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Manhattan
1979
On the heels of Annie Hall, the Oscar-winning romantic comedy that rocketed Woody Allen to the front ranks of American filmmakers, Manhattan continued Allen's romantic obsessions in a slightly darker, more pessimistic vein. Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a TV comedy writer sick of the pap he is forced to churn out and harboring .. Read more
| Starring | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian |
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Manhattan
On the heels of Annie Hall, the Oscar-winning romantic comedy that rocketed Woody Allen to the front ranks of American filmmakers, Manhattan continued Allen's romantic obsessions in a slightly darker, more pessimistic vein. Allen stars as Isaac Davis, a TV comedy writer sick of the pap he is forced to churn out and harboring dreams of being the great American novelist. His love life is in barbed-wire territory: he is tormented by his second ex-wife Jill (Meryl Streep), a lesbian who has written a tell-all book about their marriage, and he is dating teenager Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), to whom he refuses to commit, and keeps hinting that a breakup may be imminent. Isaac's disillusioned (and married) best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) has begun an affair with the cerebral writer Mary Wilke (Diane Keaton). While Isaac makes a last minute, sink-or-swim decision to quit his job and devote all of his time to book writing, and neurotically moans about what the lack of a full time job will do to him (My parents won't have as good of a seat in the synagogue, he moans. They'll be far away from God... away from the action) Yale is crippled by his lack of resolve, as indicated by his inability to leave his wife Emily (Anne Byrne). Meanwhile, Isaac and Mary) begin to fall for one another. Tracy then tells Isaac the basic truth that none of his hung-up friends and past lovers fully realizes: You have to have a little more faith in people. Manhattan is both a seriocomic dissection of perpetually dissatisfied New Yorkers and an ode to the city itself, filmed in glorious black-and-white by ace cinematographer Gordon Willis, and set to a score of rhapsodic George Gershwin music.~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
| Starring | Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Meryl Streep, Michael Murphy, Anne Byrne, Michael O'Donoghue, Karen Ludwig |
|---|---|
| Director | Woody Allen |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 32 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Dubbed | French, German, Italian, Spanish |
| Hearing-impaired | English, German |
| Released | DVD: 10 Jul 2000 Production year: 1979 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Setting the tone and style for many of his later movies, this early masterpiece from Woody Allen celebrates, as ever, his beloved New York. Allen stars as Isaac, a neurotic TV writer who's taken up with 17-year-old Mariel Hemingway, but who's being diverted by fast-talking Diane Keaton and — more dangerously — by the book about him written by his lesbian ex-wife Meryl Streep. Allen and his fellow New Yorkers swan in and out of the cultural byways of the Big Apple, indulging in psychiatric therapy that's never quite the cure-all they crave. The characters could have become over-articulate bores, but the wonder of Allen is that he manages to invest them with the saving grace of humanity. This is a wonderful film, with a George Gershwin score that adds just the right amount of poignancy.
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"...Woody Allen never seems to tire of topping himself....An irresistible yarn of personal relationships that draws skillfully on the best comic moments of ANNIE HALL and the raw emotions he portrayed in his last picture INTERIORS..."
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Most helpful member's review
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7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
Very Witty
Very witty Woody Allen film. It is both funny and quite sad - bitter-sweet, I suppose, but really enjoyable. A lot of the film is recorded on the streets of NY, so small bits of the soundtrack are sometimes difficult to understand all of the dialogue because of the background noise, but it is well worth replaying because the screenplay is really first rate. I particularly liked the performances of Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. Must be one of their best performances.
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Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
An emotional punch from Allen.
Let me say this outright, 'Manhattan' is a curious thing. I can't think of another film where I didn't realise I'd been drawn in so much until the final swells and close ups, where my heart unfailingly starts beating beating twice as fast, and a tear comes to my eye.
The opening sequence of still shots against 'Rhapsody in Blue' leaves you breathless - and you'd be hard-pressed to find another film where the music and images have become so inextricable. I defy anyone who has seen this to visit Manhattan and not hear the Gershwin tunes inside their head.
Who knows how he casts the spell ? The relationships that evolve throughout the film seem inconsequential and flighty, and you don't expect to care. But to be developing within the heart of this living city, often photographically overshadowed by the city itself, somehow you get the impression that the film is about how the island affects, nurtures, casts away and births the relationships.
I can't think of any other reason why the greatest emotional punch comes at the end, when the shot of the possible relationship snaps into the wider shot of the city. Somehow it all makes perfect, grandiose sense inside,
This is a man in tune with his environment - heart and mind working really well together. Rent this, sit and absorb and let yourself feel what it is to fall in love with a city.
T.O. -
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