Description: Nominated for two Academy AwardsÂ(r)* in 1979 and considered 'one of Allen's most enduring accomplishments' (Boxoffice), Manhattan is a wry, touching and finely rendered portrait of modern relationships against the backdrop of urban alienation. Sumptuously photographed in black and white (Allen's first film in that format) and accompanied by a magnificent Gershwin score, Woody Allen's aesthetic triumph is a 'prismatic portrait of a time and a place that may be studied decades hence' (Time). 42-year-old Manhattan native Isaac Davis (Allen) has a job he hates, a seventeen-year-old girlfriend, Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), he doesn't love and a lesbian ex-wife, Jill (Meryl Streep), who's writing a tell-all book about their marriage and whom he'd like to strangle. But when he meets his best friend's sexy intellectual mistress, Mary (Diane Keaton), Isaac falls head over heels in lust! Leaving Tracy, bedding Mary and quitting his job are just the beginning of Isaac's quest for romance and fulfillment in a city where sex is as intimate as a handshakeandthe gateway to true love is a revolving door. *Supporting Actress (Hemingway); Original Screenplay
Amazon.com essential video: Manhattan, Woody Allen's follow-up to Oscar-winning Annie Hall, is a film of many distinctions: its glorious all-Gershwin score, its breathtakingly elegant black-and-white, widescreen cinematography by Gordon Willis (best-known for shooting the Godfather movies); its deeply shaded performances; its witty screenplay that marked a new level in Allen's artistic maturity; and its catalog of Things that Make Life Worth Living. But Manhattan is also distinguished in the realm of home video as the first motion picture to be released only in a widescreen version. You wouldn't want to see it any other way. Allen's 'Rhapsody in Gray' concerns, as his own character puts it, 'people in Manhattan who are constantly creating these real, unnecessary, neurotic problems for themselves, because it keeps them from dealing with more unsolvable, terrifying problems about the universe.' It's a romantic comedy about infidelity and betrayal, the rules of love and friendship, young girls (a radiant and sweet Mariel Hemingway) and older men (Allen), innocence, and sophistication. (a favorite phrase is used to describe a piece of sculpture at the Guggenheim: 'It has a marvelous kind of negative capability.') The movie's themes can be summed up in two key lines: 'I can't believe you met somebody you like better than me,' and 'It's very important to have some kind of personal integrity.' OK, so they may not sound like such sparkling snatches of brilliant dialogue, but Manhattan puts those ideas across with such emotion that you feel an ache in your heart. --Jim Emerson
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Rating: - ONE OF WOODY'S BEST, BUT THE DVD HAS SOME PROBLEMS!
I have always thought 'Manhattan' was one of Woody Allen's best films. Filmed in glorious black and white with many of Woody's staple players and a great performance by young Mariel Hemingway. The DVD has a good transfer, but I noticed that there is a slight pause between chapter breaks which is a little distracting! Too bad, it deserves a better treatment and these kinds of glitches are really inexcusable.
Rating: - The Most Interesting Part Is Seeing 1970's New York
Let the diatribe begin...again...
Is it any wonder the 1970's was once termed the era of the Me Generation? Not only are the characters in this film prime examples of that selfish bevy but I can't see Manhattan appealing to anyone other than those who either make up that mindset or else wish to study it. Let's be honest, most people are sheep, and if they're told something is masterpiece of art or literature or cinema, they believe it and cling to that belief with mastiff-like tenacity. I suspect that explains much about Woody Allen's alleged magnum opus, Manhattan.
I guess I'm having trouble seeing this film as a masterpiece. It was all right, I don't regret investing the time to see it, but a masterpiece? Many people cite the brilliance of its opening few minutes, but why does Woody Allen get credit for that when George Gershwin wrote the music, and the skyline of Manhattan was created ... Read More
Rating: - Manhattan review
I am always very pleased with everything that I order from Amazon. DVD was great and it arrived on time and in good condition. Thanks
Rating: - Modern Cinematic Masterpiece
Woody Allen said in an Interview once that 'Manhattan', was never the film he intended to write, the end result turning out infact completely different to the intial vision he had, and that he was actually very surprised at the popularity and accolades it earned by audiences and critics alike. Yet this supposedly unintentional fluke, became the definitive 'Woody Allen' film to many, and a modern cinematic masterpiece that paid reverent hommage to Allen's home town of 'New York City'. A city which Allen's main character 'Issac', admits to 'romantacizing out of all proportion'. I admit it was partly Allen's films over the years that led to my fascination and long distance love affair with New York. A melting pot of artists, writers, intellectuals, Jazz, Gershwin, smokey bars and cosy restaurants, quirky bookshops and delis. And of course the highly strung Manhattan neurotic, never without their 'shrink', or analyst. ... Read More
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- ONE OF WOODY'S BEST, BUT THE DVD HAS SOME PROBLEMS!
- The Most Interesting Part Is Seeing 1970's New York
- Manhattan review
