Review of Manhattan (1979) by Brian R — 12 Apr 2010

My fav Woody Allen picture. To me Manhattan is really all about Allen's entanglements with women. He was once married but his wife left him for another woman, then Allen chooses to head down an immature path getting himself involved with a seventeen year old girl played by Mariel Hemingway (Reminds me of Allen's infamous ways dispite the media frenzy he had with Mia Farrow and their adopted daughter of the time and now Allen's wife Soon-Yi Previn).

Then his good friend Yale(Michael Murphy) is married but is having an affair with the Diane Keaton character, then Allen has the hots for the Keaton character and the so called dating and mating life goes on and on in Manhattan.

I love the look the picture photographed in beautiful b&w by Gordon Willis. Allen really loves his city Manhattan and the city of NYC. There is a beautiful shot when Allen and Keaton is sitting down on a park bench while looking across and seeing the beautiful Queensboro Bridge. To me, that scene was the love and passion Allen has for his beloved city of Manhattan and it was the right chocie using famous pieces of George Gershin tracks to enhance the picture. In the end "Manhattan" was Allen's way of saying goodbye to the 1970's golden age of cinema and into the big budget blockbuster films/MTV films of the 1980's.