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How and Why Holly Got Pregnant - The definite and unabridged explanation

posted 19 years ago by atrius450
33 replies | jump to latest

I saw a few threads with numerous assumptions of the reason behind Holly's pregnancy. Well, here is mine, which was not mentioned in any of those threads. Just let me point out that even though I believe this is the correct one, the ending, as much as the whole movie, is multi-layered and can me interpreted in many, many ways.

Well, here it goes:

The movie is called Hannah and Her Sisters. Allen discussed religion in this movie and his choice of that name is not random at all. The reason behind this selection can be found in the first book of Shmuel, in which there's the story of Hannah, who is infertile and begs to god to give her, in return of her belief, a child. Finally, miracle happens and Hannah got pregnant. Her new-born is named Shmuel, and she decides to put him (from a young age) to work in the temple, and by that giving him back to god.

Now, you probably see the resemblance between the two stories, the Biblical one and Allen's. In his movie, Hannah and Mickey can't have any children. The problem is with Mickey, low sperm count that is. After some time they're getting divorced, and Mickey and Holly (Hannah's sister) are brought together, by Hannah. That doesn't work out and life goes on for the two of them. After some time they meet again, but this time it works - they fall in love, get married, Holly gets pregnant.

Between the two meetings Mickey went through a process - He thought he's dying, he tried to convert his religion (born a Jew), tried various religions, and finally gave up, deciding to enjoy his life as long as he lives it.

The relationship between Holly and Hannah is an interesting one and a pivotal point of this explanation: Hannah is a giving person. She likes to give, and doesn't ask much for return. All her life she gave everything her younger sister Holly asked for - usually money, but also support and some good advice. Despite that, Holly becomes vulnerable when talking with or just being near Hannah (The reason for that is for another topic). In conclusion, Hannah gives everything she has to Holly's slightest request, while not wanting anything in return but the one thing Holly doesn't give her - real love, without the slightest of envy.

Irony has a big part in this relationship: while Holly is a despertate bachelor, Hannah is married for the second time. Despite of that, Hannah's four children (!) are all adopted. Her current and second husband, Elliot (who's cheating on her with her sister, Lee), refuses to get her pregnant.

The solution to this quite complex situation is almost impossible, but it happens, and its a holy (aha! HOLLY, get it?) solution alright: Hannah gives Holly the only thing she didn't give her thus far, which is the only thing Hannah had and Holly didn't - a true love. That love brings her the only thing Hannah didn't have - a baby. The baby is brought to Holly by Mickey, but only after his affair with God and beliefs.

Biblical Hannah (we can call her that can't we?) wants a baby, as does Allen's Hannah. Biblical Hannah gets it, a miracle from God, and gives it back to God, as a token of appreciation and belief. Allen's Hannah wants a baby, and she gets it, a miracle from God, through her sister Holly. The pregnancy of Holly resembles two stages of the Biblical story - the pregnancy, ofcourse, and the giving of the child to god.

Mickey, who almost killed himself, needed an answer, an answer with certainty, to his questions. To get his belief back, his trust in God (does it exist or not?), or his trust in life (What does it mean?), he needed a definite answer. Hannah, a giving person, gave Holly the only thing Holly really wanted from Hannah - a baby. By that baby, this pregnancy, Mickey goes back to God, to life. The missing part in the two sisters relationship is put: Holly gets what she wanted, love and family, and I guess Hannah will get what she wanted - a trusting and truly loving sister.

The baby, well, they just might call him Shmuel.

and an extra comment: even thought I'm very pleased with my explanation, some might disagree. I'm not a religious person , but people might find my explanation too spiritual to their taste. With their disagreement taken into consideration, you just can't avoid the utterly definite resemblence between the biblical story and this. Your intrepration to this resemblence is as good as mine, but ignoring it would be missing a huge layer of this movie.

Hope you enjoyed this one, and are more than welcome to reply.

[–] ijonesiii 19 years ago

Wow!!! Did you write a thesis on this film or what? Superb post with a brilliant explanation for Holly's pregnancy. It's so nice to read an intelligent, well-written post that actually looks like some thought was put into it.

[–] drooggirl 19 years ago

I agree, brilliant. I think this depth of attention is deserving of many Woody films, but tends to get glossed over due to their wit.

[–] trevor-136 19 years ago

Not so sure about the explanation, but I just love the end as Mickey plants kisses on Holly's neck...always makes me fill up!

