

Woody Allen’s Zelig is a hilarious mockumentary from 1983. It is an allegory about conformity, too, and focuses in on the amusing idea that an individual should be so obsessed with conforming and not standing out that he should actually begin to physically transform into other people. The movie is constructed with old-fashioned footage and looks like a vintage documentary, complete with newsreel footage from the 20s and 30s. Allen inserted himself to the footage via blue screen technology and simulated damage to new footage, just like Robert Rodriguez did in Planet Terror last year, to give the film the out-of-date look.
Allen stars as Leonard Zelig, a man who has the ability to change his appearance to that of the people surrounding him. If Zelig is surrounded by overweight people, he will begin to become overweight. If he is amongst doctors, Zelig becomes a doctor. The transition causes him to lack any actual self-identity and, instead, he is dubbed the “human chameleon.” Much is made of this unique condition and he is eventually taken into a psychiatric institution for study. He is studied by Dr. Eudora Fletcher (Mia Farrow), who eventually begins to fall for Zelig.
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