Manhattan [DVD] [1979]

Rather than talking about the plot per se, "Manhattan" is best explained as a convoluted series of wrecked and ruined relationships centering around Allen's character, Isaac Davis. Isaac is divorced from Jill (Meryl Streep), who is now living with Connie (Karen Ludwig), and planning to write an expose on her marriage. Isaac is having an affair with 17-year-old Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), but then he meets Mary (Diane Keaton), the mistress of his best friend Yale (Michael Murphy), who is married to Emily (Anne Byrne). Ultimately, however, this is not a film about love, but rather a film about loss, because you just know that forced to make choices, Isaac is going to make the wrong ones. Tracy and Mary are characters constructed as such polar opposites and it never dawns on Isaac to focus more on what each has than on what they lack.

Of course, today this film is obviously open to reinterpretation given Allen's very public personal life and it is now assumed that the Isaac-Tracy relationship was a sign of things to come rather than a dramatic construction. If you can get away from the film's Freudian implications then you can appreciate Hemingway's Oscar nominated performance, which is not only at the heart of the film but provides its heart as well. In contrast, Keaton's Mary is rather soulless (the anti-Annie Hall if you will). When the choice is so clear the fault is clearly not in the women, but rather in the character of Isaac (or lack of character, as the case might be). The ending is certainly the most bitter sweet of any Allen film to date.

Most Romantic Lines (remember, this is a Woody Allen film): (1) "I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics"; (2) "Yeah! I can tell, a lot. That's, well, a lot is my favorite number", and, of course, (3) "Why is life worth living? It's a very good question. Um...Well, There are certain things I guess that make it worthwhile. uh...Like what... okay...um...For me, uh... ooh... I would say ... what, Groucho Marx, to name one thing... uh...um... and Willie Mays... and um ... the 2nd movement of the Jupiter Symphony ... and um... Louis Armstrong, recording of Potato Head Blues ... um ... Swedish movies, naturally ... Sentimental Education by Flaubert ... uh... Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra ... um ... those incredible Apples and Pears by Cezanne... uh...the crabs at Sam Wo's... uh... Tracy's face ..."

Add in to the mix DIANE KEATON and MARIEL HEMINGWAY at their (respectively) funniest and most youthfully heart-warming, some of the sharpest, most hilarious ALLEN dialogue on celluloid ("he had...the sexual prowess of a coiled jungle cat"!!), and, quite frankly film fans, you simply MUST have this wonderful film in your collection.

Finally, before I really do over-eulogise over WOODY's masterpiece (a minority view but one I've held for 25 years) it is also worth noting that ALLEN's portrait of middle-class New York life remains unsurpassed. For those of you fortunate enough to have visited this great city, you will instantly recognise both the well known landmarks and, and quite probably, even some of the lesser known but distinctly recognisable MANHATTAN nightclubs, cafes and other locations that give the Big Apple its lasting charm and character.

Watch this film and cherish it's swooning romanticism and sharp analysis of middle class intellectual life; you will be delighted and want to watch it every time you see or read anything about NYC again...

Reasons? Well, there's the storyline. Allen's films have been said to be clones of one another, but I disagree. You could say exactly the same thing about Hitchcock. What is repeated throughout Allen's career is the feel, the mood of his films. His style is immaculate and very reusable. Romance, wit and New York are used by Allen like Hitchcock used suspense and blonds. In this film, Allen is a screenwriter who is trying to write a novel. In the meantime, he has love affairs with two very different women and with his city, New York. He also battles with the embarrassment of his last marriage, to a character played by Meryl Streep, who left Allen to begin a relationship with a woman. That particular storyline has been used recently in the sitcom, 'Friends' with the Allen-esque Ross Geller.

Then there's Manhattan. Never before has the city been captured on film as beautifully as this. This film could only have been made in black and white.

And what about the Gershwin soundtrack? Some would say that it's Gershwin's music that makes this film. I certainly think it helps greatly. I don't think 'Someone to Watch Over Me' has ever sounded as good as in this film.

But what I really love about this film, and the reason it's way ahead of any other Woody Allen film, is the timelessness. I seriously believe that this film could have been made yesterday, if only we made films as good as this today. This love story doesn't take place in the late seventies, it takes place every day in New York City. Or that's what it feels like. 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'You've Got Mail', 'Serendipity' all owe their existence to this film, only Manhattan seems less like a Romantic Comedy and more like an epic.

So what about the DVD edition. The film itself looks great. But why are we limited to one extra feature? We're only treated to the theatrical trailer on Allen's DVDs. What we'd all really like is an outtake reel, a 'Making Of' and interviews. But, hey ho, if this is all we get, we better just make the most of it!