[–] Doctor_Strangelove 19 years ago

I loved the explanation, it was great. Although my interpretation is much simpler. He loved Holly more than Hannah, and much like in Woody's other film Match Point, he can concive a child with her because the passion is real.

[–] viennese_dream 19 years ago

I just saw this recently, so maybe I'm missing something, but aren't Hannah's twin sons the product or artificial insemination, not adoption? That could still apply to this theory as far as a miracle birth, it would just directly relate to the Biblical story more.

[–] Don-Charlieone 19 years ago

I prefer to interpret the last line as bitter, ironic, and hilarious, because Holly (the one character who never seemed virtuous) would HAVE to be cheating on Mickey. Bottom line. He knows it, and he kisses her anyway. It's ironic and hilarious. One of the best and most clever ending to any Allen film.

[–] kelticman 18 years ago

holly was his first wife's SISTER. she KNEW he was "infertile" your sister does not plunk down the 1000s for artificial insemination without letting family now.

so if holly had gotten knocked up thinking it was Not mickey's she would not have told him at a big party, especially after he declares his love.

micky had a low sperm count with sperm in low condition. guess what, i personally know people who were told "your wife can't get pregnant" and she did.

there is even the phenomenon of adoption causing pregnancies. couples are too stressed to procreate. once they have the blessed baby, they relax and get knocked up!

by the way, even if you were right, it would be bitter, but i don't find it ironic.

it would be IRONIC that holly got pregnant by a man who could not get her sister pregnant.

bonk!

[–] tami-littlenut 17 years ago

<<I prefer to interpret the last line as bitter, ironic, and hilarious, because Holly (the one character who never seemed virtuous) would HAVE to be cheating on Mickey. Bottom line. He knows it, and he kisses her anyway. It's ironic and hilarious. One of the best and most clever ending to any Allen film.>>

You are SO wrong. So wrong. Holly knows about Mickey's low sperm count -- that is how she knows what a miracle this is. That miracle is written all over her face as she tells Mickey, the joy, the glow, it's genuine. If she were cheating on him and got pregnant, knowing that he is not supposed to be fertile, she would be horrified. She has NEVER been someone who could hide or repress her feelings. There would be no way she could hide the horror she would feel at that. As for her not being virtuous, we never saw Holly as a cheater. We saw her as an insecure, unhappy person who has grown strong and happy. Strong, happy people in good relationships don't cheat. There is NOTHING to indicate that she is cheating and EVERYTHING to indicate that a minor miracle has taken place. You need to go back to class, kid, and work on your interpretation skills.

[–] joshpines 17 years ago

Yes, the twins were the result of artificial insemination, not adoption.

[–] thatsweetbird 19 years ago

Firstly, this a great post. You have zeroed in on a key question about the movie, one that seems to be important to the resolution(or non-resolution)of the themes that it has explored.

While I think the idea that Holly must be cheating on Mickey--as one poster posted--is funny, I can't see that as the best explanantion for what Woody was trying to get at with this ending.

This ending seems to stick out like a sore thumb among most of Woody's films. While some people would finger "Interiors" or "Another Woman" as the "most different" Allen film(due to their unrelenting serious tone), this film can also be seen as "the one that is not like the others". And that view of the film basically is due to its resolution(s). They are so tidy, neat and upbeat. This definitely is why this film--as opposed to many other Allen films that also have similar subject matter, witty dialogue, great characters, great actors, etc--was so much more popular.

Don't get me wrong. I love H.& H.S. But its ending--if you think about it--is very un-Woody. And Woody has commented on this repeatedly. He clearly does NOT consider this one of his finest films--and equally clearly--his major unhappiness lies with the "Hollywood" ending. It is both too "sweep it under the rug"(with Eliot)and ghost in the machine(with Holly). While this latter problem can definitely also be libled against the ending of Mighty Aphrodite, at least there Woody literally acknowledges it as being just that.

I think you are definitely on to something with the religous searching connection to the birth. Mickey fears mortality. How do some people not worry about that? By having children.

But the problem here is how this idea of children as immortality is so unsupported in all of Allen's other movies, and indeed in his own life. These would not be areas one would look to for most directors to explain one film in their canon. But Woody is different. A group of themes/questions do run throughout almost all his films. And his personal life and beliefs are often reflected in his characters to an unusual degree.

