Hannah and Her Sisters

The technique has been used and re-used in film for generations. Several story lines are featured, each one proceeding simultaneously, each engrossing in their own way. Along the route, they might interweave and intersect, but eventually they merge to reveal a neatly formed conclusion.

There has never been a more distinguished and sophisticated example of this technique than Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters," which earned seven Academy Award nominations in 1986 with victories for Best Supporting Actor (Michael Caine), Best Supporting Actress (Dianne Wiest), and Best Original Screenplay (Woody himself).

"Hannah and Her Sisters" is a touching, sentimental, complex, angst-ridden ride through three sisters' lives over a two -year period that begins and ends at Thanksgiving dinner. Through it all, the viewer becomes intimately familiar with each character as they connect and interconnect with spouses, affairs, and various members of extended family. Hannah (Mia Farrow) seems to be the most responsible, but not vulnerable enough for Elliot, played brilliantly by Michael Caine, who seeks out Hannah's sister Lee (Barbara Hershey) to begin a tortured, clandestined affair. Meanwhile Woody Allen's neurotic Mickey, Hannah's ex, is a TV executive convinced he's dying from any number of potential diseases. Eventually, in an unlikely union, he pairs with the equally neurotic third sister, Holly, a character so perfectly portrayed by Dianne Wiest, you twitch uncomfortably with her whenever she's on screen.

Allen's character contributes comedy and depth, but Woody himself hovers outside the borders of "Hannah and Her Sisters" with his narration giving the viewer the sense he's in the theater watching with you. Underscoring the great emotion of "Hannah and Her Sisters" is the hauntingly beautiful score. Not surprisingly, it is Allen's highest-grossing film, and perhaps the best effort of a rich, outstanding career.

You can purchase "Hannah and Her Sisters at http://www.amazon.com, http://www.borders.com, http://www.dvdplanet.com, http://www.walmart.com, http:// www.fye.com.