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Manhattan (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
Director: Woody Allen
Writers: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Woody Allen's masturbatory ode to himself...a film that has become seminal in the annals of celebrated and obscure film reviewers around the world...Yes Virginia, there's life outside of Manhattan, but one wonders if Woody is aware of anything outside of his own existence. Nay make that outside of his own fantasies.
In 1979 director, writer and actor Woody Allen crafted an introspective film that was so unique in it's style that it still influences film makers today. One can hardly watch a Jim Jarmusch film without seeing a bit of the cityscape cinematography that Woody so masterly incorporates into his look at the denizens of Manhattan.
The strength of Manhattan is the sheer beauty of it's black & white photography. But any 'joe schmo' can shoot his movie on B & W film stock...it takes an artisans eye to hand select the perfect location for the shot, and to create a composition that is uniquely framed to give maxim artistic impact....and of course: lighting and shadow is all key, Woody Allen is undeniable a master at this.
For all the cinematic artistry, Manhattan plays out like one of Woody's personal fantasies, that's his auteur's stamp. Woody Allen is Isaac a successful but neurotic New York intellectual who's magnetic to women and despite looking like a peeping tom, manages to marry a young and beautiful Meryl Streep, who we find out turns lesbian and divorces Isaac. The 43 year old then has a fling with a 17 year old played by Mariel Hemingway also 17 in real life at the time of filming.
The much older man involved with a teenage girl could have had so many possibilities for exploration with this taboo theme. Woody, who wrote this film could have shown the relationship as having some type of consequences or made some type of statement.
But instead the movie presents the friends of Isaac (Woody Allen) as having no real objections to a relationship that would be considered pedophile-ism in the real world and could result in statuary rape charges. But no, not here in Woody's make believe world. Woody the person, wants to bring his fantasy to life and so has the characters readily accepting his strange love.
And that's one of the weak points of Manhattan...it fails to explore this relationship and it's consequences. In fact none of the relationships seem to say much about anything, they just simply happen so that Woody can hang his intellectual name dropping script onto the back of the actors.
That's why I call Manhattan, Woody's masturbatory ode to himself.
Writers: Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman
Cast: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Woody Allen's masturbatory ode to himself...a film that has become seminal in the annals of celebrated and obscure film reviewers around the world...Yes Virginia, there's life outside of Manhattan, but one wonders if Woody is aware of anything outside of his own existence. Nay make that outside of his own fantasies.
In 1979 director, writer and actor Woody Allen crafted an introspective film that was so unique in it's style that it still influences film makers today. One can hardly watch a Jim Jarmusch film without seeing a bit of the cityscape cinematography that Woody so masterly incorporates into his look at the denizens of Manhattan.
The strength of Manhattan is the sheer beauty of it's black & white photography. But any 'joe schmo' can shoot his movie on B & W film stock...it takes an artisans eye to hand select the perfect location for the shot, and to create a composition that is uniquely framed to give maxim artistic impact....and of course: lighting and shadow is all key, Woody Allen is undeniable a master at this.
For all the cinematic artistry, Manhattan plays out like one of Woody's personal fantasies, that's his auteur's stamp. Woody Allen is Isaac a successful but neurotic New York intellectual who's magnetic to women and despite looking like a peeping tom, manages to marry a young and beautiful Meryl Streep, who we find out turns lesbian and divorces Isaac. The 43 year old then has a fling with a 17 year old played by Mariel Hemingway also 17 in real life at the time of filming.
The much older man involved with a teenage girl could have had so many possibilities for exploration with this taboo theme. Woody, who wrote this film could have shown the relationship as having some type of consequences or made some type of statement.
But instead the movie presents the friends of Isaac (Woody Allen) as having no real objections to a relationship that would be considered pedophile-ism in the real world and could result in statuary rape charges. But no, not here in Woody's make believe world. Woody the person, wants to bring his fantasy to life and so has the characters readily accepting his strange love.
And that's one of the weak points of Manhattan...it fails to explore this relationship and it's consequences. In fact none of the relationships seem to say much about anything, they just simply happen so that Woody can hang his intellectual name dropping script onto the back of the actors.
That's why I call Manhattan, Woody's masturbatory ode to himself.