Year: 1979
Director: Woody
Allen
Writers: Woody
Allen, Marshall Brickman
Starring: Woody
Allen, Diane Keaton, Michael Murphy, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Anne Byrne
Hoffman
Gershwin’s
“Rhapsody In Blue” and a celebratory montage of New York sceneries that
resolves into a purposely over the top fireworks. That’s our introduction to
Woody Allen’s hometown in the classic romantic comedy “Manhattan”. The scene is
also accompanied with the narration by the main hero Isaac, who can’t decide in
what way to begin his novel, pondering on how his protagonist sees the
city.
Isaac’s
second ex-wife is writing a book on their love life and separation, while he’s
trying to maintain a causal relationship with 17-years-old student. At the same
time he falls in love with his best friend’s lover, after initially disliking
her. Yes, sounds so trite and soapy. But not when Woody Allen is behind the
camera. This is the kind of movie that even people, who, like myself, don’t like romantic
comedies, should see. It is a treat for every movie lover, if
solely for the masterful cinematography by Gordon Willis (“The Godfather”) and
editing by Susan E. Morse (“Hannah and Her Sisters”), because every now and then they turn the film into a living painting.
As
most Woody Allen’s films “Manhattan” also deals with intellectuals quipping at
each other, while discussing interesting cultural, but sometimes empty topics. As Isaac points out in one scene - in certain cases not “biting satire”,
but “bricks and baseball bats get right to the point.” Many of the heroes in
the movie are wealthy, well-read and a bit pretentious, but often simply lost and
lonely people. Woody Allen’s character looks for the answers to his problems in
the changing cultural landscape around him, later in the movie clarifying that
his book is about “decaying values”. And we can see how he often projects this pessimistic
view of the world on the new generation, represented by his young girlfriend Tracy
- “You were brought up on drugs and television and the pill”. But after all, he
is the guy that works for the television, the guy that constantly refuses to
accept the changing world and takes advantage of Tracy’s affection. And by the end she
is the one that wisely corrects him on the subject of decaying morals, because “not
everybody gets corrupted”.
When
you talk about “Manhattan” you can’t forget the masterful visual storytelling
that is particularly strong in two major scenes – the cabinet with the monkey skeleton
and the planetarium scene. The scene in the biology cabinet adds to the humor
of the situation, while making us ponder over love’s role in evolution and our
place in the universe as species. The monkey skeleton sits silently next to
Issac, who, as a superior specie that models himself after God, is trying to
make sense of love and human relationships. Still, the monkey comically reminds
us of the unpredictable, unclassifiable and often primal nature of love. In
terms of our feelings and internal drive, it is possible that we haven’t really developed
much. And the rest of the movie points to the same thing – sometimes the
obvious “good” choices are the worst and no matter how hard we try to be
informed, logical and to rationalize the world we live in, our nature is still
emotion-driven and intuitive. And just like with art, we can’t
always explain what sums up the ultimate chef-d-oeuvre.
In this world where everybody has a psychoanalyst, Woody Allen’s character ironically
states “Nothing worth knowing can be understood with the mind.” But both Isaac and
Mary (Diane Keaton) are often described as “cerebral” or “rationalizing”
and we see that in the long run this is not necessarily the best way for them to
maintain a relationship. There’s something else that I've noticed - with
beautiful, yet simple cinematography and understanding of space, “Manhattan”
often separates the couples with shots that leave one or the other out of frame
during a conversation. This is emphasized and wonderfully realized in the scene
where Mary and Isaac kiss for the first time. Although it is very romantic and sweet,
for the entire scene they are almost never both in the frame, moving in and out
of the door frame, where the camera is fixed. I wonder, is there a possibility
that Allen decided to shoot the scene in this way in order to hint to us that no matter how much they try, Isaac and Mary can’t really become
one? It might be far-fetched, but I like the idea.
But
the best and most memorable scene from the movie is definitely the conversation
in the planetarium. In almost full darkness all we see is the giant planets and
these people’s tiny, almost unrecognizable figures. They walk through the
lonely and cold cosmos, discussing the small troubles we humans have, looking
so lost and insignificant next to the vastness of space. It’s such a beautiful and
surreal scene, provoking so many feelings and interpretations: Are they small grains
of sand drifting in the infinite darkness or simply aliens to each other? Maybe
they are alienated from their own world…
Speaking
of beauty and cosmic harmony, the soundtrack is comprised of wonderful
compositions by Gershwin, including instrumental versions for many of his
popular jazz songs. It is a powerful and energetic, but elegant companion piece
to the beautiful black and white cinematic version of New York that Allen gives us.
The performances are top-notch, I especially loved Mariel Hemingway, who is so
subtle, tender and poignant. As a whole “Manhattan” is philosophical,
funny, touching and magnificently shot – a true Woody Allen classic, well above
the average romantic comedy.
The
movie has 8,0 on IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079522/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3
8,5
from users and 82 from critics on MetaCritic - http://www.metacritic.com/movie/manhattan
98%
on RottenTomatoes - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/manhattan/?search=manhattan
A
little taste of the movie – the bridge scene:
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