Hannah and Her Sisters

Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 comedy/drama written and directed by Woody Allen.  Its starred among others Allen, Mia Farrow, Barbara Hershey, Dianne Wiest and Michael Caine.  It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture (won by Platoon) and Best Director (won by Oliver Stone for Platoon).  

Hannah and Her Sisters won three Academy Awards:  Allen for Best Original Screenplay, Wiest for Best Supporting Actress and Caine for Best Supporting Actor.

The three sisters from the title are Hannah (Farrow), Lee (Hershey) and Holly (Wiest).  In addition, there are three story lines that are interwoven.  I found the one involving Mickey Sachs (Allen), the ex-husband of Hannah and the future husband of Holly, to be the most interesting.

Mickey, a TV writer, is a hypochondriac.  He's always running to doctors with real or imaginary complaints.  But Mickey is deathly afraid of hospitals.

On one occasion, Mickey visits his GP because of a perceived loss of hearing in one of his ears, which one he is not sure.  Reluctantly, he agrees to the Doctor's decision to make an appointment for him at Mt. Sinai Hospital where there are better diagnostic equipment to determine what is going on inside his head.  While waiting for the appointment, Mickey learns that on "the dark side of the spectrum is brain tumor."

After undergoing various tests including an MRI, Mickey fantasizes he has an inoperable brain tumor.  He thinks, "It's over.  Face to face with eternity, not later, but now.  I'm so frightened I can't move, speak, breathe."

However, in reality the doctor tells Mickey he's fine.  He leaves the hospital literally jumping for joy.  But suddenly, Mickey has an epiphany.  Back in his office, he discusses it with his assistant.

"You realize what a thread we're all hanging by?  You understand how meaningless everything is?  No, I'm not dying now, but you know when I ran out of the hospital I was so thrilled because they told me I was gonna be alright.  I stopped 'cause it hit me.  I'm not gonna go today, I'm not gonna go tomorrow, but eventually I'm gonna be in that position.  I managed to stick it in the back of my mind because it's a very horrible thing to think about."

Looking for answers about life and death, Mickey tries a variety of religions, without success.  Eventually, he attempts suicide with a rifle, but fails.  

Afterwards, Mickey walks the streets trying to calm himself.  He enters a theater showing Duck Soup, an uproarious comedy with the Marx Brothers from 1933.  Mickey's mood is lifted by the happy images on the screen.  Later, he explains his revelation to his girlfriend and future wife Holly.  

“What if the worst is true?  What if there is no God and you only go around once and that’s it?  Well, don’t you want to be part of the experience?  You know, what the hell.  It’s not all a drag and I’m thinking to myself, jeez, I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I’m never gonna get and just enjoy it while it lasts.  And after, who knows, I mean you know maybe there is something.  Nobody really knows.  Yeah, I know maybe is a very slim read to hang your whole life on, but that’s the best we have.  And then I started to sit back and I actually began to enjoy myself.”

We should all just sit back and enjoy ourselves.