overactive mirror neurons

 

Allen was indeed distressed that much of the critical acclaim for Zelig focused on the technical achievements of the film. 

“To me, the technique was fine. I mean, it was fun to do, and it was a small accomplishment, but it was the content of the film that interested me." (Woody Allen on Woody Allen: In Conversation With Stig Bjorkman, Faber and Faber, London, 1994, p.141).

It is clear from published interviews that Allen’s impetus for making the film revolved around the theme of identity. “I wanted to make a comment with the film on the specific danger of abandoning one’s own true self, in an effort to be liked, not to make trouble, to fit in, and where that leads one in life," Allen said in that same interview. (Ibid, p. 141).