Manhattan (1979)

Manhattan review

I am always very pleased with everything that I order from Amazon. DVD was great and it arrived on time and in good condition. Thanks April 17, 2008

Modern Cinematic Masterpiece

Woody Allen said in an Interview once that 'Manhattan', was never the film he intended to write, the end result turning out infact completely different to the intial vision he had, and that he was actually very surprised at the popularity and accolades it earned by audiences and critics alike. Yet this supposedly unintentional fluke, became the definitive 'Woody Allen' film to many, and a modern cinematic masterpiece that paid reverent hommage to Allen's home town of 'New York City'. A city which Allen's main character 'Issac', admits to 'romantacizing out of all proportion'. I admit it was partly Allen's films over the years that led to my fascination and long distance love affair with New York. A melting pot of artists, writers, intellectuals, Jazz, Gershwin, smokey bars and cosy restaurants, quirky bookshops and delis. And of course the highly strung Manhattan neurotic, never without their 'shrink', or analyst. It's all here in this 70's cinema classic. Woody Allen could not have captured the magic and poetry of his beloved city more sublimely; magnificently filmed in black and white 'Panavision', with an exquisite musical score, cinematography, and all round cast ensemble. Most of my favourite of Allen's films are his collaborations with Diane Keaton, they had such a wonderful chemistry.
The charm of Allen's films lie largley in his clever, witty, satirical and often sadonic observations of human nature, foibles and weaknesses. The fragility of life and fickleness of relationships. Allen's movies often present like a modern take on Brechtian theatre, with the central character acting partly as narrator, and detatched observer or commentator as well as participant. Pondering lifes deeper questions, puzzlements and moral dilemmas. Presented always with his wry Jewish American, intellectual brand of humour. Manhattan, along with 'Hannah and her Sisters', and 'Crimes and Misdemeanours', in my view probably display this "wry observation" the most stylishly and successfully. His films (particularly the earlier ones) are also full of mocking self parody, where by he is really often just playing himself or at the very least aspects of himself. There are some hilarious moments and memorable vintage 'Woody' lines here.
"She's 17 and I'm 42..". Says Issac to his friends about his young girlfriend Tracey (Mariel Hemmingway)."I'm older than her Father... I'm dating a girl where in I can beat up her Father, that phenomenon never occurred before". And on relationships: " I'm old fashioned I believe people should mate for life like pigeons.. or Catholics". But my favourite, in conversation with his ex wife( the divine Meryl Streep)who left him for another woman:
"Well you knew my history when you married me".
" Yeah my analyst warned me, but you were so beautiful that I got another analyst".
The characters in Manhattan are very 'New York' yet ones that audiences recognize within themselves and own lives, or society at large. With all their petty adult problems of extra marital affairs, and flitting from one relationship to the next. Perhaps a subconscious distraction to avoid dealing with life's more deeper issues, such as death. A subject never far from Allen's thoughts.
Allen and Keaton are great as always but I think Mariel Hemmingway really steals the show here, she's just perfectly gorgeous as Allen (Issac's) young love interest, who despite her youth has a wisdom beyond her years, enabling her to teach him ultimately as much as he's taught her, especially in the beautifully ironic twist at the end.
Manhattan really is a timeless visual piece of cinematic art, and most quintessential 'New York' movie. It most definitely would not have worked as well in colour. As one reviewer eloquently put it, the city itself is as much a star of this movie as the actors, if not more so.
Last year I was finally lucky enough to have my dream of visiting New York City become a reality, and I was not disappointed. Every so often as I strolled through Central Park, or Greenwich village, I half expected to catch a glimpse of Woody in the street, hearing Gershwin and Cole Porter tunes as I gazed at the Brooklyn Bridge or the Russian Tea room. New York is certainly very much his 'Town'. April 9, 2008

THE ISLAND THE SPECTACULAR STAR ON THE BIG SCREEN; A THOUGHTFUL MEDITATION ON LIFE AND MORALITY UPON THE SMALL FLAT SCREEN

Warning:
This is 1979.
Writers use typewriters, and paper, with no digital memory.
Their only electromagnetic device is a Sony cassette recorder replacing the dictaphone of an earlier cinematic era. In fact the cassette deck is so extraordinary a tool at the time that it overflows the big screen, as does the bridge, as it does ten years later in The Thin Blue Line, in a dramatic, fascinating diagonal shot which overwhelms the material.

Warning:
This is 1979.
People were still influenced by early imprintings of Bogey and Bacall, and drinking and smoking tobacco cigarettes was still considered romantic by the older generation, as mocked in the first scene. Indoor smoking was not yet a crime in New York City.

Warning:
This is 1979.
People are not yet epidemically overweight.
A 42 year old man might conceivably however improbably have a seventeen year old girlfriend, with only a laughing reference to the police. In fact this is the most improbable (and repugnant) device of the film, which closes with the young girl counseling her elder, she the wiser now.

Warning:
This movie best seen upon the big screen for the awe-inspiring visuals backed by the Gershwin score. The dialogue and characters only echo the emptiness of the times, the "negative capabilities."

It is a love story for the island itself of its day, never to be so dramatically depicted again, never before since Kong scaled the Empire State, despite the other New York films from this auteur.

Warning: The story line here might best be described as Mr. Allen still in the grips of Bergman, not yet fully finding his own voice. This script may best be described as practice for writing, or a first draft for writing, the overlooked yet remarkable Alice, in which Mia Farrow plays the Woody Allen role. Get that instead; it stands up far better on the small flat screen, and includes an intriguing glimpse of Catholic theology and morality. Here Catholics are only noted in passing for their alleged life-long commitment.

This movie is highly recommended to those who need to see Manhattan once more, as it was thirty years ago, as it was inhabited by an empty headed intellectual elite, who fight over a woman with screams of intellectual angst and empty universal philosophical principles.

As always the best scene is the cameo with Mr. Wallace Shawn, he of My Dinner with Andre of his moving monologue The Fever and his loveable yet tyrannic appearance in Toy Story (10th Anniversary Edition).

Get it. The best bit is the accurate send up of US televised "comedy" which Allen's character truly lambastes for the horror which it is, saying something like "You guys are all on drugs; no wonder you find it funny." Their response: "It must have substance; we're fighting the censors all of the time." April 1, 2008

The tonight movie starring MANHATTAN

Typically this Allen's movie don't have a plot.
Or is just hard to follow it :)
BUT THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOVIE ABOUT THE CITY.
.a
P.S. Highly recommended for first time NYC' visitors.
P.P.S. The City is the main actor in the movie. And he plays good... March 11, 2008

Woody Allen's Ode to Love and Life In New York City

Coming off the success of 1977's Annie Hall and the overlooked 1978's Interiors, Woody Allen was looking for a way to bridge the comedy of the former picture and the seriousness of his latter picture, he came out of the box in 1979 with this, Manhattan, possibly his best film.

Manhattan is the story of a man's loves and life in the Big Apple. Filmed in glorious black and white by Gordon WIllis, this is a robust, indelible piece of art work. Allen plays Isaac, a twice divorced 42 year-old man who's dating a 17 year-old girl with a lesbian ex-wife writing a tell-all book about their marriage. Along the way he meets a women whom he beoomes attracted to and begins a relationship with her.

The story is not only about him but, about the city itself, almost a throwback to the good ole days of New York City where Gershwin music was the slice of life and a good picture cost you 75 cents.

There's no denying the power this movie had on me. From the opening shots of Manhattan set to Gershwin's music, to the closing shots of Isaac, I definitely loved this movie.

Must See. March 4, 2008

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