Zelig

1983
PG
1h 19m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

45K

YOUR RATING

Set in the 1920s and 1930s, the film focuses on Leonard Zelig (Woody Allen), a nondescript man who has the ability to transform his appearance to that of the people who surround him. He is first observed at a party by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who notes that Zelig related to the affluent guests in a refined Boston accent and shared their Republican sympathies, but while in the kitchen with the servants, he adopted a coarser tone and seemed to be more of a Democrat. He soon gains international fame as a "human chameleon".

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Satire Comedy

"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people."Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people."Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

45K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 7 wins & 19 nominations total

Trivia
To create authenticity, the production used actual lenses, cameras, and sound equipment from the 1920s and used the same lighting that would have been done. In addition, Gordon Willis took the exposed negatives to the shower and stomped on them. As a result, even having shot and being acclaimed for The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974) before, Willis was greeted with his first Academy Award nomination.

Goofs
The speaking person in his 60s in one of the modern interviews is subtitled as "Former SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl". If the interviews were conducted in the early 1980s, the person is evidently too young; the real Pohl was born in June 1892, so he would have been in his late 80s/early 90s at the time... if he had not been hanged for war crimes in 1951.

Quotes
Leonard Zelig: I'm 12 years old. I run into a Synagogue. I ask the Rabbi the meaning of life. He tells me the meaning of life... But, he tells it to me in Hebrew. I don't understand Hebrew. Then he wants to charge me six hundred dollars for Hebrew lessons.

Connections
Featured in Scene by Scene: Woody Allen (2000)

Soundtracks
Leonard the Lizard
Composed by Dick Hyman
Sung by Bernie Knee, Steve Clayton and Tony Wells

User reviews132

Review

Featured review

10/10

Zealous about "Zelig"

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.