Manhattan

4/4 stars

It's easy to judge Woody Allen too harshly. He's known to some as one of cinema's most indulgent auteurs; he frequently plays himself (or a very similar persona) and many of his most lauded films are essentially autobiographical. Where he must be forgiven for this is in the honesty that such films produce. Manhattan is a naturalistically framed story in which the characters talk like real (albeit exceptionally well-read) people, get in and out of relationships like real people, and above all feel in all the ways that real people do. Allen constructed the movie from one scene after another of memorable conversations, in a form that seems to emulate the way we remember our own lives. The viewer is drawn in by the casual and candid relationship we are given to the events. At the same time, the film sometimes challenges us, the camera not showing us everything we wish to see, dialogue that we're a bit too far away to hear, musical cues used to create startling juxtapositions; cinematic discomfort being used to evoke the emotional discomfort of the situations. The script is aggressively literate, not only to suit Allen's intended audience, but in a way that seems intended to wear on you. Keeping up with all the names these characters drop gives you an indication of the stimulation, and also the vexation that knowing them would bring. Oddly enough, for a film called Manhattan, I didn't really feel that New York City was essential to the story that we get. It's presented beautifully, of course, but the drama takes place in restaurants, theaters and apartments, places that are universal. I think Allen fixates on cities because he associates them with a certain mood, a class of people. At one point in the film, Diane Keaton says "I'm from Philadelphia, we believe in God" and he replies that he doesn't know what she means by all that, but we can see, in this film as in Annie Hall that such statements are very much a part of his sensibility. In the end his avatar seems to retreat from the neurotic, analytical ethos that Allen has build around New York. Some will not relate to this outlook, or the desire to escape from it; but for those who do, Manhattan is rich and introspective filmic experience.

Written August 16, 2008.