footage; one memorable scene is a rally led by Hitler (an actor playing Hitler, not the real man) which Zelig witnesses as a German Nazi. Dr. Eudora Fletcher follows him there and hilarity ensues as she points him out in the middle of Hitler's rousing dissertation. However, there is a greater irony as this event becomes a grossly fictionalized "film version". Allen is clearly toying with the viewer in saying that even when he is presenting "the facts" about this personage, events will be glamorized, and the line between fact and fiction will be blurred. Clever, indeed.

ZELIG falls short of being one of Woody Allen's great films for the reason it's a mockumentary; it barely has his presence and that of Mia Farrow as familiar faces and is a visual attack of archive footage and old jazz tunes. At the same time, one of his much shorter tales of self-existentialism in the threat of blending in, it does serve as something of an allegory that bears his indelible mark.

Convincing and always charming

[Dockelektro · 7/10 · 22 October 2002]

The execution of this idea is perfect: creating an old newsreel of a strange story comes out perfect - Woody Allen, a loving fanatic of the roaring 20's, decides to create himself his own roaring 20's story. And here the idea is out of this world - a human chameleon which can change appearance according to whoever is around him. Of course he does this with his usual style, and he never fails to make the audience laugh their guts out. Magnificent integration of actual footage and made-up film, this is the definition of mockumentary, even interviewing people from the present to talk about the past. Early Allen genius, it is only a pity that he hasn't tried doing something like this ever since.

One of Woody's most creative masterpieces

[nicoletofm · 10/10 · 11 April 2016]

I saw it a few days ago and it's now definitely among my top 10 Woody Allen favorites. From start to finish I was amazed by how the story was told and it just felt so real. It could be a real documentary! I also admire the job of the actors doing the part of the testimonies and when we are showed the old photos with the Ken Burns Effect. It's incredible they made this in 1983. I don't know if it was the first mockumentary ever done but I'm sure it influenced a lot since then. There are also some good messages and great lines, even it's not your typical Woody Allen script. All the actors are fantastic and the make up is pretty impressing. When it was over I wanted the movie to start again. It is really a different cinematic experience, original, fresh and funny. I recommend it to everyone, while I know not everyone will be as amazed as I was.

Inventive Allen mockumentary

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 13 August 2012]

Woody Allen delivered Zelig in the middle of a particularly strong creative patch. He had successfully navigated from pure comedies to more serious comedy-dramas. If anything, Zelig falls into the former category. But it's really quite different to anything else he had directed at that point. It's a pretty experimental movie in many ways, one that uses technical wizardry like no other Allen movie. It takes the form of a mockumentary, and in order to successfully achieve its aims, it blends old and new films such that Woody himself appears seamlessly in old footage depicting various historical figures and scenes. In this sense, it pre-dates the Oscar winning Forrest Gump by a decade.

Its story revolves around a strange figure called Leonard Zelig. He is a man who had a significant effect on world affairs but who is now forgotten. Historians and people who knew him discuss his life in a talking heads format, while we see a variety of stills and clips taken from different parts of his life. It appears that he was known as a human chameleon, in that he was able to change his appearance and personality at will, so that he could blend into any situation; in this way he was, for example, able to turn black, put on excessive weight, speak new languages, etc at will. The premise is of course entirely fantastical but it is treated with sober seriousness by the narrator. This mixture of silliness with a dry academic documentary style is what makes it the film that it is. I guess it has some things to say about conformity and celebrity but in essence it's an amusing inventive docucomedy. It reminded me a little bit of Peter Greenaway's The Falls in it's absurdist humour and documentary realism, except this is a good deal more accessible and, of course, funnier. Having said all that, it isn't among Allen's best works in my opinion. It's neither as funny as his best comedies, nor as emotionally involving as his best dramas. Nevertheless, it is one of his most original. And where else can we see Allen goofing around behind Adolf Hitler at a Nazi rally? Overall, it's a film that once again proves Allen is a highly original talent.

Boring, repetitive, seemingly interminable film

[angelofvic · 2/10 · 11 August 2006]

I felt trapped in this film, and to me it was a misery to sit through. It's 80 minutes of the exact same gimmick repeated ad nauseum, a gimmick that the audience "gets" in the first 5 or 10 minutes, and then we are ready to move on to another joke. But no other joke is forthcoming -- it's just an endless, mind-numbing repetition of the exact same thing, a joke that wasn't that funny (to me) to begin with. If the fact that certain people are social chameleons is news to some people, then those people may, perhaps, enjoy this film. Otherwise, I'd admonish: Stay away.

I personally advise skipping this film. In my opinion, it's a one-note film based on a joke that isn't funny even the first time you hear it.