Day 2 - Manhattan

Manhattan (1979)

In one word, Manhattan is: beautiful! Yes, this a romantic comedy with Woody Allen and his trademark neurosis and rat-a-tat dialogue and multiple relationships and divorces and psychoanalysis and existentialism. But while all these hallmarks of Woody's trademark style are the parts, the sum of all that is nothing but beautiful. For those of us, who only know Woody Allen as a type, having not lived when he was first blazing the trail, it is easy to forget what a visionary creative artist he was. At least, we appreciate his wide ranging gifts by focusing on the beauty of Manhattan.

This film is about a middle-aged man, Issak, in New York City and his love life and relationships in the mid-1970s. He is a television writer and has been through two divorces and is currently dating a 17-year-old high school student. His best friend, Yale, is having an extra-marital affair with a quirky, intellectual and strange but attractive woman, played by Diane Keaton. The plot involves Issak's budding relationship with this woman after Yale suggests that he start dating her. To do that, he has to end his already-doomed relationship with the high-schooler. That pretty much sets up the story. But there is so much more within the plot.

First, there is the choice of black and white film which gorgeously covers Manhattan, the city is hues of black and light. Then there is the background score: jaunty, exciting and entirely fitting for each scene. The daily lives of Issak and his friends are highlighted by Gerschwin's melodies. Next, I loved the framing of the scenes, for example early in the movie we see Issak's nicer apartment where he climbs down a spiral stairs, and walks to a sofa in the far corner where he cuddles with his young lover under the lights. At the end of the scene, they walk back through the darkness to the spiral stairs, up and out of the room. So beautiful, the play of light and dark! The montages are awesome: Issak with his son; and the most beautiful and surreal sequence when Woody Allen and Diane Keaton visit the darkness within the planetarium, by the rings of saturn ("intergalactic love," Issak says later). Finally, the dialogues are fun and as quirky as you expect from Woody Allen. 

Overall, Manhattan is a perfect distillation of Woody's esthetic and beauty in screen.