Although none of his 80s movies Woody Allen probably reaches the level of "Annie Hall" or "Manhattan", overall it was even better decade than the previous one. With ten films in ten years, he began to have his average film per year, an average that he has maintained to date.
The decade started somewhat lax with “Regards"In 1980, his particular" Eight and a Half by Fellini "earned him many negative reviews.
And in 1982 his film “A Midsummer Night's Sex ComedyShe even received a Razzie Award nomination for worst performance for Mia Farrow.
Allen's level seemed to have dropped at the beginning of the decade but with "Zelig" in 1983 he proved to be in top form. The mockumentary about Leonard Zelig, the shape-shifting chameleon man, garnered Oscar nominations for Best Costume and Best Cinematography, the latter for giving an effect to the image reminiscent of the 20s by stepping on and scratching celluloid. Woody Allen obtained the David de Donatello for Best Actor for this film.
In 1984 he surprised again with another great script, that of "Broadway Danny Rose". Allen earned two Oscar nominations, as a director and as a screenwriter on the film. The movie won the Bafta and the Writers Guilds of America for best screenplay and David de Donatello for best foreign screenplay. In addition, Mia Farrow obtained a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a comedy or musical.
A year later he repeated his nomination for best original screenplay at the Oscars with "The Purple Rose of Cairo." The film was a success, receiving the FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Bafta for best film and the British Academy Awards for best film and best screenplay.
"Hannah and her sisters"In 1986 is probably his most complete film. It is not only confirmed by the awards received, but also by the criticism received and the great acceptance by the public. The film received seven Oscar nominations, of which it garnered three, including again Best Original Screenplay for Woody Allen. It also won the Golden Globe for best comedy or music film, the award for best foreign screenplay at Donatello's David Awards and was considered Best Film by the New York Film Critics Circle.
In 1987, the filmmaker released two films, "Radio Days" and "September", both of great quality. "Radio Days" even got two Oscar nominations, best original script and best artistic direction.
"Another Woman" earned him a nomination in 1988 for David de Donatello for Best Foreign Director. The film is about a drama, a genre that the author plays on a few occasions, but which he had done precisely a year before with “September”.
In 1989 he filmed "Crimes and misdemeanors" and also one of the episodes of the triptych "New York Stories", film that is completed with the stories of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
"Crimes and Misdemeanors" gives another David de Donatello for Best Foreign Screenplay and Oscar nominations for director and screenwriter.