FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Manhattan [DVD] [1979]

Manhattan [DVD] [1979]
enlarge	Director: Woody Allen Actors: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy, Meryl Streep Studio: MGM Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £1.64 as of 25/11/2009 00:21 GMT details You Save: £14.35 (90%) New (28) Used (5) from £1.63 Seller: fastdvd2006 Rating: 19 reviews Sales Rank: 3149 Format: Anamorphic, Black White, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), German (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), German (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Italian (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Swedish (Subtitled), Danish (Subtitled), Polish (Subtitled), Dutch (Subtitled), Finnish (Subtitled) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 92 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5050070002812 ASIN: B00004TT7A Theatrical Release Date: April 25, 1979 Release Date: July 10, 2000 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review IManhattan/I, Woody Allen's follow-up to Oscar-winning IAnnie Hall/I, 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 IGodfather/I movies); its deeply shaded performances; its witty screenplay that marked a new level in Allen's artistic maturity; and its catalogue of Things that Make Life Worth Living. 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 insoluble, 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 favourite phrase is used to describe a piece of sculpture at the Guggenheim: "It has a marvellous kind of negative capability".) The film'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 IManhattan/I puts those ideas across with such emotion that you feel an ache in your heart. --IJim Emerson/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 19 1 2 3 4 Next » What could Woody Allen do after "Annie Hall"? "Manhattan" February 21, 2005 Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) 25 out of 27 found this review helpful When Woody Allen won the Oscar (in abstentia) for writing and directing "Annie Hall," which also won the Oscar for Best Picture, it was assumed the stand-up comic turned auteur had reached the pinnacle of his career. Then Allen proceeded to go out and make an even better film with his next effort, "Manhattan." Filmed in glorious black white (and widescreen) by the great cinematographer Gordon Willis, the opening sequence combining indelible images of New York City with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" is a paean to city Allen loves and the most rhapsodical sequence in any of his films.pRather 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. pOf 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.pMost 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 ..." MANHATTAN is "THE ONLY TRULY GREAT FILM OF THE 70s" - April 1, 2005 Jeff Markham (Walton-on-Thames, UK) 18 out of 21 found this review helpful - according to American film critic ANDREW SARRIS. Granted, this is high praise indeed! But once you surrender swiftly to WOODY ALLEN's most achingly romantic, poignant film, listen to the lush and beautiful GEORGE GERSHWIN music score, marvel at GORDON WILLIS' shimmering monochrome photography of the Big Apple at its most seductive, and I guarantee you will find it very hard to disagree with Sarris' famous comment.pAdd 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.pFinally, 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.pWatch 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... A RHAPSODY IN BLACK AND WHITE January 18, 2005 L. Wilkinson 16 out of 19 found this review helpful Let's not mess about - this is Woody Allen's best film. 'Annie Hall' comes a close second, but if you're looking for an example of truly incredible cinema, then look no further.pReasons? 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.pThen 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.pAnd 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.pBut 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.pSo 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! Cinema at it's finest October 16, 2008 J. Pike (Guernsey, Channel Islands) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful I was a little worried as i'm a blackandwhitefilmophobe but, this fim is marvelous. br / br /Compared to films like Serpico, Taxi Driver, The Warriors that show New York on the 1970's as a cess pit this shows 70's New York through Woody Allen's eyes and what a place it is. br / br /5 Stars all the way. br / One of Allen's best July 20, 2009 Jonathan Carr (London, UK) 3 out of 3 found this review helpful Although the content of this film has much in common with most of Allen's work, something lifts it above his less convincing projects and makes it soar. Perhaps it's the music, or the way that Manhattan itself is made a star of the piece. More probably it is as close as Allen can get to an honest look at a middle aged man's life crisis and sexual frustration. The emotion feels genuine and the character Woody Allen plays evokes sympathy. In short, it's one of the best places to start with Woody Allen, and a must for anyone who loves New York. Showing reviews 1-5 of 19 1 2 3 4 Next »

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