Manhattan (1979)

[Boz]

Manhattan
(1979/Allen)
Originally Written 6/18/06

An interesting companion piece to Annie Hall, similar, but clearly different in many respects. I loved Allen's use of Gershwin here, almost mocking them by playing them in somewhat sarcastic and contradictory scenes, but yet simultaneously paying homage to them. Both Woody and Diane Keaton deliver performances similarly as great as their work in Annie Hall, but sadly they don't share as much screen time in this one. And I never knew Michael Murhpy was an established actor. Go figure. Overall, really enjoyed this movie, not as much as Annie Hall, but still very good. Two things make me wonder though . . .

A. Why is it in black and white? This is probably the only post-color-option black and white film where I felt it hurt the movie. I loved Annie Hall's kind of dullish, orangey mix of tones with shadows and whatnot.

and

B. Why does Woody denounce this film as the worst thing he's ever done? I'm reading on imdb that he supposely hated it then and hates it now. Kind of strange.

[Capo]

Manhattan
Woody Allen 1979 USA

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The chronicles of a TV writer's complicated sex life in the city he loves.

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Conversational piece, wherein characters pretentiously refer to other artists as a way of dealing with inner neuroses. The whole thing, acted with a naturalistic naivety, is shot in stunning black and white; if the actors are not framed in the extreme left or right of screen, they are obscured in vivid darkness, with the light catching only the edges of their face and body. Allen's a fantastic writer, but his visual wit is not to be missed: such as in the montages with his son and the weekend away with a girlfriend and friends, and the conversation between an infuriated Allen and best friend, with Allen standing next to a silent skeleton, a sort of mirror composition.

[pizzaboy]

[Review deleted due to plagiarism.]

[svsg]

I thought that Manhattan and Annie Hall were very similar, notwithstanding the BW choice. Woody Allen's character is identical in both the films. His mannerisms, jokes, sensibilities etc. I don't know why he made both the films. Either one is powerful enough stand alone, but put together, there is some redundancy.

[Capo]

"Chapter one. He adored New York City. He idolised all out of proportion..."

I'll never forget the first time I watched this; I genuinely thought I'd never see a better film. Reading PB's review makes me want to re-watch it.

Aug 15, 2008 18:17:48 GMT @svsg said:

I thought that Manhattan and Annie Hall were very similar, notwithstanding the BW choice.

Either one is powerful enough stand alone, but put together, there is some redundancy.

They're very similar, but I don't think one should exist over the other. If anything, they're pretty complimentary.

It's as if he made Annie Hall, and then Manhattan was his way of exploring the same material in a different way; I think this is a more mature work.

[pizzaboy]

MANHATTAN is the quintessential Woody Allen movie. ANNIE HALL is funnier, but MANHATTAN is surely the one Allen movie which captures so beautifully the great auteur's concerns: the love/hate relationship with New York, the frustrations and phoniness of urban intellectualism, the all knowingness of modern city types who cannot enjoy pleasure since they are too world wise, the appeal of the innocent beautiful face, roiling and fizzing jazz music, the egotism and narcissism of men and women in contemporary society (this movie was from the 70s, but these themes are well made for Western urban social scenes today).

[RNL]

Isn't part of the early Woody Allen comedy format the idea of inserting a neurotic, nebbish Jewish intellectual into the middle of a genre film?

That's kind of why those films feel similar.