I think you also are right when you call it "this quite complex situation". Part of the reason why the ending(s) are ill-fitting is how NOT-vapid(i.e. "Woodyish") the film has been. Woody has brung up serious issues with Elliot's mid-life-crisis, incestuous cheating, Holly's grasping for artisticness, Lee's father-figure-searching and drinking and sibling-cheating, and Mickey's search for meaning:this is not an Adam Sandler movie.

One thought is that Woody was trying to make a thoughtful version of the family-affirming films that were popular in the culture at the time. Indeed, the Thanksgiving table scenes are not generic, but certainly traditional in this sense.

Woody clearly(according to him) originally intended for Eliot to continue to long for Lee while being unable to leave Hannah, with Lee becoming unable to wait and found someone else. Now that would have put quite a different spin on both those unions at the film's end. Woody seems to have felt this "would have stopped the film dead" and he could not do it at the time.

While I can't say whether your theory about Hannah's(and Holly's) name is correct or not, I will say that names are at least sometimes important in Allen films(including biblical references with names like Judah and Isaac), and regardless, it is a clever theory on your part.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] taoman1 18 years ago

Excellent post. I was never able to decide between the "cheating" ending or otherwise. Now i will accept it as a Hollywood ending that even Woody thought was unsatisfactory.

[–] dr_remlaw 18 years ago

I love the ending! It's Hollywood alright... maybe my favourite Hollywood ending when it comes right down to it. It's one of those times when you really like the characters, and you really want them to be happy, and then a person says something that just... well... you've all seen the movie. I love it! My favourite Woody.

You can't spell "Godard" without "God"

[–] Chwelve 18 years ago

I agree. The film is so thoroughly warm-hearted that any other ending would seem false to me--even if it was more "realistic." It's my favorite of Allen's films as well--and he may well be my favorite film director. I like the original poster's analysis of the ending; I don't know if we are intended to read that deeply into it or not, but I think the spiritual connection is really what the film is all about.

[–] tami-littlenut 17 years ago

<<I agree. The film is so thoroughly warm-hearted that any other ending would seem false to me--even if it was more "realistic." >>

That was so well said. Kudos to you!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] akeshishian17969 19 years ago

Brilliant post, and exactly the kind of analysis that should be applied to all of Woody's films.

[–] kttimlin 18 years ago

Well done! I really appreciate the effort and thought that went into your post. That's the knid of thing I'd like to see more of on these boards. Many thanks.

[–] magge1108 17 years ago

MAN!!!That was one of the most thought out posts I ever seen...and it's convincing and probably right. That was just amazing! God Bless You! Someone on this website has a clear mind to look beyond the film into the background.

BRAVO! Really. Bravo!

[–] gale-rats 17 years ago

First of all, Hannah had biological children - they were just not from Mickey's.
Second of all, that magical ending was an afterthought decided upon as an alternative to the original ending which didn't include Holly's getting pregnant by Mickey - maybe not even the two of them getting together, but I'm not so sure about that. The original ending was, Woody said, too depressing like the film suddenly dropped off the table. He also said though, looking back he regrets leaving the end in such an overtly cheerful mood.
I don't think Woody was referring to the bible. Not only is he the least religious person(maybe anti-religious is more appropriate), the allegory's too cheap for such a talented writer as he to let oneself make.
It might be irrelevant but he said he was reading Anna Karenina when he came up with the idea for this film.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] montyb76 17 years ago

I think the original post to begin this thread, though admirable for it's thoughtful and in-depth analysis of a wonderful film, is just wrong. He's trying to make the events of the film fit into his framework of thought. I think that the ending, though happy and not the original intention of Allen, works well because it's touching. And really, just because it's a tidy, happy ending doesn't ruin the film for me or come off as contrived, as occurs in lesser films. I think that the audience should want something good to happen both to Mickey and Holly, and the pregnancy is nice and somewhat surprising. Even if we know that Woody intended something different, this is the version he allowed to be released.

[–] tami-littlenut 17 years ago

To atrius450 --

I was moved to tears by your brilliant interpretation of this wonderful movie. I didn't think I could love it more, but thanks to you, I do. Oh, you are a marvelous person. Keep writing! Keep interpreting! I can tell that you give a lot to the world. I hope you are an educator of some kind -- the world needs you to be.