Great scene - but I can never get over how badly he shot it. Some slightly better camera placement and he could have made the 'talking across' work much better. As it is, it's just plain ugly.

Larry, I've never really thought much about Woody Allen's movies in terms of their visual approach, probably because I tend to get caught up in the characters, dialogue and situations. Re this scene, I guess it never really bothered me because I was so enjoying the CONCEIT of the scene, parallel families conversing against and with each other. But you're right, it probably could have been shot better. One visual thing I did notice about Allen's movies was his tendency to do a scene where he locks the camera into one position, a long shot of an interior, then characters walk in and out of the shot, carrying on a conversation or an argument. I seem to recall a scene like that in Annie Hall, perhaps a few in Manhattan, maybe others. I always liked that in that it gave the scene a feel of real life, almost like a documentary. But I don't think visuals are Allen's strong suit. It's the characters, the dialogue, the moments. For me, that's what makes a Woody Allen movie.

Larry, like Scott I never paid attention to the way he shot it, but you are right, I just realized that it brings on a quite different result. One thing that I like about the script is that this scene somewhat was supposed to show, first, how neurotic Alvy is (although a part of neurosis is justified) and, after that, how the two families are deeply different in their gestures but not that much in their ideas: both are into gossip, for example, what reinforces that Alvy is being neurotic. But the way Allen shot it gives more space to Alvy's family and as viewers we buy his neurosis instead of identifying it.